Clever Fox Blog

We’ve been quiet for a while on the blog front but working hard behind the scenes.

We’ve just launched our new website, check it out at www.cleverfox.com.au. The purpose behind the new website is twofold. First, to inform our web visitors about the career services we are now offering i.e. career coaching, resume writing and career assessments. Secondly, but just as important, I felt we needed an new look to accurately reflect the Clever Fox brand.

Let us know what you think.

We now have two very different career coaching programs; Career Foundations for individuals seeking a career change but just aren’t sure what might suit them and Career Creators designed for individuals exploring setting up their own businesses.

It’s the first week into the New Year. If you’ve set yourself goals and resolutions for the New Year, ask yourself this question for each of them “Do I really want this or am I just wishing for it to happen?”

There’s a big difference between wishing for something and wanting something. Check it out for yourself - think of something you wish for and something you really want.

For most people, wishing is rather “wishy washy” - they hope it will get it, but don’t really believe it will happen. In fact, what they wish for feels out of reach.

On the other hand, when they think of something they want, they experience a sense of urgency, and feel more actively involved in getting the outcome (as opposed to the wishy wishy “maybe if I’m lucky” mindset).

Wanting is a good start to achieving your goals, but it’s not enough to get you what you want. You’ve got to gather information and think through how you can get what you want. This essentially involves planning how to achieve your goals.

Planning is great but there is a further step that must not be missed if you want to achieve your outcomes. And that is that to “take action”, or in less cliched terms, you’ve got to do something about it. This includes a series of things you do over a period of time. You may not know all the steps you need to take when you start, that’s OK. It’s important to take one step at a time with your end outcome in mind. If you don’t have all the information or skills you need, get help. In this day and age, resources are plentiful. You just need to find them - be it people, information or skills.

It’s only after taking the various steps and being flexible as you go along will you eventually get what you want.

Where do most people fail? They don’t move from the wanting phase to the gathering information and planning phase. Or they bogged into the detail of over planning and fail to transition to executing their plans.

If you know what you really want, plan how to get there, take the necessarily steps (and be flexible enough to incorporate new information, overcome set backs, learn new strategies, etc), you’ll be well on your way to achieving your goals.

It’s not long now before we herald in 2008. Well-intentioned people all across the globe are bringing out their notepads and enthusiastically declaring in writing what they are going to change for the better in the New Year. According to stats though, an overwhelming majority give up their New Year resolutions by March.

Asking around I found that many people make the same New Year resolutions year after year because they didn’t quite manage to achieve what they had set out to do.

If you find yourself in this situation, don’t fret! Here are some tips to help you get out of that vicious cycle.

Before you make your 2008 New Year resolutions, look at your 2007 resolutions and take stock of your progress in those areas.

By tracking yourself, you can find out what you actually achieved or figure out the barriers that stopped you from realising your goals.

When you can pin point the factors that helped you succeed, you can actually take steps to replicate your success in other areas of your life.

On the other hand, if you didn’t move forward, these questions will help you think about new steps to take to achieve those resolutions.

Here are some questions to help you keep track of the progress you made throughout the year:

1. What have I accomplished this year?
2. What am I proudest of?
3. What have I learnt this year?
4. What could I have improved on?
5. What did I set out to do but didn’t and what stopped me?
6. What could I have done differently that would have gotten me closer to achieving my goals?
7. Taking the path I am on right now, am I heading towards or away from what I truly want?
8. If the path I am taking is taking me away from my outcomes, what do must I do to change the situation?
9. What beliefs or information do I need to gather, what skills can I learn, what habits must I change, who can help me, what actions must I take?

Look out for more posts on goal setting and New Year resolutions in the next few days.

Have you ever read the story of the Fir Tree by Hans Christian Anderson? I read it for the first time years ago as a young girl and the story still haunts me - in a reflective sort of way. I’ve read it a few times since and every time I read it, it always has a raw and immediate effect. It reminds me to live a life of no regrets and to notice what’s good about my life right now even if I am striving for better things.

Apart from that, I’ve never been able to buy a Christmas tree that has been cut down just to adorn a few ornaments and lights for a week or so. This year, we decorated our indoor Bangalore Palm for Christmas. It was actually worked quite well for a warm Down Under Christmas!

Whether you’re reflecting on the year that is ending or planning your New Year resolutions for 2008, I urge you to read The Fir Tree.