Ralph Rucci documentary

i was feeling lost, scared and agitated over the ending year, the challenges ahead and what the coming year holds for me.

i realized that i expect the worst things to happen - all the time.
whenever something good happens to me or no matter how pleasant the near future seems to be, i seem to gravitate towards that 51% chance that things can go wrong - or worse, that i can lose everything after gaining everything.

this is my core root dysfunction.
i am afraid for life to be great because losing wealth and happiness after experiencing them is most painful.

consistent with my pattern in life, whenever i feel lost and life does not make sense, i always happen on a film that offers me guidance and comfort.

this time, it was a documentary on haute couture fashion designer, Ralph Rucci.
who, i am honored to say, closely matches my subtle, minimalist, philosophical and spiritual creative aesthetic.

towards the end of the documentary, he talked about having an attitude of thanks. that everything created and every successful collection is 'borrowed'. that it came from a place beyond us.

that after struggling for many years, he stopped being afraid.

that after trying to find a place in the fashion industry, he finally decided to punch a hole in reality and create his own world.

that he stopped being fearful for what the future holds and focused instead on the many things to do and deadlines to meet in the present.

his sole prayer to his guides is to lead him.
that he may be led where he needed to be.

now that my fashion collections will be launched next year, may i be as courageous and centered as him.

good mantra for 2009

i saw this on entry on one of my most favorite blogs in the world, Diane Pernet.

Paul J Meyers' and C. Phillips' words on www.astrologyandbeyond might be a good mantra for us all for 2009:

"Enter every activity without giving mental recognition to the possibility of defeat. Concentrate on your strengths, instead of your weaknesses on your powers, instead of your problems."

C. Phillips:

"Destiny is simply having the vision to realize your dreams and the perseverance to keep working toward them."

from Diane's blog:
www.dianepernet.typepad.com

qiu hao

by chance, i saw an episode of Designer People on Ovation TV.
where they document the journey of one design luminary.

this time, it was Qiu Hao, a Chinese fashion designer.

he uttered one very nice quote, something he heard from a professor at Central St. Martins:

"The most beautiful things in world have a tinge of sadness."

i used to be ashamed of my perpetual tinge of melancholy.
this quote just reminded me once again that:
1) i need to be true to my flavor of creativity - somber, philosophical, magical and beautiful
2) i am on the right track.

i will be the difference

my friend, Sunshine, shared this with me.
according to her, this is the company motto of her current employment.

i like it.

creating your first big break

If your ship doesn't come in, swim out to it.

~Jonathan Winters~

Maturity

Maturity won't come with age... it comes with the acceptance of
responsibility.

~unknown~

true goal

The difference between a dream and a goal is that a goal has a deadline.
~Dr. Phil~

awakening

"Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens."

~Carl Jung~

purpose of life

"I cannot believe that the purpose of life is to be happy. I think the purpose of life is to be useful, to be responsible, to be compassionate. It is, above all to matter, to count, to stand for something, to have made some difference that you lived at all."


~Leo Rosten~

confronting fear

"To fight fear, act. To increase fear–wait, put off postpone."

~Joseph Schwartz~

problem w/ positive thinking

“Having a strong desire or being successful does not mean that you are going to feel great all the time. No matter how enlightened I become, I will not be positive all the time. You have to understand the swing of the pendulum. It must swing back and forth. The only other alternative is to sit still in neutral, which is precisely what most people do.”



~Thomas D. Willhite~

The Book of Desire

ending bad habits

You leave old habits behind by starting out with the thought, 'I release the need for this in my life'.

~Dr. Wayne Dyer~

evolution

“Only as high as I reach can I grow, only as far as I seek can I go, only as deep as I look can I see, only as much as I dream can I be.”



~Karen Ravn~

quote

Yesterday I dared to struggle. Today I dare to win.

~Bernadette Devlin~

Chinese Proverb

"Tell me, I will forget. Show me, I may remember. Involve me, I will understand."

~Chinese Proverb~

Leadership

You can't expect people to look eye to eye with you if you are looking down on them.

~Anonymous~

Purpose of life

The purpose of life is a life of purpose.
~Robert Byrne~

The mediocre

Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure...than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.

~Theodore Roosevelt~

Procrastination

You pile up enough tomorrows, and you'll find you've collected a lot of empty yesterdays.

~Professor Harold Hill (The Music Man)~

One Minute Millionaire

"Think positive thoughts, intensely. Grow enthusiastic images, boldly.

Speak only wonderful words to yourself, constantly. Feel fantastic, NOW!

This colors your view of the world. Like a magnet, you attract the

resources necessary to manifest the world you desire."

~Mark Victor Hanson and Robert Allen~

The One Minute Millionaire

Success

If you live just for today, to make today the most successful, happy day of your life, I am sure that you will have an extraordinary life. A successful life is nothing more than a series of successful days.

~Thomas D. Willhite Quotes~

What is happiness?

"The art of living does not consist in preserving and clinging to a particular mood of happiness, but in allowing happiness to change its form without being disappointed by the change; for happiness, like a child, must be allowed to grow up."

~Charles Langbridge Morgan~

No stability

All substances are either growing or decaying at any one point in time. Human beings are no exception. If we are not growing, then we are decaying.

~Thomas D. Willhite Quotes~

Growing up

"You grow up the day you have your first real laugh at yourself."

~Ethel Barrymore~

Finding your self

If you are looking for yourself, believe me, you will never find "you" because you are what you believe you can become. You, and you alone CREATE your own identity.

~Thomas D. Willhite~

Live dangerously

Live dangerously; take risks; cultivate eccentricity, which means growing closer to being yourself. This will give you a life worth living and of which you can be proud.

~Thomas D. Willhite~

Within Us

"What lies behind us and lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us."

- by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Finding Yourself

If you are looking for yourself, believe me, you will never find "you" because you are what you believe you can become. You, and you alone CREATE your own identity.
~Thomas D. Willhite~

2 dogs

"Inside of me there are two dogs. One of the dogs is mean and evil.
The other dog is good. The mean dog fights the good dog, all of the
time." When asked which dog wins, he reflected for a moment and
replied "The one I feed the most."

book, Visual Creativity

"Dream with your eyes open,
and see with your eyes closed."

- by Mario Pricker
- taken from the foreword of his book, Visual Creativity

Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die

From Career Joy:


The 60 Second WORKout
Powered by CareerJoy; The Career Coaching Company
June 13, 2008
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In this weeks edition
-- The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die
-- This week's 10 Minute WORKout
-- LUNCH & LEARN: Find the Right Career!
-- The last word.

Greetings!



The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I thought I would start with a very light question this week. How many people do you know that are 60+ who are totally fulfilled with their career and their lot in life? What if you could find out a common set of principles that you could apply to achieve this goal for you? This week's podcast is with John Izzo, Ph.D and best selling author of the Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die. This book came out of a television series that John did for the Discovery Channel. He spoke with over 235 successful mature adults and asked for their advice about careers, relationships and healthy living.

John has had a lifelong fascination with discovering what it means to live a full and meaningful life. It started when he was six years old and was further focused when his own father died at the young age of 36. His father's death was a defining moment in his life. He recognized that "You don't know how much time you have to live a life that really matters." John wondered if there would be a way of discovering a path sooner rather than later.

He and his teams started by asking over 15,000 people for recommendations of individuals whom they thought were happy and successful who were 55+. They ended up with over 1,000 people recommended that met this criteria. They further refined that list to 235 people from ages 59 - 105. This group had a wide range of professions, income and education. They ended up spending between 2-3 hours asking each of them a set of survey questions on a variety of issues. Here are some of the types of questions they asked this group.

What brought you the greatest joy?

What has brought you the greatest sense of meaning and purpose in life?

What is the greatest fear at the end of life?

What one sentence would you give to those younger than you on finding a happy and meaningful life?

Now that you have lived most of your life, what are you almost certain brings you happiness?

What they discovered from this group of people were a common set of elements that were consistent in each one of their lives. You may be thinking that they all started their lives growing up in a happy home. To his great delight, most of these people were not born "happy" but moved towards this end with work and discipline. He said, "they were people like all of us that had slowly navigated towards a better quality of life". All of them started at different points, but they all ended up in similar situations of authentic fulfillment in their lives. Here is this wise groups recipe for a successful career:

3 things not to do in your career
Don't be greedy - Earn enough for what you need for your lifestyle.

Don't seek status, power and popularity - There is always another level to be achieved. You will never satisfy this if you chase it.

Don't worry about what other people think of you - A majority of people won't remember who you are in 10 years time.
3 things to do in your career
Do focus on you - You have to choose work that is true to your soul. Your work has to be in alignment with who you genuinely are.

Do maintain balance - listen to your life. At times you can spend more time at work and other times you will need to do less. Trust your intuition about balance in your life.

Do work that gives you meaning - When your work is bigger than you, the impact is amazing and more rewarding.
I recognize all of these are not easy to do all of the time, but if you are continually intentional about being aware of these things in your life, you will find things will slowly move in a positive direction. Remember, as John says, "You don't have to wait until you are 60 to be wise. We can discover the secrets to life at any age, the sooner we start practicing them, the more fulfilling our life will be."

Need help with some of the dos and don'ts? Join our free teleworkshop based upon my book Get the Right Job Right Now! Looking for more of a personal approach? Book an initial consultation today.

Learning, along the road with you!
Alan

P.S. The 5 Secrets from John's book:
Be true to yourself
Leave no regrets
Become love
Live the moment
Give more than you take



This week's 10 Minute WORKout
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How fulfilled are you in your career? This week, think about what gives you the most happiness.


LUNCH & LEARN: Find the Right Career!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Are you struggling with your career? Call toll free to participate in this WORKshop led by our Head Coach Alan Kearns.

Easy to participate - Do the workshop from wherever you are - home, office, or on your porch! Informative, practical, casual, lively and inspirational. You can also just listen if you choose - there are no requirements.
Meet new and interesting people from all over North America who are asking the same questions and meeting the same challenges as you are.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008
12 noon - 1:00 PM EST



Limited Space Available - Click here to register today!


The last word.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Because of the process, I was better able to identify strengths and weaknesses and have more confidence in my abilities. My coach gave me alternative ways to think about past situations and helped me move forward.
Beth Cummings


Quick Links...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Our Website How we can help you Podcast More About Us


Contact Information
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email: info@careerjoy.com
phone: 1-877-256-2569
web: http://www.CareerJoy.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

my future last day

today, while listening to the song, "A Really Good Cloak" by Mark Isham for the movie Crash... i thought of what my ideal last day at my current job will be.

it is not that far off from actually happening.

i imagine a lot of hidden tears the day after i am gone.

i know this for sure because every day at work, i have given all of Who I Really Am to the table.

no emotional guards or stealth acts of being defensive.
i share how happy i am, my hopes for the future, my theories about life ... during water cooler conversations that happen randomly throughout the day.

i am sure they will remember three things:
1) my sharp and humorous wit
2) my creativity
3) my heart

that is how i know my life is working out, because i am remembered by those things that i value.

quote

The artist must conceive with warmth
yet execute with coolness.

- Robert Townsend

paradise is in the sages

my friend, Mhir, shared this great story with me.
i am not sure where it originally came from.
hence, i apologize that i cannot credit its source respectfully as of now.

below is the story:

...A rabbinic story underlines a similar point:

In a dream, a devout disciple of the master was
permitted to approach the Temple in Paradise where all
the great old sages who had studied the Talmud all
their lives were now spending eternity. He gazed in
at them, and to his amazement, they were all sitting
around tables, just as they had done on earth,
studying the Talmud still! The disciple watched them
passionately exclaiming and arguing and reverently
fingering the text. He wondered, "Is this really
Paradise? It seems like the earth." But then his
thoughts were interrupted by warm laughter. "You are
mistaken. This is not Paradise. The sages are not in
Paradise. Paradise is in the sages."

the abyss

Joseph Campbell wrote:

"It is only by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life. Where you stumble, there lies your treasure. The very cave you are afraid to enter turns out to be the source of what you were looking for. "

our office does not miss us

there is life outside of work.
there is a Me outside of work.

i've been absent from work for 3 days now.
and i just realized,
i do not miss work.

and...
while i need it to pay the bills, i truly do NOT need it.

and...
our office can survive without me.
it can be paralyzed for a day or two.
but it will adapt.
and soon, it will adapt without me in the picture.

so why do i live to work?