Everything he teaches is in alignment with our Career Crafting marketing philosophy. Check it out at http://www.ellsberg.com/

You may feel that you want the “security” of a regular paycheck yet your collective skills and experience don’t match the available opportunities you are seeing.

You may be following the advice of career professionals such as revising your resume and doing more networking but still not seeing jobs that are appealing or getting interviews or offers.

Maybe you are thinking there is something wrong with you and you have become frustrated and discouraged. This is very common nowadays.

Your greatest fear may be that you are no longer “employable” which can be very scary to contemplate. Are you continuing to pound the pavement forcing the square peg in the round hole as best as you can?

More Education
A 20th century solution to this dilemma is to go back to school to get another degree or acquire new skills with the hope that this will make you more desirable and more competitive in the job market.

Unfortunately, this usually doesn’t work today because industry specific skills or knowledge are rarely the deciding factor any longer.

As challenging and uncomfortable as this situation can be, being a “misfit” in the world of employment can actually give birth to a whole new way of thinking about yourself and a new way of presenting and marketing yourself. In fact,

Being a ‘Misfit’ can be a life changing gift in disguise.

The key is your willingness to take a step back and begin looking at yourself and your career through a new lens.

Along with this is the willingness to re-examine old assumptions, beliefs, labels, etc. about success, money, fulfillment and related themes. This may be difficult to do on your own but fortunately there are others who are skilled and available to help.

Many people today have been successful responding to the demands of the 21st century marketplace. A key factor is their openness to learning new approaches and strategies. Some of these people are also living true to their life purpose, doing something they love and making money too! How can you make this happen for yourself?

Giving Birth To a New Reality
You cannot suddenly see what you are not yet seeing. The real solutions you want and need are usually revealed through a process of interacting with others who have a larger or different perspective.

The complimentary career assessment session I offer can be an ideal first step in making this kind of change. In your session, we will sort through all the issues and factors affecting your job, career and financial situation.

You will gain new insights and leave with a solid plan of action which addresses your short term needs and long term goals. It will also be based on what is real today and what will serve you the best tomorrow. To apply for your session, click here.

I welcome your comments and questions.

Ever notice how some people faced with a problem will “argue for the problem” and shoot down possible solutions when they are presented without giving new ideas any real consideration?

You may also notice that this individual will often remain separate from people and resources which can be pivotal factors for creating the very breakthrough they want. For reasons which are rarely examined, they seem determined to do it all themselves.

I call this pattern The Lone Ranger Syndrome.

Does this describe what is happening for you now?

Are you attempting to solve your most challenging problems on your own because you believe that asking for assistance is an admission of defeat and proves you are inadequate? Believe it or not, this is a commonly held belief.

Can you see how this belief is tremendously limiting?

If this is happening for you, don’t despair. There is a solution available. It is possible for you to move beyond the lone ranger syndrome. Stay with me.

Subconscious Factors
If you have been tenaciously yet unknowingly keeping yourself separate from sources of real support empowerment, like coaching while continuing to persist with the same actions and thinking which aren’t working, you can be pretty sure that there is a big part of you committed to maintaining the status quo.

Please understand that this is not logical. You may wholeheartedly believe you are committed to creating change but there are other, subconscious forces which have some different ideas and agendas.

While you may feel that you really want change, you may in fact have a greater need for things to remain the same. This may be shocking but once embraced, it can be emancipating.

Key Principle
When your desire for something is greater than your fear or resistance to change, your desires are going to be realized. It may take a while, but it will happen.

When your fear, resistance or limiting beliefs are stronger than your desire, you will likely remain stuck and oftentimes you will not know why. Your conscious mind will likely make up a story about it, like it’s the economy, your resume, etc.

You may in fact be like the proverbial hamster, spinning on his wheel but not getting anywhere. You may even point to the fact of how hard you are working. Sound familiar?

The Solution
The solution to the Lone Ranger Syndrome can be summed up by the phrase Empowering Partnership.

I’m not talking about partnering with just anybody. I am referring to partnership with those people who are already accessible to you (by virtue of the fact that you are reading this) with whom genuine empowerment and breakthroughs are possible. These are the kinds of people who will tell you the truth which may be hard to hear yet emancipating at the same time.

The individual may also be someone who brings compassion and love into your internal conversation with yourself that has been lacking.

This is a critical piece because many lone ranger types keep themselves stuck by means of a continual barrage of negative and critical self talk. Breaking free of this will often shake you loose from the trance of self judgement and into a new conversation of appreciation and gratitude.

Wouldn’t it be nice to know that there isn’t anything “wrong” with you and that your breakthrough lies in simply letting yourself win?

Have you noticed that when the time of breakthrough actually arrives, it is almost always in the context of relationship, usually accompanied by some meaningful conversation with someone who cares and wants you to see something you haven’t been seeing?

No matter how you slice it, empowering relationship is the key antidote to the Lone Ranger Syndrome. This is the most important aspect of our Career Crafting community. We offer many ways for you to become involved and to get the specific support you need to create the breakthrough you want.

Your challenge is one of reaching out and making contact.

Money and the Lone Ranger Syndrome
The fearful voice inside you may tell you that you cannot afford coaching so you had better just keep doing the same things even though they aren’t working. That part of you may be in despair and also concerned with security at the same time.

The self deception here is sustained by not recognizing the substantial “cost” of remaining alone without the support system you need. The cost is at every level— physical, emotional, financial, spiritual and affects your quality of life profoundly.

Once people become truly open to empowering partnership and support, they invariably realize that it was never about money. Many get the support they need without spending a dime. Others get the support they need at a cost so low, that it is insignificant. Others make an investment in themselves and reap incredible rewards in the process.

The bottom line here is that money issues are really relationship issues in disguise. Open yourself up to the myriad of possibilities with empowering partnership and your money challenges will go away.

Ask yourself: Why doesn’t a bird worry about finding food each day? Maybe it is because the bird trusts the universe to provide what it needs. The bird has not acquired limiting beliefs about its needs not being met.

Consider someone who is walking around with a pair of worn out shoes that are uncomfortable and look horrible. When they finally give themselves permission to get the new shoes they want and need, they feel great about themselves. Right? What kind of new shoes will make the key difference in your life right now?

The Right Time is Now
We are getting ready to start a new year filled with fresh possibilities and opportunities. It is time to exit your safe cocoon or cave and come into the sunlight with other like minded people who would love to get to know you and share knowledge and gifts.

It is time to open yourself up to receiving that form of love that YOU personally need right now. Whatever it is, there are people who are available and ready as soon as you are ready to receive it.

Feedback and Comments
As always, I’m very interested in your comments and feedback. If you found this blog valuable, please let me know what impacted you and found worthwhile. If you have had any related experiences in your life, please share them. You can reach me personally at howard@breakthroughcoaching.cc.

Lets make 2012 the year of co-creation and empowering partnership!

As we come closer to the end of the year we naturally tend to think of completions and new beginnings. I am personally spending time completing lose ends in some areas and formulating plans for what I want to create in 2012, both personally and professionally.

In this process, there is a tendency for so many of us to construct lists of planned projects or important changes we want to make. Unfortunately, most if not all do not ever see the light of day. They never happen. Why? There are many explanations and theores but for now, I just want to share one powerful discovery that I’m confident will make a difference for you.

In my many years of experience in my own life and as a coach, I have discovered one overarching principle and piece of wisdom which I place above everything else. It is this:

Getting Started is Everything

No matter what it is you want to do or accomplish, there is an undeniable magic to just getting started. Even just 5 minutes devoted to the beginnings of a new project, no matter how large or intimidating it may be, often creates such a significant shift of energy, that even the greatest amount of resistance, doubt, fear or confusion will often dissolve from taking this single action.

Maybe you have already experienced this and if you have, you know what I’m speaking about. Have you considered that you can apply this resource to your life right now and use it to create a significant breakthrough? You can!

Perhaps you have seen the famous quote:

Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

As complicated as our lives seem to be in some respects, this principle continues to remain at the top of my list of breakthrough strategies. I offer it to you as my holiday gift.

As always, I welcome comments and questions and invite you to join our wonderful Career Crafting community on facebook. There you will have the opportunity for powerful information on career transition as well as some wonderful new friendships too!

Come join us as we launch ourselves into an exciting new year. Please tell your friends, family and colleagues to like us too.

The direct web link to our Career Crafting facebook page is facebook.com/careercrafting.

Happy holidays!

Sincerely,
Howard