10 Secret Skills that Build Confidence and Engagement for Your Work…

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Here is #6 and #5…

 

Continuing on in our countdown of 10 Secret Skills that build confidence and engagement for your work…

 

Remember, they are a countdown because these are a progressive set of skills that can be developed and practiced in your daily work to connect you to a more vivid sense of personal power – confidence that what you can do makes a difference for others.

 

As we practice these skills we not only build our confidence, we simultaneously quiet the noise (the self-sabotaging comments) that produces naturally from our brains/ego in response to anything that is expressed from our spirit – our higher self.

 

Operating from ego is a state of being that requires effort in order to get something you want for yourself.  Operating from spirit a state of being that requires seemingly no effort in order to enable a benefit for another.  Quieting your will/ego enables your spirit to be the filter through which you perform your daily tasks – that is doing “your work”.  Doing “your work” enables you to easily experience fulfillment.  When ego is the filter through which you perform your daily tasks you are (at best) doing “your job”.  Doing “your job” is often not enough to sustain an experience of fulfillment – or happiness.

 

So let’s get on with the countdown of  “Secret Skills” – and practice, practice, practice away at them!  Here’s #6 and #5…

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10 Secret Skills that Build and Convey a Personal Sense of Power and Engagement for your Work

By Gina Calvano | 1 Comment

From now though March I offer to you a countdown of 10 Secret Skills that build and convey a personal sense of power and engagement for your work.  I suggest them as a countdown because I believe that they are a progressive set of skills that can be developed – meaning working on #10 provides a solid foundation that makes #9 easier to do and share with others.  In other words, I believe it’s going to be very hard to tap into Secret Skill #1 if you haven’t yet incorporated Secret Skill #10 into your daily work.

 

You might be wondering 2 things…

 

1.  Why should I value building a sense of power for my work?  Because when we feel that we have something unique to contribute to others it energizes us and makes us feel like we matter.  Do you want to tap into a greater sense of energy and fulfillment from your work?

 

2.  Why should I value conveying a sense of power for my work?  Because when others get a sense that we are powerful we inspire others (and stand out over other job candidates when we are interviewing).  Inspiring others connects us to a personal sense of mastery of our work.  (Check out what Harvard Business Review has to say about why inspiration matters).  Becoming a master often frees us from external factors (i.e. what others think, do and say) as contributing more to our sense of self-importance and value to others and shifts our source toward internal factors (i.e. what we think, do and say) as contributing more to our sense of self-importance and value to others.  We then become more intention-focused vs. (material) reward-focused.  That shift creates a more sustainable connection to happiness and (therefore), success from our work.   From that the materials markers of success flow more naturally and in greater abundance than we could imagine than when we were solely focused on collecting them.  They become an effortless by-product of our happiness and engagement at work.

 

Our jobs are one of the easiest realms of our life to make a difference because unlike in family dynamics there is no pre-context for others about what we are capable of – (or what might be appropriate for us to be capable of in relation to our elders or given some scale of privileged or tradition we were born into).  At work the people we serve are always welcoming and hopeful for us to give our best.

 

Boosting up the volume on the “secret skills” you already have can matter greatly to those who are served by you or work with you – especially if you…

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How livin’ the dream conquers the fear of success (or lack of success)

By Gina Calvano | Leave a Comment

Client profile #3:

 

Name (changed of course to protect identity) – Jack

 

Age range – 30-40

 

You don-know Jack – or maybe you do ;-)

 

Jack was a music theory major in college and became a touring recording artist – sounds great so far doesn’t it!!

 

Even though Jack was livin’ the dream – touring with famous artists and even doing some work for film and TV (plus his Dad supplemented some of his income so he could keep going with his dream – to become a famous artist) – he too had success derailing thoughts.

 

Jack felt he had a lack of industry knowledge which kept him from getting to the next level with business managers and recording lables.  Jack accepted this degree of limitation he felt he had because he loved playing music so much – why change or stretch himself outside of his comfort zone?  After all, life was pretty good plus he didn’t really have any life obligations beyond fulfilling his own dreams and ambitions – until…

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Here’s how you can avoid having your family on your case this holiday season about your career and life choices.

By Gina Calvano | Leave a Comment

Client profile #2:

 

Name (changed of course to protect identity) – Paige

 

Age range – 21-25

 

Can you relate to Paige? 

 

Paige is a recent college graduate who finished her undergrad degree in 4 years (yahoo!).  Even though she was consistently on the Dean’s list, she doesn’t think she is smart and she wasn’t happy with her GPA (overachiever? – maybe).  What’s even more impressive about Paige is that she waitressed her way through school!  She wanted to get through school within 4 years so she could start getting a real paycheck in the real world.

 

Despite all this ambition and energy (even though Paige didn’t see herself as ambitious), she described herself as “indecisive” and said her biggest struggle has been in developing “confidence” in her choices.  Paige shared that she thought she wanted a degree in social work, rehab counseling or psychology but she was uncertain she could finish any of these degrees within 4 years.  So she settled for a double major in English (which was always her comfort zone) and Anthropology.

 

Family is the biggest influence in getting out of career indecision – and sometimes it can be the cannon that shoots us right into career indecision (especially if we think we are the black sheep of the bunch)…

 

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10 No Cost Ways to Present Yourself at Your Best – #10 & #9

By Gina Calvano | 1 Comment

As I mentioned in one of my last blog posts, I have been doing a lot of networking in the past few months.  I always feel that my personal experiences make for the best inspiration for content – if I am noticing it – there is a reason.  And if I am pained by my observation, then there is a purpose lurking somewhere in my pain – it is just a matter of time before the purpose clicks for me.  Lately, I have had a lot of clicking going on.

I have decided to share a series with you about my observations that can provide some no cost ideas on how to present yourself at your best.  Treating yourself well matters because it is a path for allowing good things to come your way.  We attract what we put out into the Universe.  If we are not treating ourselves well then we are going to find hard times trying to get others to regard us or treat us well in return.  Minor changes can go a long way – so it’s in that spirit that I share my observations and ideas with you.

Mind you, I am not a personal stylist nor am I particularly into fashion and the latest trends.  But I know bad or inappropriate treatment when I see it and often we are our own worst offenders.  More importantly, I know what I think when I see it (I am human – I can’t help it – I make decisions about people when I see the way they look and I know I am not alone in this).  Of course, I consciously weigh it in with a lot of other variables like how they treat others, how they present themselves, their ideas/energy/chutzpah, etc.  But I cannot ignore it because I know it means something about how they value themselves – and how people value themselves matters greatly to me.

So I offer to you 10 no cost ways to present yourself at your best.  Every week – I will write about two things – counting down to the most important thing you can do to present your best self.  I hope they inspire you to treat yourself better and in return boost your confidence by demonstrating to the Universe that you take pride in your appearance and that you deserve to be treated well.

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The easiest mistake you can avoid making in your career

By Gina Calvano | Leave a Comment

Never underestimate the power of a good handshake!

Seems obvious, right?  Does anyone out there disagree with me on this one?  Probably not – so do I seriously have to blog about Handshaking 101?  Ahhh ya, I do because there are still far too many people out there who still hold onto their bad handshake and it is killing their advantage over their competition.

Bad Handshakers of the world (you know who you are), you must stop this insanity (you know, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result – as in – “I’ll give the ‘limp fish‘ shake again – but this time – this time by golly people will get that I have energy, and that I am confident and powerful!”).  Do you hear it now?  This is the kindest (full on – benefit of the doubt), talk bubble that good handshakers see over your head when they try to shake your limp fish hand. We get it – maybe you are having a bad day or you are a little low on energy or self-esteem right now, but unless there is a cast of some sort on your arm or hand – there is no excuse – for a bad handshake.  Why?  Because it is the least amount of effort, easiest and fastest way to convey a sense of energy, confidence and “glad to see/meet you”!  And if you don’t have energy or confidence at the moment for whatever reason, it is the least amount of effort, easiest and fastest way to fake a sense of energy, confidence and “glad to see/meet you”!

Are you smacking yourself in the head yet?

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Why ON-GOING Education and Training Matters – Knowledge, Skill and Social Affiliation Expansion

By Gina Calvano | Leave a Comment

Welcome to week 3  continuing on our topic of “4 key distinctions that matter for finding career happiness” after you obtain the ‘3C’s’ – clarity, confidence and conviction.

Before all that – I just have to share my joy over Spring – it is coming – I can just feel it – can’t you?  What a difference a week makes in the weather!  I am done, done, DONE with winter and anxiously awaiting Spring.

I do promise however to continue working to help the workforce transition to the indigoforce and to keep sharing my thoughts and great information through our blog – but I just might be doing it from outside soon – at least I hope!  Lucky for you – fresh air just might be the ticket to even better blogging content for you – we shall see – hopefully SOON.

Onto our topic…

Recap – Our first distinction was get comfortable making choices and our second was get courageous.  Did you clarify what your relationship to the concept “choices” is for you?  Did you assess if you have the courage (defined as feeling afraid but moving forward anyway), to make changes from time to time in your career?

Getting clear about the skills you need to develop and the environments where you can easily get exposure to obtaining those skills makes it is easier to make a move.  And remember, every job/career, field/industry, work environment,  and boss has their drawbacks.  When you are clear about what you are there to achieve personally and professionally most job drawbacks can become very tolerable.

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Why courage matters for finding career happiness

By Gina Calvano | Leave a Comment

Welcome to week 2 – continuing on our topic of “4 key distinctions that matter for finding career happiness”.  Of course, these are key only after you obtain the ‘3C’s’ – clarity, confidence and conviction.

Clarity – UNDERSTAND what your natural talents and abilities are, where they are needed, why they are needed, and why you encountered past successes and obstacles.

Confidence – OWN YOUR CHOICE to use your natural talents and abilities or to cultivate new talents and abilities with or without concerted effort.

Conviction – ACT CONTINUOUSLY to pursue roles that utilize your natural talents and abilities and communicate your aspirations in a manner that earns respect.

Our first distinction was getting comfortable making choices.  Did you clarify what your relationship to the concept “choices” is for you?  Making choices and accepting your choices is a key distinction to be in touch with – it can lead to a significant breakthrough that may enable you to find happiness in a career choice.  Getting clear about a career path (both short-term and long-term planning), can ease “choice discomfort” .

This week we explore why courage (feeling afraid but moving forward anyway), matters and how to get courageous.

Do you have the courage to make changes from time to time in your career?  We all know when we have overstayed our welcome when we are a guest – the same holds true for jobs and careers.

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Career Choice is a Process…It doesn’t happen overnight

By Gina Calvano | Leave a Comment

Many of us may have thought (or still think) – “if I could just find my calling”.  Wouldn’t that be nice??  One day (ideally before we invest in education or training beyond high school), we get a phone call from the universe and a sweet voice whispers to us the ideal, attainable career.  The one that makes us happy, contributes to others, earns us great money, and allows us all the free time we desire.  As we all know, it just doesn’t work that way for most of us.  Plus – we are deceived by thinking there is that one great job and we just need to figure out what it is.  The truth is there are many great jobs and careers for each of us.  The way you discover your potential career journey is by obtaining the “3 C’s” – Clarity, Confidence and Conviction.

Clarity – Is understanding – what your natural talents and abilities are, where they are needed, why they are needed, and why you encountered past successes and obstacles.

It all begins with understanding yourself first.  Highly successful people know what they do best, find ways to incorporate what they do best into their life and careers, and keep on learning.  It’s a continuous journey.

Confidence – Is owning – your choice to use your natural talents and abilities or to cultivate new talents and abilities with or without concerted effort.

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