I don’t want to be called a “career coach” anymore. I’m moving in a new direction

And I’d love to hear from you about this new direction. I thought I’d share with you, candidly, about where I’ve been, where I’m heading, and how it impacts you and your work.

For at least the last year, I felt like something was missing in my career. I sensed the impact the work I was doing with individuals in career reinvention and said, “Hmm, something feels stuck, blocked, unexpressed in me.” I felt heavy, burdened. But I also noticed something churning inside of me, cooking, baking, percolating.

Now, I’m able to articulate that element that I’ve been so hungry to share. You see, when I went back to school for a PhD in Somatic Psychology (that’s also known as “mind/body psychology”)  in 2001, my intention was to support busy mid- to senior-level professionals to be more present, more alive, more vibrant in their work, especially in the face of rapid change and uncertainty. I knew that the principles I was learning in school could help make change smoother, easier to navigate.

I was (and still am) 100% convinced that simple practices could help professionals avoid getting stuck in their head. Heck, I’d been one of those people who could never seem to shut off my mind. As a result, my body was suffering from the tension of working long hours, pushing and pushing to get through projects, barely allowing myself to rest, recover, and renew. I started to push my way through tasks, but exhausted myself. Can you relate?

Once I learned how to really pay attention to both my head and my body, I became more resilient, productive, creative, clear-headed, and confident.

And I knew I could teach people — like you — to live with these positive qualities in your working life.

But honestly, I had been coaching people in career change as a part-time job while I earned my PhD, and somehow, it became my full-time job.

Until now.

After a decade of helping people navigate their individual career transitions, I’m boldly following my original intention:

To support companies to thrive by teaching their employees powerful practices that bring out more of their potential. And in the process, I’ll be helping professionals (maybe even you?) truly come alive in their work.

With so much turmoil in the business world (heck, the world in general) now is the moment to launch this new direction. Wouldn’t you agree? I’m excited to help motivated up-and-coming professionals navigate change and uncertainty so they move to the next level of performance. I’ll be focusing on coaching high-potential current and future leaders to cultivate greater
* resilience
* focus
* decision making capabilities
* presence
* confidence

Your wisdom isn’t just in your head

You know, your wisdom comes not just from your brains, but really from your whole body.  It’s like your body acts as a monitoring or navigational device. Your senses give you information to help you find your way, especially when the road ahead is foggy or bumpy. If you pay attention, you sense the signals….”more this way…less of that…I like this…I don’t care for that”

But many of us have learned to ignore the messages of our bodies, especially at work, because our culture treats the mind as if it is superior to the body (oh, and your body does so much more than carry your brain around!)

When you leave out the information you’re getting from your senses, you are only using part of your capabilities and potential.

Get wiser with a radical idea: SmartSensing

But instead of cutting off your sense, you can learn to pay attention to your senses, trust them, and act on them That’s what I would call SmartSensing. Essentially, you make smarter choices and take wiser actions when you complement your thoughts and ideas with your sensory information.

This SmartSensing is a radical idea. It’s like overriding what most of us learn at school, in our families, and at work. We learn to ignore our body’s messages. Like when you get a headache, do you pop an aspirin? Or do you ask what’s burdening your mind and how you might alleviate it? Or it’s like meeting two prospective new employees. When you meet the first one, you get a knot in your stomach, and when you meet the second candidate, you feel light and bubbly. Do you run to take an antacid after you meet the first one? Or do you stop and ask, “What is my body telling me?”

We often dismiss the subtle signals our bodies give us. And we also miss the chance to make small changes with our bodies that open up whole new mental vistas.

Try this out, for example: When you’re stressed out, you can shake your body while you imagine your tension dropping away. With practice, you can feel a sense of relief, so that you can get back to whatever you were doing before you got stressed out. So the next time an angry colleague or a frustrated customer yells at you, try shaking off and getting back to equilibrium.

Your amazing body is not just a monitor. It’s an amazing adaptive, self-adjusting system. And you become most effective when you allow your mind work collaborate with your senses.

My new work will help you move to higher levels of performance. And a big part of what I’ll be teaching (in my coaching, workshops, retreats, and even on the Work from Within blog and newsletter) are perspectives and practices that will help you to listen to, trust, and act on the messages of your amazing monitoring and adjustment mechanism – your body. The ability to create ease, well-being, and amazing levels of performance – it’s all in your hands (and in your heart, your gut, and your whole body).

In the coming months, I’ll be letting you know about the coaching, workshops, and customized events I’ll be offering to companies, especially those who want their people to stay resilient in the face of major change. Oh, and companies who actively support their high potential current and future leaders in navigating to the next level. (If you want the early scoop for you or your company, just get in contact)

So, what do you think? How might SmartSensing help you at work? What can you imagine in terms of your emotional flexibility, your resilience, your confidence…if you listened to your body?

I look forward to supporting you to work from within the amazing Smart sensing mechanism of your whole self.

Moving with you into the future,
Susan

PS – I’m still taking on a few career reinvention clients over the next two to three months, as I transition into this new work. So if you’ve been thinking of working together, please don’t procrastinate. Get in touch now. You can reach me via email at SBernstein@WorkFromWithin.com or by phone at (415) 508-8250.

PPS – FYI, Somatic Psychology is also known as Mind-Body Psychology, and is a discipline that looks at reuniting mind and body for greater energy, aliveness, and well-being, physically, emotionally, and mentally.

Friday night, I attended the San Francisco Time Bank’s event at the Happiness Institute to hear Charles Eistenstein, author of Sacred Economics. After his Charles’ talk, the Time Bank had a holiday fair, and I was a “vendor,” where I offered free 10 minute “speed coaching” sessions.  I’ve done these zippy, to-the-point, high-energy coaching sessions before, for organizations like BrazenCareerist, and always loved offering this.

During one of the sessions, I met with a young woman in her 20s, Janna (I’m changing her name to keep confidentiality), who told me, “I like to do so many things. My boyfriend only likes one. He’s on my case to figure out what to call myself, what to do for a career.”

Janna went on to describe interests in non-violent communication, babies, birthing, political activism, the environment, interpersonal communication, and a host of other fascinating subjects. “The problem is, I don’t know what to be.”

People who have a bunch of interests and talents naturally get frustrated trying to cram them all under one title. It’s problematic to find the one job that will encompass all their talents.

Personally, I find that artificial cramming to be futile. Impossible. Stupid, even.

Most of us grew up with parents who had just one job. Engineer. Chef. Marketing manager. Postal carrier. Actress. Painter. Architect. Accountant. Designer. Finance director. You get the idea.

“So, my boyfriend upset with me, because he does just one thing. He’s a biologist. Me, I don’t know what I am. I have so many interests! What am I supposed to do?” asked Janna.

Ah, this so-called “problem” is not actually a problem, but a remnant of a former way of working. No longer do we need to be saddled with just one title. We’re living in the era of variety. When we can do a bunch of different activities, for which we may be paid varying amounts, in varying ways. You might call it a “portfolio career,” a “slash career” (I’d say, “I’m a coach, slash author, slash performance artist, slash speaker”), or you could say you’ve got “multiple streams of income.” For example, I helped a PR executive reinvent herself, and now she performs in community theater, does voiceovers, and plans events. All have different audiences and different ways she gets paid. But she’s no bound by just one title.

It’s time to unlock yourself from having just ONE thing you do. It can be helpful to find a unifying theme in all that you do. Like Janna might say she’s “all about birthing new ideas and perspectives.” I even suggested to Janna that she starts a public blog to talk about all the things she’s doing, and to find her “tribe” of people who resonate with what she’s doing, what she’s thinking, and what she’s creating. The blog, at least initially, would be more for her than for her audience, so she can start to find her perspective, her descriptors, and what matters to her. It’s a public way of finding her direction. You, too, can try it out.

Janna looked at me quizzically and asked, “But what about my boyfriend? What do I tell him, since he’s so sure I need to find the ONE thing I do. He’s got that, and I don’t.”

Janna loved my guidance, which emerged on the fly, and I wanted to share it with you:

“Think of your interests as though you’re on the playground. You like to play in the sandbox, but also speed down the slide, fly through the air on the swings, and balance on the teeter totter. Your boyfriend likes the jungle gym. That’s fine. You have a diversity of interests, and there’s nothing at all wrong with that. In fact, I invite you to cultivate those interests, and find the overarching principle that unites your diverse talents and areas of curiosity.”
Oooh, that “playground” metaphor gave Janna a lot of freedom to “play” with her interests. She need not criticize her boyfriend for loving his biology. He probably finds that to be a big enough playground for himself, at least for now.

What about YOUR playground?

Is your playground filled with a bunch of different activities? If so, what unites them? Or is your playground a single activity? And what keeps it interesting for you?

Click on “comments” above and share about YOUR playground. Why? So we can all see the variety of ways we play in our work. So we can change the paradigm, and open up and validate our amazing playgrounds. Especially for those of us with a ton of interests.

Looking forward to seeing your seesaws and swings,

Don’t know what’s on your playground yet? Let’s get you clear about your career. Join me for the Crafting Careers That Truly Fit workshop! Plus other fun goodies to help you boost your confidence. Click here for the details on this January 13-15 workshop..

What did YOU do this summer?

Me, I went to a kind of “adult summer camp” on the Pacific Ocean at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California for 28 days to escape the confines of the virtual life. Living and working alone was killing my inspiration for Work from Within, and sapping my energy.

I opened my heart. I fed my body a dose of hard labor. And I was transformed.

Now, I am evolving a new, more vital and engaging vision for Work from Within.

Flash back to May, 2011. I was feeling extremely lonely and depressed. A dear friend pointed out something I really didn’t want to hear. He said, “I don’t know how you do it. I don’t think it’s healthy to live alone and work alone. That combination will sap your soul.”

Then he asked me an important question:  “What can you do to get a dose of community?”

He knew the answer I would give him. Immediately, I thought about the Esalen Institute, where he works. Sitting right on the Pacific Ocean, between San Francisco and Los Angeles, Esalen is sited on intensely rugged, gorgeous land, where the mountains practically kiss the ocean. For nearly 50 years, the Esalen Institute has been a hot spot for personal growth. Famous philosophers, psychotherapists, and teacher like Fritz Perls, Abraham Maslow, Ida Rolf, Aldous Huxley, and Alan Watts all lived, studied, and taught at Esalen. They ushered in an era where personal growth was encouraged and supported.

Amazingly, I have been blessed to have taught at Esalen (and I’ll be teaching a career transformation workshop there September 30 to October 2. You’re invited!) I love being a workshop leader at Esalen.

But from July 31 to August 28, I had a much, much tougher role. I decided to be a work scholar.

I agreed to work 32 hours a week. I was assigned to the kitchen. Not as a chef. Not even a sous chef. Nope. It was not glamorous work. I cut cucumbers and carrots. Sliced bread. Wiped down tables. Refilled coffee urns. And washed a ton of dishes, by hand. I mean a ton. Giant soup pots and massive bowls, all used to prepare 300 to 370 meals a seating. It wound up being the most physically demanding work I’ve ever done.

Additionally, I was mixing it up for 28 days with 23 other work scholars, ages 22 to 78, who like to dive deep in understanding themselves and others. After living alone for the past decade, I had three roommates in bunk bed space. I was worried about how I’d deal with others. Fortunately, no one snored. Everyone was friendly. And we didn’t have to cook our own food, so there were no sinks with dirty dishes to create frustrations. Mostly, we worked from 7 am until the early afternoon, took workshops, and arrived home around 10 pm to sleep and repeat the cycle again, with two days off per week.

When I wasn’t working, eating, or sleeping, I could take movement classes, soak in the hot tubs, take hikes, get a massage, take a nap on the lawn, volunteer on the garden, sit on the deck and talk to interesting people from all over the world, or find a spot and write in my journal. Interestingly, I had almost no interest in getting on my computer, even though the lodge has wi-fi 20 hours a day. No, I was much, much more interested in talking than typing. Why? I was in cultural heaven. Our group of 24 included men and women from Israel, Germany, Spain, Australia, and France. And in the extended staff, I met people from Canada, Japan, Korea, Argentina, England, Ireland, and Turkey. I love the multiculturalism of Esalen.

Over the course of the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing some of the lessons that I learned. But let me start with the lesson that touches my heart most deeply in this moment:  To create truly meaningful community, I had to unplug and reach out to people, face-to-face, heart-to-heart.

Virtual connection just doesn’t fill me. Sure, it’s information, and it’s nice to visit Facebook and read my friends’ updates. But consuming too much Facebook, Twitter, and email forms an incomplete diet for me. No, I wasn’t a monk before being a work scholar. I did have a social life, but it was insufficient. And difficult to put together. It took a lot of effort to get friends together, especially in the San Francisco Bay Area, where everyone seems to be so darned busy. Bottom line:  I was simply spending too much time alone, plugged in to a virtual world on my computer, staring at the screen instead of looking into someone’s eyes.

Before my Esalen experience, I was starting to question whether I was actually an introvert, not the extrovert I sensed myself to be at heart. I now know — from all the conversations, all the times I easily created a bridge and introduced two people, all the times I practically ran across the lodge at meal time to listen to a friend describe the massage she’d just had — that I’m an extrovert, for sure.  The contact with other human beings has just got to be real. I need my daily quotient of hugs. I need to be able to see other people’s 3D facial expression. I need to be able to take a walk with a person, or touch their hand when they’re having a hard moment. Or give them a “high five” when they’re celebrating a victory.

I’m a touchy-feely kind of gal. I confess it. (That confession is especially for myself.)

And I’m a social, connection-loving, community-building kind of woman.

So, instead of doing my most of my work of helping people bring out their best at work via the all-too-impersonal telephone, I am hatching a plan to create in-person, super yummy, highly experiential, community-generating, personal growth events related to work. I envision salons. Not the kind where you get your hair and nails done. Salons where people gather under the roof of an inspiring host, partly to amuse one another and partly to refine taste and increase their knowledge of one another through conversation. The intention is to educate and enrich like-minded, like-hearted people. If you’re in the San Francisco Bay Area and would like to host a salon, contact me and let me know.

I will also be speaking, in really dynamic ways, using theatrical, improvisational approaches, partly inspired by the performances some of my fellow work scholars created under the direction of the ever-humorous writer and performer, Ann Randolph.

Hey, if you’re outside the San Francisco Bay Area, no worries! I will still do teleclasses and create eBooks and eCourses for you. But, more ideally, you’ll contact me and invite me to teach a workshop or offer a salon in your area. Then, I can meet you in person and shake your hand.

No, scratch that. I will meet you, but I’ll give you a hug. I need to be touched. And I bet you do, too…

QUESTION FOR YOU:  Am I right? Do you need to be touched? Let me know how you feel about living in a world that’s going more and more virtual…

Sending you a big hug,

PS – If you want a real, in-person hug from me, and tons of support for answering the question, “What’s next?” in your career, it’s time to get your butt (and the rest of you, especially your heart and guts) to the Esalen Institute retreat center in Big Sur, California, September 30 to October 2, 2011, for my workshop, “Crafting Careers That Truly Fit.” Will I see you there…?

About two weeks ago, I asked a provocative question of my newsletter readers:

What is the most important change
your company or organization could make
that would cause you to feel
intensely engaged and excited
about working for them?

Wow! I was inundated with answers! I heard back from a very diverse group of Work from Within newsletter readers, especially from teachers, adults who have recently been laid off, and people working in the healthcare field. I heard from readers across the world, primarily in the United States and Canada, but also in Sweden, Germany, Malaysia, Australia, and New Zealand.

Here’s what I learned from YOU…

1. Overall, you want to be appreciated. You wish that your employers really understood how much care you pour into your work, and you want more than a pat on the back. It’s not that you are screaming for more money. In fact, you said that was not your primary motivator. You would feel most alive and engaged if your managers and co-workers noticed the effort you put into projects, the skills you learned, and the ways you make a difference. You crave positive feedback, the chance to know what’s working. Teachers are having an especially hard time, with school districts, governments, and parents criticizing them as they strive to do more on their shoestring salaries. (So if you know a teacher, send a word of encouragement, would you, please?)
2. You want your company to be upfront with you about what’s happening. You want to feel connected to the organization’s mission. You want to be told — frequently — how your work relates to the strategic direction, so that you don’t feel left in the dark. And you especially want to be kept in the light when it comes to any threats to your job. As a whole, you’d rather know early on that your job is in danger, and you really despise management when they tell you that your job is safe, only to turn around and lay you off soon afterwards. You want transparency from management, and you wish to be trusted with the truth, especially when it involves your future.
3. You want to learn and grow in your role and your life. And you wish that your company would pay for time for you to take classes or read or otherwise enrich yourself. You want time to digest and discuss what you learn with colleagues, too. And you want to be asked how you, personally, want to grow, and you’d like as much support from your organization as possible to grow in the ways you’d like, assuming they fit at least some of the company’s needs. You’ve said you’re open to different types of growth, not just “moving up the ladder,” but doing rotations, learning overseas, and taking on special projects.
4. You want to be immersed in a positive environment. Negativity, rubbing your nose in past mistakes, and anger all rob you of your energy. You yearn to contribute in meaningful, easeful ways, free from demoralizing people and processes. Said another way: You want to let your talents flow and be magnified.

A big huge thank you to everyone who took the time to reply. I’m really touched.

So, what am I going to do with what you’ve shared with me?

Well, first, if you’ve been reading about my personal journey, you may already know that I’m moving away from individual coaching (I’ll still do a bit of that one-on-one work, because I love connecting so personally with people like you). I’m moving towards sharing what I’ve learned over the past ten from high-energy company super-stars about why they leave, in order to help companies retain their best people and teach their employees to take more responsibility for their professional development. To that end, I’ll be teaching about maximizing your ROLE, your Return On Life Energy within companies.

I also plan to meet with HR people and senior managers to discuss your desires, and work collaboratively to see what we can do to change the shape of the workplace.

I’m very appreciative that my friend — the gifted author and speaker Simon T. Bailey — shared with over 2,000 HR professionals at the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) conference this week some of my findings about why talented people leave their companies, and what HR professionals can do to turn things around.

I’m doing my best to convey your DESIRES about work…to the people who can DO something to make your work more EXCITING and ENGAGING.

I promise to keep you updated.

And please, will you keep me posted about what you want?

Will you tell me what will get you to bring the best of you to the work that you do? I really care about listening and translating your deepest desires, so you can give your best at work. Drop me a line at info@WorkFromWithin.com

I’m listening…

Work has changed.

I saw these changes happening in the early 1990s, when I was in business school. Already, companies had employees all over the world, creating “virtual workers.” For example, offices were not the staid, same, “compete for the corner office” places that I’d known from the start of my career. When I worked for Accenture after business school,

the firm already had a “hoteling” concept for booking employees into workspaces for a short duration, rather than giving everyone an assigned office. With so many people “on the road,” so much of the time, it didn’t make economic sense to maintain space for them in the office. So we’d make reservations, and a concierge would arrange for our file cabinet, on wheels, to be rolled into a temporary space. It was actually kind of fun to get a different view each time I came into the San Francisco office. Oh, and we did have this gigantic bowl of chocolates at the concierge desk. I have this “thing” for dark chocolate…and it made work a little sweeter. (Just a little…)

Flash forward 15 years. The world of work continues to shift. I think this video, by oDesk, is one of the best I’ve seen to explain six major trends that are changing the world of work. These changes are already upon us. So instead of fighting them, inform yourself. Get yourself ready, so you’re adaptable, resilient.

As a recap, the future of work is:
Flat (as in “you can work anywhere”)
Competitive (can you say “crowdsourcing”?)
You (as in “know your talents and promote them:)

What do YOU think of these changes? And what are you doing to prepare yourself for the future of work?

I have a confession.

No, I don’t expect you to absolve me of sins. It’s just that what I’m about to say to you makes me feel a little sheepish. Like hiding. Which is what I’ve been doing.

Through some deep soul searching, I recently realized that I’ve hidden something from you, Dear Readers. And it’s time to tell the truth.

So, I’m taking a deep breath…before I tell you that…

I’ve hidden from you…my sassy, spunky side! Enough of always talking like I’m Sweet Polly Purebread (that’s from my Underdog days), all too nice and kind of academic, kind of smarty-pants. But not sassy pants. And yet it’s dang time to wear my sassy pants! So I can reveal that side of me that “mouths off,” and gets straight with you and tells it like it is.

In my business, Work from Within, I’ve been, well, um, “corporate.” Buttoned down too much. Too serious. Not playful enough.

Maybe all of this seriousness is by decree of the British half of my heritage. I’m itching to invite my feisty, vivacious Brooklyn side of myself to the par-tay. (My mom would kill me. She’s from Queens, not Brooklyn. But it’s way more fun to say “I’m half Brooklyn and half British.” Mom will understand, I’m sure.)

I’m not trying to “beat up” on myself or make myself wrong for hiding my sassy and spunky energies. Here’s the thing:  Despite celebrating my 10 year anniversary of leaving the corporate world this month, and being much freer in my expression, I still have further to go in being me. So that I can help you feel freer to be you, too!

You may be asking yourself: Why should I care that you’re going to show your sassy side, Susan? Because in the realm of creating work that truly expresses who you are in the world, I want to acknowledge that it’s not always easy or straightforward to tell your truth, to show yourself, to strut your stuff, to dare to be different, to sing your own song.

For too long, I worried “What if I want to teach all this career reinvention stuff in the corporate world? If I talk about things like Return On Life Energy, will they think that’s woo-woo?” Or “Will people think I’ve gone off the deep end if I mention “chakras” or “sensory awareness” or even “emotions”?” I listened so intently to an inner advisor I now call “Little Miss Perfect” that I trusted her. But really, she’s the voice of worry. She wonders if-if-if-if-if in a fabulously negative way. Enough!

Little Miss Perfect was actually concerned about what other people would think, rather than what my heart and gut were telling me. Guidance that comes from my heart and gut is simple and natural. And of course, of course, I teach you to listen to your inner wisdom, so you can “work from within,” because I need to remind myself to do that, too.

By swallowing all of Little Miss Perfect’s haughty admonishments,  started acting based on my fears. I kept my website buttoned-down neat and tidy, instead of getting more personal and raw. I used words that were “polite” and “sanitized.” I’d say things lightly and neutrally, like “consider making your career transition with me” instead of shouting, honestly, “When are you going grab the life preserver I’m throwing you, so you can get out of your crummy life-sapping job?”

So, in the coming months, you’re going to be seeing some changes in the tone and the vibe with Work from Within. Not all at once. I already banished Little Miss Perfect, who was demanding to me, “Well, if you’re going to make changes, you must do this swiftly. No procrastinating.” No worries, I’m not procrastinating. But I’m doing things at a pace that feels organic, natural, and authentic to me. And hey, that gives you permission to do the same in your life. To follow your life energy in a positive direction.

What’s ahead, what’s the future of Work from Within? More colorful. Sassier. More verve. More style. More for you to sink your body, mind, soul, and emotions into. I will continue to care about helping you renew and reinvent yourself and your career, from the inside out. I think you’ll find yourself in for a much juicier, joyful ride.

I’m as committed as ever to helping you craft a life and a livelihood that brings you alive…frees you, makes you smile, fills you with joy. More to come…

I’d love to know what you think, BTW! Drop me a line on my contact page!

Susan

Hi all…and especially those of you who are looking for work…

I know the sting of losing your job, and how much it can hurt. I recognize that looking for work can create anxiety. You don’t know when you’ll get the new job, how, or from whom.

It pains me when I hear people say “I’m unemployed.” Please, you’re not an “UN.” So perhaps you can say “I’m between jobs” or “I’m looking for my next adventure” or something else that feels better. Words carry energy, and I am all about creating positive energy around work.

In the midst of the scary world of being “in between jobs,” I wanted to do something to help people who are unemployed and need some hope. So I’ve made a special VIDEO message to uplift & inspire you. Enjoy!

Please share your comments about this video, below. Whether you’re cheering yourself up, or cheering on someone who’s between jobs, your thoughts matter.

It’s Susan here. I’m excited to introduce you to one of my clients, Kamael Sugrim. I feel lucky to get to coach a number of entrepreneurs, and she is one of them. Kamael reminds me that many of us professionals, particularly women, are used to organizing our lives through our accomplishments. But then, a moment comers (or a slew of them) and we realize that defining ourselves by what we’ve ticked off on the “to-do” list doesn’t feel fulfilling. We begin to seek fulfillment, that sense that the meaning of our actions makes us feel full, in mind, body, and spirit. It’s a delight to see what Kamael is creating. I invite you to check out the amazing way she’s reaching out to stem poverty through an innovative use of technology with www.mPoweringFoundation.org. Congratulations, Kamael, and thank you for making a difference in the lives of others!

And now, for some words from Kamael…

I’ve spent the last 15 years working to methodically and meticulously cross off the things I don’t want to do in my career. First there was consulting – that one quickly bit the dust. Then there was finance – which lasted a good 5 years. When I was offered a more senior role in investment industry that bored me to sleep at my desk, I rapidly completed 6 business school applications and ran off to the West Coast to “hone my skills.” Then I graduated and went into marketing in the tech industry. I thought that was very interesting, but after 5 years, I still found myself itching to get out and do something that felt like it came from my core.

Instead of searching for my next venture while chained down to the existing one, I quit corporate America and took a few months off to really learn how to listen to who I was – not develop – but just listen. Susan and I worked for several months on this together and, as a result, I have a much better understanding of what gives me positive energy. I liked Susan’s style because it incorporated a completely different way of looking at my future and myself. We didn’t start off making lists of skills, or companies to talk to, or even action plans. Sure, I eventually did those things. But Susan starts by guiding you to listen to your body and understand the feelings that run through you in different situations.

I’m a person who can’t stand yoga, falls asleep in meditation and thinks that chanting is for monks. But with Susan, I felt comfortable enough to “shake my stress off,” learn new breathing exercises, and more importantly be in tune with what my mind and body are telling me. Susan’s own energy level is so positive and her approach so comfortable, that I found myself completely engaged and excited for our sessions!

My favorite exercise has been making a list of Drains and Gains as part of maximizing my ROLE, my Return On Life Energy. That’s something that I still keep in my wallet and refer to often. I listed all the things that drained me – inauthentic people, boring work, alongside all the things that gave me energy – working with smart people, helping others. When I’m faced with choices on where to take my life, I look at this list and see how those choices stack up against what makes me happy. It’s like having a new pair of glasses that allows me to see things I’ve never seen before.

Living in Silicon Valley, I’m surrounded by some of the most exciting opportunities, but I’ve learned just because they are exciting to others, that doesn’t mean they will be exciting to me. By truly understanding what makes me tick, I can make decisions about my career that are about what I like and want to do vs. the trial and error method I used for the last 15 years. It’s even stretched into my personal life. I find myself confidently recognizing and moving away from people and situations that drain my energy level and ultimately make me unhappy.

Earlier this year, I decided to put my passion for helping people together with my love for technology and start a nonprofit – mPowering. mPowering creates mobile applications and builds programs that empower the world’s poor – those living on less than $2 a day – to break the cycle of poverty they live in. I work twice the hours I did in corporate America, make half the salary, but am the happiest I have ever been in my life. Every morning I wake up knowing that I’ve stayed true to myself and am doing the things I love. My career journey isn’t over – a life journey is one that never ends. But I now have this new navigation system – understanding my life energy – and I’m confident that I can lead myself down the rights paths in life. It’s very empowering.

If you would like to follow my and mPowering’s transformative journey, check out our blog at www.mpoweringfoundation.org/blog.

-Kamael Ann Sugrim
Co-founder and CEO, mPowering

Pam Susman thought she had her career figured out.

After graduating from Fordham University in 2006 with a master’s degree in counseling and personnel services, she took a job as a vocational and mental health counselor at a community center in New York City. She liked the career counseling aspect of it so decided to try her hand at recruiting two years later. But with the economic slowdown, her job became more administrative than she would have liked, so she jumped at the chance to volunteer in Israel.

Six months later, she’s back in the Big Apple pounding the pavement once again for a job in college counseling. But it’s been a frustrating process for the 29-year-old.

“I’ve looked for school jobs online, e-mailed private schools directly, contacted people I didn’t know,” Susman told WalletPop in a telephone interview. “Some of my fellow graduates have also had no luck.”

What happened?   Read the full article from WalletPop

How do you get out of your head? One of my favorite ways to “take the elevator down” from my cerebral cortex to my toes is to DANCE! I especially love freeform movement. In contrast to the systems and processes required to run my own business, I crave outlets that let me get out of my head and into my body.

So, in August, I boogied down to the Esalen Institute, a personal development retreat center on the rugged Big Sur coast for a workshop of Soul Motion with my gracious and graceful teachers, Zuza Engler and Scott Engler. I moved and grooved, sweated profusely, and got in touch with my heart in a big, juicy way. (By the way, I’m teaching a workshop there December 5-10! Check it out on their calendar )

And, as I always seem to do at Esalen, I connected with great people. One of them is Mary Pinozotto, who is a total original. One day, Mary asked our group to help her film a video. I was feeling emotionally tender that day, so I hid from the camera. But I was intrigued over dinner, as she edited the video to post the next day. I asked her what she was doing.

“Oh, I’m recording one dance video every day.”

What!?! That’s pretty amazing. Where does she get inspired? What keeps her going? I was intrigued. She told me about dancing at Wal-Mart. And with Hells’ Angels. And in nature. And in so many different ways. Short dance. Long dances. And then the artistry of editing all of these.

Well, of course I asked to interview her for this blog. Here’s a woman who’s following her heart and her art. As she says in the audio interview I had with her, she’s becoming the person she’s dreamed herself to be.

To me, when we move, we change. Mary is in the flow of change, and I hope you’ll listen to her wisdom if you are in a place of transition, and craving a more authentic, creative life.

Listen to my interview with Mary

I hope you’ll enjoy the interview, with some key highlights about:
- moving emotions out and through the body; the metaphors in movement (I know about that from the Get A Move On! cards)
- dealing with money, and cherishing what you have
- increasing your ability to learn notice new things
- dedication and staying with something with discipline; sinking your teeth in
- listening for the creative inspiration

I’ve also posted a few of Mary’s amazing dance videos. Do they make you want to get up and move your body? C’mon! It’s OK. Go ahead! Join the dance!

Video 1: About the Freebox Blog

Video 2: To Sheryl Crow’s I Shall Believe


Video 3: From a Hafiz poem

I hope this inspires you!  If you want to view Mary’s blog, The Freebox, visit http://thefreebox.wordpress.com/

Wishing you delicious rhythmic journeys,

Susan