The Career Success Doctor

The Career Success Doctor guides talented professional women to career success

Does Self-Sabotage Stop You From Succeeding?

Written by

Have you ever had the experience where you think you want something badly, yet all your attempts to get it seem to go wrong? Perhaps you’ve set a goal, made it SMART and done all the things you know you ought to do to create well-formed goals, but never quite seem to get it.  I know I have done this many times.

I’ve just been reading a great blog piece by Neroli Makim, posted on Yaro Starak’s site.  It’s well worth reading the full article, but here’s a taste of what she had to say.

‘Approximately 2% of our mind is conscious, and approximately 98% is unconscious. The unconscious is by far the more powerful force that drives our thoughts and actions most of the time, and it’s responsible for a lot of our behavior. John (Assaraf – multi million dollar entrepreneur) has found that in order to achieve our goals, we must have neuro-resonance, that is, our conscious and unconscious minds need to be lined up and resonant. This is when the power of being coherent and consistent in our creative process really kicks in.

One of the big difficulties we face in being coherent and consistent is that our conscious mind will tell us one thing, like “I’d love to be successful in business, I’d love to earn $25,000 in passive income from my blog this quarter.” But our unconscious will be running a completely different story, like, “I’ve got no idea how to do this, I’m freaked out because I’ll have to learn new things and I might mess up and look stupid.”

This kind of thinking will sink our chances of creating that money and experiencing that success quicker than smashing into a giant iceberg. But the problem is, a lot of it is unconscious, we don’t even know it’s going on. It’s a bit like a steady hum of background static, 24/7 in our lives. It’s no wonder the unconscious runs our thinking process that in turn feeds into our actions!’

She has two solutions to the problem.  One, courtesy of John Assaraf is to learn to act in spite of ourselves.  The other, from John De Martini, is to find the biggest reason ‘why this is important’ that you possibly can.  Now both these Johns are men of international renown, and have made a good deal of money along the way. Even so, I think they have both missed a trick or two. NLP (Neuro-linguistic programming) and Hawaiian Huna both have some fabulous techniques for dealing with our unconscious programming, and our fears. No matter how big your reason why, if you still unconsciously believe you don’t deserve to achieve what you want to in life, you will struggle to get your goals.

I’ve been working with NLP and Huna for 12 years now, so I am well-used to using the various processes and techniques on myself.  But when I am really stuck, I find it more effective to get someone else to take me through them.

So if your unconscious beliefs are sabotaging your dreams, check around for an NLP Master Practitioner, or a Huna practitioner, so you can dump the garbage quickly and easily.

Why You Should Keep Your Knowledge Up-to-Date

Written by

When you are applying for a new job, it’s really important that you can demonstrate that you keep your knowledge up-to-date.  With some professions, it’s mandatory.  Most professional bodies make annual training a condition of membership, and offer a range of courses to help you.

But what if you aren’t a member of a professional membership organisation?  Why should you bother?  Isn’t that your employer’s responsibility?

Well, firstly, it’s your employer’s responsibility to ensure you have the knowledge you need to do the job you are doing.  Usually they do this by sending you on training courses, or giving you a mentor, or getting you to work alongside someone who knows what they are doing.  They may have you do the work, which someone then checks until they feel you are fully competent (often known as ‘on-the-job training’).  It’s in the employer’s interests that you have the skills and knowledge you need in order to do your job well.

Many employers understand the benefit of expanding the skills and knowledge of their employees, so they will invest in career development, whether it’s sending you on a training course, or paying for a course you want to go on, or allowing you to ‘shadow’ someone doing a more senior job, or a different job from yours.

The problem comes when you want to get promoted, or to find a new job some where else, and you don’t have the skills and knowledge required.  In the case of promotion within the organisation, your boss might be persuaded to provide the training you need.  If you are looking outside the organisation, then it is down to you.

The most successful people tend to be those who are willing to pay for their own career development if they can’t get help from their employer.  It’s one of the keys to landing your dream job or dream career.  They may pay with time – for instance taking on a volunteer role where they can develop a missing skill-set.  One client of mine wanted to develop her finance skills, so, after reading some books on the subject, she volunteered to help the treasurer at her local church to give her some practical experience.

Other people pay with money. For example, when I knew I wanted to have my own business, I took holiday and paid for my own NLP training.  It wasn’t cheap, but it certainly paid off over the long term.  Most of my private clients pay for coaching out of their own pocket, because they understand how it can help them get where they want to be more quickly.

If you’re about to go job-hunting, look at the adverts to see what skills and knowledge employers are wanting in the field you are interested in.  Take some time to assess yourself honestly.  If you haven’t got the right mix of skills and knowledge, or they are out-of-date, think about how you can upgrade them.  Be willing to be really creative in thinking about how you can get access to the training and/or experience you need.