Self-esteem Exercise: Re-invent Yourself

Feeling stagnant? Depressed? Feel like a failure? Holding back from your aspirations? Or just not going forward, but not going backwards? ... drifting .... if you're happy with that, fine, but if you're not, then why don't you RE-INVENT yourself?

Take a look at Madonna she does it all the time, whenever she releases a new album, she's a new persona. She's dynamic in that she doesn't stay with the status quo. She never gives you more of the same, instead she gives you a new show, a new experience and she gains a new audience.


Re-inventing yourself requires a nod of approval to change. Don't think about it, just do it. If you're reluctant to think about change then don't use that word, substitute it, reframe it in your mind to something that sounds a little more adventurous or less off putting ... so think of re-inventing yourself.

You may like to, however, reflect on what sort of image to re-invent yourself into:

• professional
• stylist
• smart
• sporty
• arty
• classic
• bohemian
• trendy
• casual
• alternative
• Western
• other ..............
  

Sonya Friedman from Smart Cookies Don't Crumble states "How we feel about change, in whatever form, helps to illustrate and define how we see ourselves."

So taking a cue from her, I've developed some simple ideas that you can choose to get the process of re-inventing yourself underway:

• get yourself a new hairstyle (totally different to what you are used to);
• buy yourself a new wardrobe (i.e. clothes and jewellery that you normally would not choose for yourself);
• change your style of clothing (review above list for inspiration);
• change your eating habits e.g. Sushi on Sundays;
• wake up half an hour earlier on work days;
• change your route to work;
• let yourself go gray for that distinguished, mature and cultured look;
• lose some weight.

Some more extravagant ideas:

• buy yourself a new car or even a motorbike (I still fancy riding a Ducati);
• buy yourself a 'designer smile';
• splash out on some new perfume or after shave lotion.

And other ideas not related to your image:

• start voluntary work or supporting financially other people less off than yourself;
• read a new newspaper from the usual one you read;
• check out new food in the supermarket;
• rearrange your house/furniture;
• take up a new hobby or interest (e.g. gardening, archery, whatever takes your fancy).

Okay, so now to your journalling. Fairly easy one for preparation.
You just need a double page spread in your journal. You are going to make a "Re-invention Track" - the metaphor is running a race around a track; and you can take as long as you want to get to your destination or the finish line.

You will need to sketch with pencil your track, making a circular path gradually moving into the centre of your page.

Collect together some photos. One of your present self, and maybe an aspirational picture of someone else you'd like to look like or copy, or leave it blank with a question mark in the middle.

You will notice how this track is not made as a timeline -- that linear approach can be too restrictive with creative people -- whereas the circle allows you the freedom to move onto the next area (your milestones) when you choose.

The milestones you will develop up as a legend and code them into symbols and plot these on your track. Then give them an explanation in your legend what that milestone is. I've just used Tom Bow pens. The arrows on the track are actual acetate photo corners from Prima Marketing.


You can define your own success level. You don't wait for others to define the 'carrot' you will pursue – it's a code for you. So you don't need to have the legend on the page, and you can make it a chart and put it on your fridge. For the purpose of this exercise though, I have included the legend on the page.


Finally, in the words of genius Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe "Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men." So let your own re-invention (your dream) move first your own heart (especially when you start achieving your milestones, that helps build your self-esteem too!) and then it will move the hearts of other people. They will notice the change. You may even become aspirational to them for their own re-invention. This exercise has come from my art journalling exercises from my personal blog.

Top Ten Job Searching Tips

How many of these have you read? Here we go again, but this time I am concentrating on those matters which have emerged over the last two to three years, that we often neglected or failed to use in the past; mainly it's to do with new technology.

1. Get a professional email address.
   Ditch your school one or pseudonmym name especially if it's like this: babyangel at gmail.com (I can't put it in its usual format as the AI of the search engine Bing decides to make it my contact email address). Now is the time to professionalise yourself, use your proper name or professional name.
2. Google yourself.
   Sounds egotistic doesn't it? But just in case you wrote something many years ago, and it raises its head to bite you in the foot, it is better to check what is out there on you in cyber space. As an example, I had written several poems years ago, and put them up on the web to enter an online competition; but little did I know they had changed the copyright date to last year which altered the whole meaning of the poem as it was time sensitive. Also you don't want to be saying things which you may regret later. Also while we are at it, blog your email address, telephone number and address as well, all these can leave a digital footprint exposing yourself to other information which you may wish to keep private.
   
3. Add your email address to your CV or résumé.
   How many times do I see this omission?
   
4. Start blogging.
   This is a free way of getting yourself known and building your profile. There are many blogger sites, including this one. The advantage of Blogger is that it is owned by Google and, therefore, your tagged information may appear in the rankings higher than others using different blog accounts.
5. Register on online job sites.
   There are many: www.seek.com, www.TradeMe/jobs.co.nz, and also check out your local newspaper online listings.
6. Use social networking sites to your advantage.
   Make a special professional Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Bebo etc account specifically to your work environment, keep your personal social networks to your friends.
7. Network.
   Join societies, organisations and clubs associated to your career. Check out the Yellow Pages and online directories to see what is available, then network with these people. They will know of new openings and people in the know who will help you.
   
8. Specialize – Become a Subject Matter Expert.
   A sophisticated society has many specialist roles, therefore, the more specialised you are or can become, the more expertise you can provide, and more value to an employer's team. But don't forget to be a generalist in all areas connected with your career.
9. Lead from your strengths.
   If you know what you are good at, or above average, or just brilliant at ... then move from that area first. If you are good at public speaking then use that as your primary form of accentuating your strengths.
10. Mitigate your weaknesses.
    Similar to number nine. Play down your weaknesses. Avoid (especially in those first couple of meetings) those things that you are not so good at, or generally don't like doing. This could be as simple as handwriting (if you feel yours is too messy), or keyboarding (if you are too slow), or anything you feel may jeopardize your chances of a job.
    

Paula Stenberg 2009

Consultation Process

When people book in for a CV consultation, they often wonder what they should bring with them. So here I have developed a list of useful items to have on standby.

• an old CV (we can use as a base, foundation or a starting point to develop your new CV);
• written references (these are handy because we are reading about you from another person, any material from the references we can use 'pull quotes' and add them into your CV building credibility);
• performance appraisals (again a handy tool for us, as they let us look at you from an employer's perspective; these performance appraisals usually have major projects that you may have worked on, we can then convert these projects into achievement based statements; they also have comments that we can project into the CV – and we only ever accentuate the positive);
• personality profiles (again we use this material to help paint a profile of yourself within the CV);
• job advertisements (these are jobs you are wanting to go for, they are useful as they have key words and terminology that you may wish to use);
  
• job descriptions (both your current role or past role, and also the future role you wish to target – anything we cite from here will be credible);
• portfolio (a folio providing samples of what you do).

All these items are good resources for us to help us write and articulate your most salient features.

The Essence of Imagination

I came across this tale and thought I'd like to share it with you, let your imagination go.

"Once Upon a Time there dwelt by the sea a young girl whose habit it was to gather dweedles and squinkies along the shore. Late one autumn evening as she was returning to her cottage, a great and fearsome wave overcame the girl and, rendering her senseless, swept her far away. When she awoke, the girl found herself upon the coast of a strange land, being observed by two tall, birdlike creatures. "Alas," she said, as she picked herself up from the sand and pulled the seaweed from her hair, "where in the world am I, and what am I to do?" She no sooner spoke than the two creatures lifted her high into the sky and carried her inland over the heart of a great dense forest, where they released their hold on her, and she plummeted toward the trees.

The girl feared for her life, but at the last moment landed gently in front of a humble shack in the doorway of which an old crone stood staring at her with a piercing, yet kindly eye. The old woman beckoned with a gnarled finger, "Come inside, my dear, and have some tea. I have much to say and little time." Upon entering the crone's hut, the girl was amazed by all manner of mysterious objects which sat upon shelves and seemed to watch her as she crossed the room to the large chair the old crone offered to her. "Sit, my child, and be not afraid. Your destiny has brought you here that you may fulfill a purpose upon which rests the very Essence of Imagination."

A delicate cup of flavorful brew appeared in the young girl's hand at which she sipped as the old woman spoke of bygone days and ancient lore, of mystical powers and gentle breezes. She told the tales of love fulfilled, of passing time and sleepless nights, and all the while, the young girl sipped her tea and spoke not a word. At last, the crone produced a satchel from which she carefully removed a collection of aged, bound books, and setting these before the girl, laid her withered hands lightly upon them and cast a heavy sigh.

"Child, before you now are the Works of Figments, vessels of expression forged in the absence of gravity and bound by the deities of vision. They contain the verses and memories of all that is, and was, but only by the works of they that put pen to their pages can their secrets be revealed and conveyed for all of time. It is your fate to carry these treasures back to your world and see that they every one be filled with the truths of living. Go you now, and carry out this task."

The crone leaned over and with her finger gently brushed the cheek of the young girl, who then nodded drowsily and felt herself being lifted and transported to familiar shores. When she awoke, she found herself reclining in the shade of her own cottage, the satchel of books at her side, and resolved at once to embark on her destiny."

~ Anonymous ~

Paula Stenberg: Artist Profile

This section was designed to give readers a little bit about myself, but also to help those who come on my artist mentoring programme to develop their own artist profiles, viewing these as samples for perhaps inspiration. (refer NZ Creative Enterprises).

Artist Bio:
Paula Stenberg is a mixed media artist. She specialises in collage, assemblage, ATCs and altered art. There are a long line of gifted artists in her extended family; her cousins have become renown artists (the late Swedish brothers: Vladimir and Georgii Stenberg, and current Ron Stenberg) and musicians. [More on Vladimir and Georgii can be found here, here, here.]

Some of her collage art work, which has been exhibited nationally and internationally, reflects the zeitgeist of various eras. She exhibited for the Gallipoli Show in Australia and The Seam Upon Jerusalem, that travelled from Israel to New Zealand. Unfortunately her last collage piece was stolen while on display at Britomart, Auckland. This piece of work had fragments of opal dust and mica mineral added into the work.

She teaches decoupage, collage on canvas, scrapbooking and paper tole. She has acquired talents in a variety of creative genres from art, writing, to graphic design; she is also a qualified journalist and careers counsellor. During her time raising her children she taught Adobe Photoshop, Freehand, and PageMaker (now InDesign) for the Manukau Institute of Technology.

Paula has uniquely blended her academic and creative career by developing a portfolio of businesses: she is the director of New Zealand Creative Enterprises (who recommend approvals for funding of start ups, philanthropy for cottage industry in Third World countries, and research on the creative economies), owner of CV Style and Career LifeStyle; and owner of a retail art and craft store (Scrapbookers' Delight) and formerly owner of Altered Art Alchemist. She is currently completing her Masters in Career Development (specialising in artists).

Artist's Vision:

Life: I love it. I love laughter and subtlety, conversation, action and adventure; and especially warmth and energy which emanates from inspiration in all its forms, particularly from people. I love people and the creation of their future. I love kindness, justice, beauty, gentleness and hope. So the vision of my art is often to try and reflect that. It usually has no utilitarian purpose at all, and that's it, beauty does not have to serve as a function, it can just be.

Artist's Philosophy:
I look at images and see if there is a story. I use my imagination to develop a narrative, a theme and a dream. Nothing is quite planned, I follow a journey which stops when it is done. The wonder of childhood motivates me. The magic of that wonder I wish to re-create. Sometimes I will bring fantasy elements into my mixed media art. Nostalgia and history are often reflected upon.

Cultural exploration and the heritage of my Scandinavian background may be alluded to. I enjoy presenting characters in my work ... telling stories of people ... romance and adventure; adding a sense of theatricalness; ideas and experiences that people relate to, adding to this a subtle quirkiness to make people smile or wonder. Often, unbeknown to me at the time, there maybe by the viewer, a spiritual splash of revelation, insight or intuition in their interpretation of a piece.

I am influenced and inspired by pre-Raphaelite, Renaissance, Byzantine and Medieaval art. I am also influenced by graphic design where I like to explore the use of typography in my work.

My technique is generally collage and my medium is playing with all forms of painted effects, fibres, fabrics, papers; and then differing mixtures (gels, glazes, texture pastes) to create small wonders and canvasses that are tactile and textural.

School Leavers: What distinctions do you have?

For those of you who are contemplating on leaving school, or are actually in the process, writing up your CV can be a daunting task, especially when you are unsure how to 'sell' yourself, or when your experience is limited.

Below I have outlined some ideas that you may wish to consider when thinking about your Point of Difference i.e. what makes you different and special in your own unique way. To help you think about this you will need to reflect on your distinctions, here are some idea starters to get you going:

• Youth Club member (e.g. archery)
• Youth Group member (e.g. church – but do not put the denomination)
• School debating team
• Scouting/Girl Guide Leader
• Peer Support Leader
• Drama Club or similar
• School Librarian
• Contributions to the school magazine (e.g. writer, editor, photographer, etc)
• School prize winner (e.g. essay)
• Merit certificate(s) (e.g. Merit Certificate in English – 1st in Class)
• Prefect
• Head Captain, Class Captain, etc
• Duke of Edinburgh Award (Gold, Silver or Bronze)
• AFS Student (e.g. AFS Student exchange to France)
• School orchestra, choir
• Student Representative
• Representations in school sports (e.g. Colours in swimming, representative in school hocky team, etc)
• Awards
• Scholarships
• School activity clubs (e.g. computer, history)
• School productions

In fact think of anything that shows your active involvement in the school community.
Written by Paula Stenberg

How to Write Achievements

When developing your CV a major focus will be to concentrate on what achievements you encountered in the positions you have fulfilled.

Achievements can be drawn from a review of your performance appraisal where you can check what projects you were involved with, or KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) you had to measure up to. Then re-write these as achievements.

To help you with this, I have compiled a selection of accomplishment based verbs I like to use when constructing people's CV:

Turned around ...
E.g. Turned around the company's loss into a profitable venture within 7 months.

Accelerated ...
E.g. Accelerated the ROA by focusing on corporate finance.

Executed ...
E.g. Executed asset purchase of Whitcoulls in Australia.

Consolidated ...
E.g. Consolidated 29 warehouses down to 4 generating annual savings of $5.8m.

Generated ...
E.g. Generated over 100 key client profiles.

Launched ...
E.g. Launched systems engineering group to managed predictive failure analysis, root cause analysis and remediation projects.

Surpassed ...
E.g. Surpassed all regulatory compliance standards despite issues negatively impacting product performance.

Spearheaded ...
E.g. Spearheaded prototype development of next generation products.

Enhanced ...
E.g. Enhanced product manufacturability with the introduction of an in-house systems engineering and design group.

Initiated ...
E.g. Initiated human resources partnerships with key operating divisions worldwide to drive common vision and achieve financial objectives.

Championed ...
E.g. Championed development of offshore operations to reduce labour and overhead costs associated with food product manufacturing.

Increased ...
E.g. Increased ROA on real estate investment by 26%.

Saved ...
E.g. Saved $4.6m by reducing headquarters space by 30%.

Reduced ...
E.g. Reduced costs by 20% by putting in place strong inventory controls.

Created ...
E.g. Created a worldwide international sales organisation through direct, VAR, reseller and mass merchant channels.

Instituted ...
E.g. Instituted a new procedure to increase efficiency by 40%.

Restructured ...
E.g. Restructured corporate pricing on all major product lines and delivered a 12% margin improvement.

Upgraded ...
E.g. Upgraded the computer system to SAP.

Aggressively ...
E.g. Aggresssively marketed the launching of the Dolby Prologic stereos in the markeplace.

Assumed a key role in ...
Played a pivotal role in ...
Played an instrumental role in ...

Pioneered ...
E.g. Pioneered innovative organisational development initiatives including pay for performance, diversity management, process redesign and change management.

Abated ...
E.g. Abated the number of problems from staff relating to the introduction of a new machine.

Streamlined ...
E.g. Streamlined corporate operating infrastructure.

Actively participated ...
E.g. Actively participated in company driven initiatives and committees.

Realigned ...
E.g. Realigned product mix and captured a 12% margin improvement.

Revitalised ...
E.g. Revitalised corporation and introduced market-driven management systems to accelerate revenue growth against competition.

Fostered ...
E.g. Fostered employee empowerment and participated management practices throghout the manufacturing organisation.

Improved ....
E.g. Improved occupancy ratings by 27% within the highly competitive corporate travel market.

Co-founded ...
E.g. Co-founded the company's social newsletter.

Founded ...
E.g. Founded the Institute for Editors in New Zealand.

Expedited ...
E.g. Expedited the elimination of bulk wastage resulting in a reduction of expenditure.

Leveraged ...
E.g. Leveraged the company's position into the marketplace with strong brand development.

Strategised ...
E.g. Strategised and implemented TouchTone's first ever corporate risk management insurance.

Orchestrated ...
E.g. Orchestrated complex due diligence reviews in co-operation with outside financial advisers, accountants and legal counsel.

Captured ...
E.g. Captured the niche market in scrapbooking, gaining competitive advantage.

Outmanoeuvred ...
E.g. Outmanoeurved competition in a selective field.

Penetrated ...
E.g. Penetrated the brand into new emerging markets.

Positioned ...
E.g. Positioned the company ...

Quadruped ...
E.g. Quadrupled sales within 6 months of tenure.

Significantly ...
E.g. Significantly increased sales from 12% to 50% within one year.

Troubleshooted ...
E.g. Troubleshooted technical problems and glitches in the mainframe system.

Chosen ...
E.g. Chosen to lead a team of 50 support personnel.

Requested ...
E.g. Requested to join a select committee.

Invited ...
E.g. Invited as a guest speaker to give a talk at the Career Counsellors' Association Conference in 1998.

Selected ...
E.g. Selected by the CEO to direct a cross-functional team evaluating potential re-engineering, change management and technology acquisitions.

Awarded ...
E.g. Awarded the Salesperson of the Year Award in 1999 within the company (a nationwide context held annually each year).

Yielded ...
E.g. Yielded a large gross profit margin for the introduction of a new product line.

Negotiated ...
E.g. Negotiated $2.5m in World Bank project financing for economic development programmes in Niue.

Expanded ...
E.g. Expanded the company's market into South East Asia.

Resolved ...
E.g. Resolved staff downtime by putting into place whole team/project approach based job descriptions.

Introduced ...
E.g. Introduced proactive management techniques to strengthen focus on cost avoidance and elimination within each manufacturing process.

There are many more but these will get you started.
Paula Stenberg ©