Bev's Tips for a Better Work Life

Tips for a more rewarding and resilient career

For almost 20 years, Bev has been coaching
professionals to thrive at work, navigate
transitions and grow as leaders.

personal growth

Try these tips for managing your habits

Posted by Beverly Jones on

 

 How to change everything

by building new habits 

Deciding can be exhausting. Research suggests your brain has only so much stamina for making decisions in the course of a day.  And when your energy has been spent on big decisions at the office, it’s no wonder you can’t choose what to have for dinner, once you get home.

Our lives are so complicated it’s amazing we get along as well as we do.  Just getting up, getting ready, and commuting to work offers numerous decision points.  It’s enough to wear us out before we reach our desks.  

The reason we aren’t exhausted by just our normal routine is that we glide through much of it on automatic pilot.  Our conscious minds don’t have to actually make decisions about stuff like finding our way to work because our habits take over.  

Habits are routines we follow regularly, without having to think about it.  They allow our subconscious to take charge, giving our conscious self a rest. Our good habits help us to effortlessly make good choices.  They guide us as we manage our health, our calendars and our routine projects. But sometimes our habits put us in the wrong groove.  [Read more…] about Try these tips for managing your habits

Try these tips for building self-discipline

Posted by Beverly Jones on

 You can build self-discipline!

And you can start today!

A while back, a reader of my ezine wrote that self-discipline had always been a struggle for her. “I know I’m capable of it from time to time, and I’m definitely getting better at it, but I would like to keep improving.”  She asked me to write something about how to improve self-discipline.  And “could you recommend any books?” she asked.

Many of us share that struggle with self-discipline, and often it’s an issue with my coaching clients.  [Read more…] about Try these tips for building self-discipline

The things you do in your free time can inspire your career

Posted by Beverly Jones on

Lessons from yoga helped me

become more entrepreneurial

When clients are feeling blocked in their jobs, I encourage them to think about ways to bring change not just to their work lives, but to the other parts of their lives as well. And often when they do take up new interests it can inspire an energy boost and a fresh perspective in their career.

In my case, I started yoga lessons soon after leaving the corporate world and starting my business as an executive coach and consultant. Recently I wrote an article for NextAvenue.org describing how yoga helped my career transition. Please continue reading here.

 

For more about how leisure activity helped me shape my career, see this post on career lessons from the garden.

You can manage your “impostor syndrome”

Posted by Beverly Jones on

When they say: “You’re great!”

But you think: “Not so much!”

A client I’ll call “Jack” retired from his job as marketing VP with a high performing company.  After growing bored, he agreed to join the leadership of a large but struggling non-profit.  Once he had time to look around and assess the situation, Jack began to introduce changes that quickly revitalized the organization.  The board members was thrilled with what Jack was doing. When Jack took steps he regarded as basic, they called him a genius.  When he offered new suggestions, they rushed to agree.

At first Jack was pleased with his positive reception, but he became increasingly uncomfortable with the robust flow of praise.  On one hand, he feared the group would inevitably be disappointed in his ability, once he ran out of obvious ways to create improvements.  On the other, he began to doubt his colleagues’ judgment, thinking that “they must be awfully naïve if they think I’m that great.”

Fortunately Jack is self-aware, so he took steps to assure that his discomfort with effusive compliments would neither impact his attitude nor undercut his performance.  But a surprising number of high achievers find it difficult to respond well to praise for their work.   [Read more…] about You can manage your “impostor syndrome”

Bev’s Forbes.com post on building career resilience

Posted by Beverly Jones on

6 Keys to Career Resilience!

Read Bev’s Forbes.com post

I’ve worked with hundreds of high achievers, and I’ve learned that you can’t predict where your career path will take you. But you can prepare for it. Resilient people aren’t necessarily born with a unique ability to bounce back or forge ahead. Rather, they are ordinary folks who learn behaviors, attitudes and work patterns that allow them to keep going and growing, even in difficult or uncertain times.

Read my six tips for building resilience at Forbes.com. 

Tips from successful networkers

Posted by Beverly Jones on

Care for your network
and keep it growing

A client I greatly respect wasn’t impressed by my ezine: Care for your network and keep it growing.  I gave advice from great networkers who seem able to stay in touch with huge lists of contacts.  

My client’s reaction was “well, duh!”   She said that everybody knows about the importance of networking, and she objected to the term “networking” because the concept should really be about relationships.  I understand her discomfort with the term “networking” and think we may  need more than one word to describe different types of activity.  Social scientists have long used the term “social network” to describe a complex pattern of relationships that tie people together.   But recently “networking” has been used more broadly, to include marketing activities like passing out your business card to strangers, or using Twitter to build your business brand.

The point my ezine apparently didn’t drive home is that the foundation of your network should be a collection of real, authentic relationships with other people.  [Read more…] about Tips from successful networkers