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By Patricia Cornwall

I’ve read many of the Kay Scarpetta books by Patricia Cornwell over the years. I always love her style and ability to weave a good mystery with all kinds of twists and turns.

I found this more recent book on the shelves at the place we were staying while on vacation recently. Whew! I could not put this one down either.

The high-powered microwave weapons that I’ve read about at the US Embassy in Cuba where our employees had brain problems and hearing issues, she wove into this book.

No matter when I figured out “who did it” I was wrong. I am not a fan of the gory type of stuff a medical examiner has to deal with but I do love a good book about figuring out a murder or two. Well done again Patricia Cornwall.

INTERVIEW: Resilience and Importance of Self-Care

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Another Peak-Careers INTERVIEW  on Resilience for Job Seekers: The importance of having a Healthy Body and Brain.

My guests today are:

Sabrina Woods,  Holistic Career Coach & International Trainer / Speaker

Aileen Axtmayer is a Career Coach and Corporate Wellness Speaker

Kim Bilawchuk is a Career Coach

(1)- Many of our clients struggle to find their next job. Why is having a healthy body and brain so important to them?

(2) What suggestions do you have to help them take care of themselves?

https://youtu.be/7EV9C6bS49g

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE INTERVIEW

Rise Above Your Stress: http://www.sabrina-woods.com/uploads/1/0/2/3/10238814/rising_above_job_search_stress_-sabrina_woods-_handout.pdf

10 Tips to Build Resilience: http://www.sabrina-woods.com/uploads/1/0/2/3/10238814/buiding_resilience_top_10_tips_-hopesummit-_sabrina_woods_5-4-20.pdf

https://associationdatabase.com/aws/NCDA/pt/sd/news_article/471023/_PARENT/CC_layout_details/false

Tapping Solutions app https://www.thetappingsolution.com/

Calm App (on phone)

Insight Timer (on phone) Thousands of meditations to choose from, I love Mary Maddux’s Relax Into Sleep meditation and her walking meditation. Jim

Atomic Habits by James Clear
Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker
Emotional First-Aid by Dr. Guy Winch

Yoga nidra and guided breathwork https://www.aspirewithaileen.com/workplace-wellness-guides

The On-Purpose Person: Making Your Life Make Sense by Kevin W. McCarthy

Bio’s

Sabrina Woods is a Holistic Career Coach & International Trainer / Speaker. She has 20 years in the career services field including at Harvard and Northeastern. In her coaching work, she uses holistic and mindfulness-based practices to help people with major career transitions. Sabrina also facilitates workshops on career and well-being topics such as the Myers Briggs, managing our stress, and capitalizing on Linkedin. For more info: www.sabrina-woods.com or www.linkedin.com/in/sabrinawoods. 

Aileen Axtmayer is a Career Coach and Corporate Wellness Speaker. In her practice, Aspire with Aileen, she helps exhausted professionals restore their energy, feel their best, and do what they love. Over the past 15+ years she’s helped thousands of people manage their stress and has presented to global groups of up to 300 people. Aileen believes that happiness in our careers can make us healthier and being healthier enables us to thrive in our work. www.aspirewithaileen.com 

Kim Bilawchuk is a Career Coach who is passionate about helping others live in alignment with who they are truly meant to be by slowing down to get ahead. A lifelong learner, she inspires her clients by creating unique approaches to explore and discover their greatest potential for transformation, growth, and healing, giving them individualized support and encouragement to live a life of calm and ease both personally and professionally, in a safe, supported, non-judgmental environment. Kim lives in Lowell, MA, with her amazing husband, two soccer-playing teenagers, and mutt named Albert. You can learn more about her at www.kbcareercoach.com and connect with her at www.linkedin.com/in/kimbilawchuk

Jim Peacock is the principal at Peak-Careers Consulting and writes a weekly email for career practitioners. Peak-Careers offers discussion-based online seminars for career practitioners focused on meeting continuing education needs for CCSP, GCDF, and BCC certified professionals as well as workshops for career practitioners and individual career coaching.

He is the author of A Field Guide for Career Practitioners: Helping Your Clients Create Their Next Move and The Adventure of Finding Me in New Zealand. He is also the recipient of the 2020 Kenneth C. Hoyt Award from the National Career Development Association and the Mid-Atlantic Career Counseling Association’s Professional Contribution’s Award in 2020.

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The Never Game

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By Jeffrey Deaver

Colter Shaw is a great name and a very cool dude who solves problems others can’t. This is the first of three books in Deaver’s series on Colter and I plan to find the next two as soon as I can.

This book is about Colter whose job it is to find missing people for money. He is not a detective and he is not a bounty hunter…just a guy who likes to solve puzzles on where a missing person is. He also likes to help people out.

This book has to do with video games and “who done it” changes so many times that I can’t even write about it here other than someone is taking the storyline from video games and making it real life. Wow! Loved the book and the main character. Give me more 🙂

The Sabbath by Abraham Joshua Heschel

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This book was recommended to me because I love to take tech-free retreats and write, read, think, meditate, and just “be” in the moment. (Read bout my tech-free retreats).

This is a fairly religious book written by a Jewish man in the 1950’s but what really resonated with me is his concept of time vs space. And how so many of us have filled our lives with things that take space, like material goods, work, and doing things.

He talks about the importance of respecting time as a thing to enjoy…just the time we are in, like mindfulness. Here are a couple of my favorite quotes to think about.

“We must not forget – that it is not a thing that lends significance to a moment; it is the moment that lends significance to things.”

“We usually think that the earth is our mother, that time is money and profit our mate. The seventh day is a reminder that God is our father, that time is life and spirit our mate.”

“Time is the process of creation, and things of space are results of creation. When looking at space we see products of creation; when intuiting time we hear the process of creation.”

Amazingly I watched a Simon Sinek podcast today when I finished this book, with Brene Brown and Adam Grant talking about creativity and the importance of giving our brains space to think. To take the time to NOT think about being creative and to take the time to do nothing (Abraham’s “time”) to let our minds go free.

Taking my retreat and turning off the technology is the day I slow down. It is by far the most productive day of the month whenever I take it.

This book is a real thinker book and has references to lots of rabbi’s and readings from the Bible and the Torah. But the most important thing about it is that it reinforced my need to retreats and take the time weekly to NOT do things and “just be” in the moment.

INTERVIEW: Three Words to Guide Us in 2023

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Choosing Three Words to Guide You in 2023

My guests today are Robin McPherson, a mental health professional and career coach; and Telma Sullivan who is an independent career coach helping individuals to launch, advance, or transition their careers.

We have all chosen three words to guide us in 2023.

(1) What are your words and what do they mean to you?

(2) How did you go about choosing them?

Watch or listen to the interview now

BIO’s

Robin McPherson. A mental health professional and an education and career coach. I have over 20 years of experience in the human service and education field. I help people “figure out” what they want. It starts with Envisioning the life they want, then work with the mindset of Believing that one can Achieve their goals. I believe that the key to success is self-belief! I am committed to the process of helping others reach self-actualization. https://www.linkedin.com/in/robin-mcpherson/

Telma Sullivan is an independent career coach helping individuals to launch, advance, or transition their career. She coaches young adults exploring careers, women reentering the workforce, people in mid-career, and career changers. Her coaching approach is client-focused and outcome-oriented, and her services include: job search strategy, resume/CV/cover letter writing, LinkedIn profile, networking, interview/salary negotiation preparation, and career change exploration. Telma is also a yoga instructor who enjoys creative writing and spending time in nature. Web: https://www.telmasullivan.com/

 

Jim Peacock is the principal at Peak-Careers Consulting and writes a weekly email for career practitioners. Peak-Careers offers discussion-based online seminars for career practitioners focused on meeting continuing education needs for CCSP, GCDF, and BCC certified professionals as well as workshops for career practitioners and individual career coaching.

He is the author of A Field Guide for Career Practitioners: Helping Your Clients Create Their Next Move and The Adventure of Finding Me in New Zealand. He is also the recipient of the 2020 Kenneth C. Hoyt Award from the National Career Development Association and the Mid-Atlantic Career Counseling Association’s Professional Contribution’s Award in 2020.

Sign up to receive my TOP 10 TIPS WHEN WORKING WITH AN UNDECIDED PERSON. You will also receive the career practitioner’s weekly email on a variety of career topics, industry news, interesting events, and more. (Sign up)

How to Shit in the Woods: An Environmentally Sound Approach To A Lost Art

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By Kathleen Meyer

I received this in my Christmas stocking. Seriously. My wife found it for $1 and thought it would be a good gift for her backpacking husband.

I figured (and she probably did too) that it was a funny book that would be filled with chuckles. And it is. But it is also an environmental book with tips and explanations on why we need to be more aware of the fecal problem we are having in the wild. Amazingly this was written in 1989…Kathleen was WAY ahead of her time.

She talks about what happens when 1000’s of people go down the Grand Canyon raft trips and only have a few places to poop. It is disgusting unless people carry out their deposits.

I know that when I was backpacking the John Muir Trail in 2012 that when we were above treeline and I had to go in the morning, I had few choices but to turn over a rock, only to discover I wasn’t the first person who turned that rock over.

Its great that more and more people are getting into the wilderness but without a proper way of digging a hole in the ground or having latrines, then our option is to carry out.

I love so many of her descriptions of the use of word as well as stories from people who have had problematic poops on the trail. Some of truly hilarious.

Here is one descriptor of many. Can eat sawdust and shit 2 x 4’s (means the person is overworked)

If you are an outdoor person and want to know WHY it is important we have this discussion, read this book (if you can find it). And it also has tips on WHAT we can do too. Even one chapter just for women.