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March 2007: Issue 39
Editor: Tara West
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In This Issue
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> Welcome
> Article: Acceptance and Accountability by Chuck Gallozzi
> Positive Quote
> Article: Your Résumé: Phone Referees
> Positive Quote
> Subscribe / Unsubscribe Information
> Contact Information
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Welcome
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I really love this month's article by Chuck Gallozzi about acceptance and
accountability. As Chuck says: "There’s
no point in blaming our circumstances or others for our lack of success because
blame doesn’t advance us". This is so true!
Enjoy! :-)
Tara West
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ARTICLE:
Acceptance
and Accountability
by Chuck Gallozzi
Do you steer by the light of the stars or the lights of each passing ship?
How
good a seafarer are you? Are you the captain of your destiny or is your ship
adrift in the sea of life? Have you carefully charted your course or are you
aimlessly following others? No wind can help the ship that is bound for nowhere.
And at the end of your voyage, you won’t be asked about the storms you
encountered, but whether or not you reached your destination. If you’re
unclear about where your ship is heading, don’t panic; there’s still time to
refer to the map in the Captain’s Quarters (your mind). To navigate your way,
you will need the help of your shipmates: acceptance, accountability,
aspiration, attitude, aim, action, and achievement.
Acceptance and
Accountability
Most of
us are damaged goods. Imperfect parents raised us and flawed teachers educated
us. Malicious peers taunted us. We’re badly bruised and still in pain. Our
trauma is holding us back, preventing us from reaching our potential. Our first
step on the path to success is to stop blaming others and our circumstances. We
cannot change the past, so we have to ACCEPT it and work with what we have. And
what we have is infinite potential!
There’s
no point in blaming our circumstances or others for our lack of success because
blame doesn’t advance us. We cannot control others or events; we can only
control our own thoughts and actions. So it is time to assume ACCOUNTABILITY, to
take responsibility for our own success. For as Anne Byrhhe wrote, “Every
action we take, everything we do, is either a victory or defeat in the struggle
to become what we want to be.”
We
have enormous power within our grasp. It is expressed by the choices we make.
Consider the powerful poem of Edgar A. Guest,
“You
are the person who has to decide.
Whether
you’ll do it or toss it aside;
You are
the person who makes up your mind.
Whether
you’ll lead or will linger behind.
Whether
you’ll try for the goal that’s afar.
Or
just be contented to stay where you are.”
Aspiration and attitude
ASPIRATION,
or ambition, is the desire to improve your life. I’m sure you agree with C.
Archie Danielson who said, “Intelligence without ambition is a bird without
wings.” Aspiration is like taking a deep breath and optimistically jumping
into the adventure of life. Aspiration stokes the fire of enthusiasm. When you
want to succeed, you get excited about preparing for success. Acceptance,
accountability, aspiration, enthusiasm, and optimism fuse to form the ATTITUDE
of success.
Aim, action,
achievement
Now
that you are fired up to embark on your journey to success, you are ready to set
your AIM. You are ready to focus on a goal. As you do so, life becomes
worthwhile, for as Maxwell Maltz wrote, “People who say that life is not
worthwhile are really saying that they themselves have no personal goals which
are worthwhile. Get yourself a goal worth working for. Better still, get
yourself a project. Always have something ahead of you to ‘look forward to’
-- to work for and hope for.”
When
choosing a goal, always pick one that will make you stretch. Place your goal out
of reach, but never out of sight. It should be worthwhile and difficult so you
will grow. But at the same time it must be achievable. An unrealistic goal can
discourage you and hurt your progress.
It
is important to write down your goals. Also, state them in positive terms. For
example, if you want to stop smoking, don’t write “I will stop smoking.”
Don’t focus on the negative behavior you want to eliminate, but on the
positive behavior you want to begin. So, you can write it as “I am now leading
a healthy lifestyle. I eat nutritional meals and exercise.” Focus on the new
you, not the old you. When writing your goals use the present tense (I am), not
the future (I will), unless you have a specific date in mind. The reason for
these considerations is because as you focus on your goals they will sink into
your subconscious mind, which is a goal-seeking mechanism. It will automatically
seek to achieve the images before it. So don’t feed it pictures of the old
you, just the new you. And let it know that this is not a plan that will begin
at some vague date in the future (I will), but now (I am).
You
also need to set a deadline for your goal, for instance, “I will finish my
school report by August 16, 1999.” For best results, make your goal as
specific as possible: “I will have a bibliography of at least 17 sources, use
at least 25 quotations, have a table of Contents, section headings, and write 25
pages or more in my school report, which I will finish by August 17, 1999.”
Can you see the difference it makes? So can your subconscious mind! Also, when
you go into such detail, you are making your goal measurable. On August 17th,
all you have to do is count the number of sources, quotations, and pages to see
how successful you were at achieving your goal.
Once
you have set your goal, it is time to break it into small tasks that you can
easily do and schedule. Returning to our example, you can schedule one day to
get your quotations, three days to do research and build your bibliography, one
day to work on an outline (which will become your Table of Contents), and so on.
These tasks, or ACTION steps are your keys to success, your road map to your
goal. Discover, as Alexis Carrel did that “Life leaps like a geyser for those
who drill through the rock of inertia.”
Finally,
as you work on your plan for success, continually monitor your progress, analyze
your obstacles, and adjust your plan so even if you change your route, you will
remain on target. The result? ACHIEVEMENT, or accomplishment! People may doubt
what you say, but they will believe what you do, so let’s start planning our
new life today. Look out world, here we come!
© Chuck Gallozzi
Chuck.Gallozzi@rogers.com
Read more of Chuck's articles at http://www.personal-development.com/chuck
Sign up for the bi-weekly newsletter to receive his newest articles by e-mail
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QUOTE
"You cannot think the right things or say the right things unless you're
putting the right things in your mind."
-- Author Unknown
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ARTICLE
Your
Résumé:
Phone Referees
At the end of last year we completed a new Employer
Survey. Phone Referees once again proved popular with Employers.
Previous results revealed that 95% of employers wanted to see a list of phone
referees in your resume.
This
has changed with 99%
of surveyed employers now wanting to see a list of referees, with 58% wanting to
see a list of three phone referees and only 28% wanting to see two (the
remainder either didn't respond on how many referees they wanted to see, or said
it didn't matter how many were listed).
Most employers phone
two referees only, however, some requested a third just in case the second
referee was unavailable. If applying
for roles within Government they will request a list of 2 or 3 referees.
If an employer asks you to include referees with your application make
sure you do so; stating “Available at interview” or similar is not
satisfactory.
Ideally,
you should have your current manager (or supervisor) listed as a referee. If
this isn’t possible (i.e. you don’t want your boss to know you’re looking
for another job), list a close work colleague or someone of standing in your
local community (eg. your local Priest, a business person you know personally,
etc).
In the
case of a self-employed business person, a client you work closely with will
suffice. Once you’ve chosen your phone referees you should obtain their
permission to act as your referee.
It is
not advisable to include immediate relatives such as mum, dad or spouse, and
relatives with the same surname as you.
A
new trend which is proving quite popular with employers is “testimonials”
from clients / employers.
These are usually obtained from written references / letters, and can sometimes
replace a list of phone referees or complement the phone referees you list.
85% of respondents in the Aussie Résumés Employer Survey said they
would love to see testimonials in a résumé!
However, 60% did state it as a low priority – so if you don't have the
room to include them in your résumé then leave them off!
Example:
“Jim’s consistent efforts and expertise in obtaining new business is
rewarded by his achievement in exceeding budget in excess of 12% each month. His
commitment has made the team what it is.” - Mr J Smith, XYZ Company
If
neither option is suitable for your needs your referees section will need to
state “I am happy to facilitate the contacting of referees” or similar.
Your list of
referees should include the following information:
-
The
contact’s name (eg. John Smith)
-
Their
position in the company and relationship to you if not obvious (eg. General
Manager)
-
The
company name (eg. XYZ Company)
-
The
contact’s telephone number, including mobile
-
The
contact’s email address (if they have one)
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QUOTE
"When the escalator to success breaks, take
the stairs."
-- Ralph Abernathy III
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