Search Results for: three words

Six reasons why I do a tech-free retreat

August 10, 2020 by Jim Peacock 1 Comment

My goal is to do a day-long tech-free retreat each month, inspired by Richard Leider’s book, Repacking Your Bags, and by my brother Mark who has been doing retreats for over thirty years. Each month I look ahead in my calendar to see what day works best. My brother takes any month that has a 5th Friday because there can’t be any “repeat meetings” scheduled on that day. I.e. “We meet on the 2nd Friday”… or the “3rd Friday of each month”.

This is a day I turn off my phone, computer, and ignore social media, so I am not “chasing the rabbit down the proverbial hole” every time something dings, rings, or shakes. I get up at my normal time, read the paper, eat breakfast, make lunch, fill a thermos of coffee, and then pack up my things and retreat to a friend’s office in downtown Waterville along the Kennebec River. (Thank you Jeri). I have done past retreats at a local college and also on the 3rd floor of our city library, but having a place that is truly private is important. There is something magical about being at her office space, away from my home, not at my desk, not in front of my computer, that creates space for me to do my retreat.

Here are my six reasons I do a tech-free retreat.

SIMPLIFYING

Probably the number one reason I do a tech-free retreat is to simplify my day. When I work from home there are so many distractions and things to do that constantly catch my attention, chores that need doing, sounds of kids playing, the mail truck arriving, etc… At her office, nothing is familiar.

The noises are different, the chair is different, it smells different. Perfect, time to simplify. My “monkey-brain” seems to slow down here.

THREE MONTH PLAN

I use this time to create a three-month editorial calendar. As many of you know, I write a weekly career email that goes out every Tuesday morning. One week I typically write a blog, another week I interview people on a variety of career topics, another week I might do a Facebook Live. Today is my day to take that 5000-foot view. It always feels good to have a plan laid out for the next three months and all I have to do is execute it. When I come home, I update the three month, dry-erase wall calendar I have. Now I can see what I will be writing about or sharing for the next twelve weeks.

10,000-FOOT VIEW

This is also the time I like to reflect on the bigger picture. The 10,000-foot view. Where do I want to be in three-five years? What areas do I want to revise, recommit to, or remove from my plan? One of my three-words for 2020 is “rebalance” and I am thinking about how to rebalance my work and leisure time.

It is hard to do sometimes working from home and owning my own business. This is the day that gives me the “space” to stop and think, which is nearly impossible to do at home with all the distractions. This is one of the most “freeing” feelings I get on the retreat…time to do what I want and when, and to look to the future.
[Me on top of Mt. Whitney, 14,505 foot view in 2012]

WRITING

Whether you like to write or not, the kinesthetic process of handwriting your thoughts is powerful. I happen to like writing. Most regular workdays, I begin by writing in a journal. Today, I will write more. For me, the handwriting forces my brain to organize my thoughts and to choose what is important to me now.

Sometimes I only write a few paragraphs because nothing is really jumping out at me, other days, I write more. On my retreat, I tend to write lots more. Because I have done my editorial calendar, I often have a couple of blogs kicking around in my head. I started this blog you are reading on my retreat. I started another one that will be coming out in September.

OUT OF MY COMFORT ZONE

I remember the first time I did a retreat. Yikes! The first couple of hours all I could think about was the text messages, emails, posts on LinkedIn, that I was missing. It took awhile on the first retreat to turn that “monkey mind” off. Now I look forward to my retreat day.

The key is getting out of my comfort zone and getting into the “stretch zone”. When we work with clients, we need to remember that there are actually three zones people can be in.

One is the “comfort zone” where not much learning or growth happens
Another is the “panic zone” where people are overwhelmed. There is zero learning happening here either.
The one in between I call the “stretch zone.” This is where learning and growth happens. We are out of our comfort zone and not in the panic zone, and this is where we can think, observe, and learn.

READING

Charles T. Munger said, “In my whole life, I have known no wise people (over a broad subject matter area) who didn’t read all the time — none, zero...”

Image by Dariusz Sankowski from Pixabay

I always have a book, magazine, blogs, or journals to read and it feels like there is never enough time to read them all…and there isn’t. But today at my tech-free retreat, I will take at least an hour or two to read. This retreat I read my current pleasure reading book, as well as three business magazines.

My challenge to you… try a tech-free retreat

Think about a day, or start with a half-day, to unplug and do the work we all must do to slow down. I call it the ‘tsunami of information’ and it comes at us all daily. We need to find ways to think and to “just be” in the moment. Do not be fooled by the fact that just because you are busy, it must mean you are productive. My tech-free retreat day is probably THE most productive day I have each month.

As the old Life cereal commercial said, “Try it, you might like it.” (Watch Mikey eat)

Want to learn more about taking a retreat? Watch this interview with three of us who take retreats and we talk about how and why we do them. INTERVIEW

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 recipient of the 2020 Kenneth C. Hoyt Award from National Career Development Association.

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Stressed Out? I know I am

March 9, 2020 by Jim Peacock 2 Comments

There is so much to be stressed out about these days, from the uncertainty of politics, to our daily To Do list, worrying about our kids, worrying about our parents, and much more. In order to be the best career coach or career service provider as possible, we need to figure out how to reduce our own stress first.

I think Super Tuesday made me nervous, along with all the talk about the COVID-19 this past week.

So what can we do when we are stressed out?

Here are six (6) things I do when I am feeling stressed out.

Make a “To Do” list of everything I need to do in the upcoming weeks…this is long. Then at the end of each day, I create a “To Do” list for the next workday with only three (3) things on it. What are THE most important things I need to do? Then I start my day with #1. I don’t check emails. I don’t login to social media. I get 1 or 2 of these done before I start getting distracted.
I always have my radio on when I am driving, often listening to Public Radio news. Sometimes this is what is causing me stress though. So I will occasionally turn off the radio or put on classical music…no words, just beautiful soothing music.
Walk away from technology throughout your day. I set a timer for 45 minutes so I will get up and move a bit. A recent Daniel Pink, Pinkcast, (I love his brief videos) showed a 20-20-20 method. Every 20 minutes, stop looking at the computer and look at least 20 feet away at something, for 20 seconds. It’s good for your eyes but also good for your mind to take a break from the computer screen.
Meditation breaks for me are 2:30pm daily. I have the Calm App on my phone set to remind me to stop and take a 20-25 minute meditation break. I have a number of meditations either recorded or saved on my phone. There are days it simply can not happen, but most days, I take this break and I am better for it. More energized, calmer, and more focused.
When I am really feeling like lunch is going to be “thrown down as fast as possible or eaten while I keep working” these are the days that I will often eat my lunch “mindfully”. Take 10 minutes and focus. What I mean by that is, I do not read, I do not watch t.v., I do not look at my computer, I just eat my lunch, one bite at a time and look out the window…take a bite and set the fork down or the sandwich down. This is simply focusing and is amazingly relaxing. Try it sometime.
Start your day doing something slow. I have been doing Qi Gong or going for a walk before my breakfast everyday. You can slow down by journaling, or reading five pages in a book, or just sit for 5 minutes. But do NOT start your day “on screech.”

Bonus stress relief activity for me: When I get really upset about something politically that I read, I will take the time to email my state’s Senators and Representatives. It helps me feel like I am actually doing something. It’s minor, but I do think the people we elected need to know how we feel and it does help me reduce stress a little bit by putting it into writing.

I also took the Greater Good stress test and it turns out I came back with an “average amount of stress.” Not sure if this makes me feel that much better but I guess it’s good to know. Take the Greater Good Stress Test

If you have gone this far 🙂 you should also read my blog Three Reasons to Practice Mindfulness

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

Intention Setting Time for 2020

January 6, 2020 by Jim Peacock 10 Comments

It is my intention setting time where I choose
“3 Words to Guide Me in 2020”.

This intention setting process of choosing 3 words takes a few months of processing and pondering. I spent some time at my last retreat reviewing my journals to see what types of things I was writing about and thinking about. As I listened to the news, podcasts, YouTube videos, TedTalks, read the paper and books, I paid attention to which words or themes were jumping out to me.

It’s interesting that most of my words seem to simmer to the surface rather than jump out at me. The power of simply thinking about things to create an intention setting framework in my day is important.

Recently, I met with a new business coach for a complimentary session as I am thinking about starting that up again, and she required that I answer some thought-provoking questions before we met. That helped simmer more thoughts.

I am also looking to update my website as I have outgrown mine over the past 10 years and that person also asked many questions about where I want to be in 3-5 years, which also helped me “simmer more thoughts” leading to my intention setting for 2020.

Here are my 3 words for the past four years which helped me set my intentions daily throughout the year.

2016 – Health ★ Mindfulness ★ Focus

2017 – Intentional ★ Authentic ★ Wellness

2018 – Reach ★ Capacity ★ Consistency

2019 – Gratitude ★ Purposeful ★ Reflection

My Three Intention Setting Words for 2020

Philanthropy

I ended 2019 with giving a young man 3 complimentary sessions which carry over into 2020. I had been thinking about the word “giving” and he came along and needed some help making his next career move. I love the feeling of being able to give back to my community in some way. This is a great start for my word ‘philanthropy’.

Definition: Goodwill to fellow members of the human race. An act or gift done, or made, for humanitarian purposes. Altruistic concern for human welfare and advancement.

When I looked up the definition of philanthropy I found it meant more than giving money. As I look to 2020, I want to give more of my time, energy, and resources this year. If just feels right…which is how I choose my words. It has to “feel right”.

Rebalance

I love what I do and I love to share lots of free career content across a variety of platforms and mediums. One thing I want to do is to identify the areas that are having the biggest impact and keep doing them. For those things I do that have limited impact, I will reduce or remove. I am also trying to rebalance my work week to be closer to a 32 hour week compared to the 40+ I have worked over the past 10 years. I want to consider how and where I spend my time daily.

Strategic

I knew last year my effort and energy (and resources) were going to my book. This year I want to be more strategic with my efforts. Not the least of which is to update my website. It was done 10 years ago and tweaked 3 years ago, but I’ve really outgrown it. This is just one example of me being more strategic. I also want to identify new markets to make a presence in, like New Brunswick and Ottawa, National College Transition Network (which I attended in November), and more.

Have you chosen 3 words to guide you?

Have you created goals for 2020?

If so, please share them here.

Jim Peacock is the Principal at Peak-Careers Consulting and writes a weekly career news 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

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Find Your Why by Simon Sinek

April 16, 2019 by Jim Peacock Leave a Comment

A Practical Guide For Discovering Purpose for You and Your Team. With David Mead and Peter Docker

This book had been recommended to me by a number of people and is all about how you figure out your WHY. In other words, WHY do you do what you do?

Not WHAT you do or HOW you do it, but the real WHY you do it. The authors show how to do this work for individuals and also for teams or companies. There is an extensive facilitator section if your company or team were to work with an outside person (recommended) to facilitate a 4 hour workshop to help your company or team figure out their WHY.

Your WHY statement should look like this…

To __________________ (contribution of some sort) so that ___________________ (impact).

Example: I strive to help people (contribution) to be the best version of themselves (impact).

Every organization and every person’s career has three levels. What we do, how we do it, and why we do it. This is represented with a bullseye like circle with three rings. The inner circle is the WHY. The next ring is the HOW and the outer ring is the WHAT.

I am working on mine and it goes something like this…

I help career service providers improve their skills so that the greatest number of people receive quality career services.

My how’s are: practical, engaging, collaborative, and authentic career content.

My what’s are by delivering quality newsletters, weekly content, the Facilitating Career Development (FCD) class, webinars, and online discussion-based seminars.

I am also working on my career coaching WHY and here is my draft for that area.

I help people reframe their current career situation to create their next career move.

This book really helped me think about what motivates me more and how a company could use this book to create a team WHY. This is a follow up to Simon Sinek’s book, Start With Why, and his very popular TED Talk. Here is his edited version of his talk.

It’s All About The Conversation

April 8, 2019 by Jim Peacock Leave a Comment

As career coaches, we must always remember that it is all about the conversation. It is not about the assessments we give, or the advice we hand out, or even the resources we share. Without a quality conversation, we are unlikely to be that helpful to our clients. By discussing assessment results and consistently checking in with our clients, they can then learn how to interpret whether they are on the right track.

It’s all about the conversation.

When I was the Director of Advising, Career, and Transfer at a local community college, I taught a Career Decision Making class. I gave three different interest assessments—one personality and two values assessments. I always would say as I prepared the students for each one “Don’t believe the results of the assessments”. They’d look at me confused and typically ask, “Then why are we taking them?” I explained they should be suspicious of all assessment results. It isn’t until we discuss the results and make sense of them within each person’s specific life and situation that we can believe them.

The power of Career coaching is in getting the students or clients to explore their own beliefs, values, interests, and experiences and really listen to their interpretation of their world. If they present a skewed picture of their own career development or see obstacles where there are none, it is our job as the coach (advisor, counselor, practitioner…whatever you call yourself), to challenge their thinking and help them figure out how to move forward. Again, it’s all about the conversation and getting them to figure it out with our help.

Read how I use card sorts to create the conversation.

We should provide resources and information when appropriate, but the real power in the coaching session is getting the client to uncover important themes and realize they often have the answer within themselves, they just need a coach to help pull it out.

There is nothing worse than hearing someone say “My guidance counselor told me I could not do that.” Or, “my parents said that I should do _________.” Because when someone else says you can’t or shouldn’t or even should do something, it will be that person who is wrong when it doesn’t work out. Yikes! Now we can suggest, offer, and nudge when appropriate but never lose sight of the fact that it is indeed all about the conversation.

Asking those great open-ended questions that get the client to think about things forces them to really try to make sense of their own career development. I am always listening for their words and phrases and my goal is to get them to be the one talking at least 60-70% of the time.

Many of their own conclusions will not come in the current session. It may happen when they leave and do more thinking about your conversation, on a walk they take in two days, or maybe even a month from now. The key is to get them thinking and taking ownership of their own career development. You do that by making sure it’s all about the conversation.

Note: this blog is based upon Chapter 7 in my book A Field Guide for Career Practitioners: Helping Clients Create Their Next Move due out in May 2019.

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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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Stressed at Work? Here’s Why You Should Write a Gratitude Journal

June 11, 2018 by Jim Peacock Leave a Comment

The power of a gratitude journal.
Did you know it can reduce stress at work?

Yep. And there is plenty of science to prove it.

I just finished reading Maria Shiver’s book, I’ve Been Thinking… Reflections, Prayers, and Meditations for a Meaningful Life, a wonderfully uplifting book to read in these trying times. One of her many recommendations is keeping a gratitude journal and beginning each day by reflecting on all the things you are grateful for. (Read my book review of it here).

In the Greater Good Magazine, Robert Emmons explains that a gratitude journal can help you:

be more stress resistant
block toxic, negative emotions
sleep better
and celebrate the ‘present’ (i.e. be more mindful . . . see 3 Reasons to Practice Mindfulness at Work.)

Other research from the Science of Happiness online class I took a few years ago speaks to the fact that emotionally healthy people exhibit a ratio of “negative thoughts” to “positive thoughts”. I can’t find the exact number but it is something like 3:1 ratio. By writing a gratitude journal you counteract negative thoughts with positive ones...and then reap the benefits of positivity. The gratitude journal focuses your thinking on positive thoughts and actually reduces the number of negative words you write and think about.

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