Happy Birthday Big Issue! Creating meaningful work for the homeless

I had the extreme good fortune to be invited to the 18th Birthday Party of The Big Issue last week. For those of you who live in cities in the UK, The Big Issue is now a well known entertainment and current affairs magazine which is sold by homeless vendors. They buy the magazine from the charity for 75 pence and sell it for £1.50, thereby making 75 pence for themselves per copy.

The great thing about The Big Issue is that, while there were over 500 charities helping the homeless at the time it was started, it was the only charity which gave homeless and vulnerably housed people the opportunity to earn a legitimate income.

The charity believes in offering ‘a hand up, not a hand out’ and earning an income is the first step on the journey away from homelessness.

It has worked for 18 years, and work gives dignity to what can be a very demoralising situation.

Do you think of your your work as dignifying? What is it helping you to do?

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What's Your Career Strategy? Could a Free, No-Obligation Call With Me Help?

"Rich people have small TVs and big libraries, and poor people have small libraries and big TVs." — Zig Ziglar

Need I say more!!

New Term, New Career Strategy!

It's that time of year when the vacation season is over and the shops (in the UK at least!) are filled with "Back to School" clothes and pencil sets.

Maybe you had a break over the summer (or winter if you're in the southern hemisphere) and started wondering where your career is going? Or perhaps you've been feeling stuck for some time and can't think of a way to get moving, especially in a slow economic climate?

If you feel it's time for a fresh start, you're in the right place! To celebrate "Back to Work" time, I'm offering free, no obligation, Career Strategy calls throughout September.

Here's how it works! Email september@careersafari.com and we'll agree a specific day/time for the call. I'll call you either at work or at home and we'll spend up to an hour exploring your situation and finding ways you can move forward.

Is it a deal? I hope so!

What is the best answer after a definite yes?

Have you ever spent lots of time and energy chasing up an opportunity, a relationship, a job perhaps? Time goes on and on, and you're still not sure whether it's going somewhere. And then eventually - you get a rejection.

Many of us have been there. When that's happened to me, I feel so angry that my time has been wasted when the other party involved clearly didn't intend to employ me, do business with me or have a relationship with me at all.

But my anger is really with myself. Wasn't there that little voice inside my head - the voice of my unconscious mind - telling me that it wasn't going anywhere all along?

Next time you're spending what feels like too much energy on something, stop and ask yourself whether this really is going somewhere - or whether you're just desperately hoping it will and ignoring all the signs.

So "What is the best answer after a definite yes?". A definite NO!!! Then you can get on with the next opportunity and stop wasting time.

Relationships get jobs!

Is there safety in numbers? If you spray your CV or résumé out far and wide, you might be forgiven for thinking that it increases the chances of a new job role popping up.

Unfortunately, though I wouldn't stop people from reaching far and wide in this economy, building relationships is one of the most fundamental ways to differentiate yourself in the eyes of recruiters. It's so easy to send your details online that pretty much everyone's doing it with one click, so yours just end up in a faceless digital heap.

UK Marketing and HR agency group Stop Gap published this interesting comment about how to build relationships with recruiters for the best results - well worth a read!

http://tinyurl.com/llzvua

The 30 best careers?

U.S. News profiles 30 careers that offer strong outlooks and high job satisfaction:

http://www.usnews.com/sections/business/best-careers/

Find Time To Exhale

Spending a few days in the English countryside, visiting family, I've been struck by the amazing benefits of simply changing the energy around you. Winston the dog and I set off bright and early for our usual morning walkie, which today took place in the local cemetery! The sun was shining, the grass was green and lush, the birds were twittering and the whole energy felt calm and serene. I live in a quiet corner of central London and have a fantastic woodland and ecology park behind my house, but nothing beats the earthy grounding of a countryside retreat!

I'm listening to a radio interview with Derek Sivers as I type this, and he's just commented about "finding time to exhale". That exactly sums up my morning walks, when I love to just breathe out and prepare myself for the day to come.

Don't get me wrong, I love the adrenalin of London and there can be no better place for people coming together from around the world and bringing new ideas to life!

But today I realize again how important it is to regularly refresh yourself with a change of scene and energy. I haven't been doing that enough, and now I will be addressing that more vigorously!

Jack Lemmon on Failure

"Failure seldom stops you. What stops you is the fear of failure."– Jack Lemmon

Personal Goals

I very much admire my fried Neal Moore, who has relocated to Singapore to set up a new Asia Pacific operation for his company, Telecom TV (http://www.telecomtv.com). For those of you interested in the world of telecoms, this is a really great video and media company which makes the business of telecoms most entertaining!

Neal has been working a crazy working schedule to get things moving, and came up with the following observation: "Work/life balance isn't just about finding time to relax outside of work, it's also about finding time to do something you are passionate about where you set the goals and nurture skills or ambitions that are neglected at work!".

Neal helped me to remember the importance of setting personal as well as career goals. After all - work is part of life - it's not life itself!

"Anyone who ever gave you confidence, you owe them a lot".

"Anyone who ever gave you confidence, you owe them a lot". Those words were written by Truman Capote and spoken by the character Holly Golightly inthe film "Breakfast at Tiffanys", 1958.

Coming right up to date, Britain's Next Top Coach finalist Jules Wyman, a respected friend of mine, has some confidence tips for you in her session on:

www.britainsnexttopcoach.tv/contestants/jules-wyman/final

Go straight there, watch her video and vote! Or see Jules's tips for Career Safari members - and then go and vote!

How is now the time for you to make better quality choices?

"Your life today is a result of the choices you have made in the past. If you want a better quality of life, you need to make better choices".

Many people are stuck in unfulfilling career situations as a result of the choices they are making. Let's face it, even if you choose to do nothing, you are still making a choice! You can choose to take action to change your situation and to keep moving your life forward - or you can sit around watching Big Brother and moaning about your situation.

Let's look at some of the incredible people around the world who made radical choices in order to follow their passion.

• Bill Gates chose to drop out of Harvard University to follow his determination to put a computer on every desk, even though his parents were dismayed at the time.


• Richard Branson chose to drop out of school to set up his original business venture, a student magazine, which became the foundation of the Virgin business empire and the philanthropic work which now helps others set their lives on a new course.


• Oprah Winfrey chose not to accept the limitations whcih society sought to impose upon her as a black woman, read voraciously and made the choices which led to her TV career and charitable foundations which support many aound the world.

What choices have you made and how is now the time to make better choices?

Can gadgets and freedom attract the best young talent?

Interesting new research in the USA about "Millennials" - those aged between mid-teens and late twenties - and their response to IT usage at work.

In these days when companies struggle to contain the use of social networking sites and keep IT security and privacy of client data high, Millennials are apparently broadcasting information, blissfully aware of corporate IT security policies, and leaving their iPhones and client phone numbers behind in bars.

But the flip side of this coin is that younger workers are far more likely to generate breakthrough business ideas than competitors who want their workers to conform to "old school" IT policies and procedures. How can companies find a balance?

Read this fascinating research from global consultancy Accenture at: http://tinyurl.com/m3c5a5

Learn from the circus!

I loved this quote from UK newspaper "The Daily Mail":


"We have a country in which a former circus manager's son, John Major, became prime minister - don't talk about glass ceilings".

I had the good fortune to bump into someone who has turned the art of the circus into a business: Bubblz the Maths Clown! She has inspired me - and, I hope, many others, to think more creatively about their careers and how to bring fun into learning.

See her site for details at: http://www.bubblztheclown.co.uk/bubblz.html

Career Safari will be launching a series of inspirational speaker events, with opportunities to network with people in all sorts of careers in all walks of life. Our first event will be in the last week in September (just sourcing a venue right now!) in central London. Sign up for our news updates in box to the right of this post to be kept informed!