The 3 Priorities to Achieve Balance for a Happy, Successful Life

By Nan McAdam

I have worked in the business world for many years. The saddest thing, I have witnessed, is to see someone who has work very hard, spending the majority of their time creating a successful career. They finally reach that pinnacle of success in their career that they were striving for and they look around and that's all they have. Their marriage and family is gone, kicked to the curb by over focusing on their career. They had lost all sense of balance. They have achieved the dream career, but their life is in ruins.
Some people, actually, use the above scenario as an excuse to not succeed. They don't want to put in the time and hard work it takes to succeed because they don't want to lose what is precious to them. I believe you can have it all. Does that sound impossible? I have witnessed it. I know many successful people who have grabbed the brass ring in their career and have a solid life with their partner and kids. Don't get me wrong. I have witnessed plenty of the first scenario. It is challenging, to say the least, but it can be done!
If someone achieves their dream success in their career, but loses their family and is spiritually bankrupt, are they really successful? Creating a successful life begins by prioritizing the important things in life. The successful people, I have seen, prioritize their top three things in this order.
1. Spiritual - they have an active relationship with their God or what ever they call their creator. They model their lives by the laws and teachings of their spiritual faith. I don't believe that a certain religion creates more successful people. They may not even be affiliated with a religion. Successful people realize there is something larger than themselves. They acknowledge it and worship in their own way. Their communication with their spiritual side is their first priority. Face it, faith and hope come from a strong spiritual connection.
2. Family - isn't this who we are working for? If we really prioritize our families we will find the time to spend with them. The time might not be quantity, but it should be quality. Four hours of watching TV with the wife/husband and the kids is not quality time. The key is, the time you spend with them should have all your attention. Schedule them in your planner and keep that appointment no matter what crisis happens at work. If we have a great career but lose the closeness with our spouse and children, what have we gained? When we always short change our family for our career, they aren't really the priority they should be. Our families should be our "why" for success. When we move into the winter of our lives, our families will be the ones who keep us warm.
3. Business - I am not naive enough to believe, when creating a successful career, we will always be in balance. Project deadlines and business growth accelerations can take us out of balance. When this happens, communication with our top two priorities is in order. Our family, will understand short changing their quality time only if it doesn't become the norm.
It is fun and exciting to build a successful career! It should be the monetary means to build a successful life, not the life.

job, jobs, career

Medical Transcription and Scribes

By Kathy Nicholls

The use of scribes has been a topic of discussion quite a bit lately, so I thought it was time to talk about it here and see what your thoughts are.

If you're not yet familiar with the term, a scribe is a person who goes into the exam room with a physician and does the documentation on the patient visit into an electronic record, using a laptop or some type of portable device. It's being sold as a way for physicians to get their information into an electronic record quickly and a way to reduce costs.

Scribes need to have an understanding of medical terminology so that the documentation is correct. They also need to be able to work with the technology that is being used, although, like medical transcription, I imagine systems will vary from provider to provider. My ophthalmologist has been using a "scribe" in his practice now for more than ten years, so I sometimes chuckle when I hear people talking about how new this practice is. Or perhaps he is jut ahead of his time.

The reports I've seen show that scribes tend to make a starting wage of $8 to $10 per hour. It is also reported that while some of the people doing this job have some medical background, many times they are trained from scratch in training programs that take six to eight weeks to complete. Most of the information shows that scribes work for a company, who then contracts with the healthcare facility to provide the services. These companies are charging the healthcare facilities $20 to $24 per hour for the scribe services.

Is this an opportunity for medical transcriptionists? Perhaps. Medical transcriptionists certainly have the skill set necessary to perform this function. While many will protest the pay, remember that these scribes are working for a company, or a middle man, who has to "upcharge" the healthcare provider in order to make money. How would that change if you went directly to a healthcare provider and offered those services?

What do you think? Is a scribe a potential future role for people with medical transcription training?

job, jobs, career

How To Not Ruin Your Best Resume

By Suzette Dean

For fresh graduates, having the best resume is a big issue. They consider it their key to getting hired by a reputable company. This is actually true since they have little or no work experience. Because of this, many struggle to make the best resume. However because of lack of knowledge and information sources, many are not able to achieve the goal of making the best resume and end up with an average resume instead. But what should a resume really include for it to be the best resume?

First of all, the best resume should always include your educational attainment. Whether you are able to go to a university or just high school, educational attainment should always be included. Why? Since you are a fresh graduate, and have little or no work experience yet, employers will base their decision on the school that you have been to. For most companies, the standards of the schools can help them determine the capacity of the applicant.

Second, the best resume should contain activities that were work-related or internships. This is also important because they could use your internship experiences to determine your working capacity - whether you are hard working or not, if you have perseverance or not, or whether you are determined or not. These qualities are very important for companies because they would want their employees to be efficient.

Third, the best resume should contain any training and seminars that you were able to attend. Why is this important? Training and seminars will definitely give you additional knowledge that you will not be able to learn from the four walls of the classroom. Training and seminars that are written in your best resume will of course give you an edge compared to other applicants who were not able to undertake such privileges.

You see - writing your own best resume is not that hard. All you need is focus and the proper tips of course. Remember, flooding your resume will not make it the best but instead will make it look like a logbook. Choosing the right information to include in your resume is very important so as to not flood your resume. Impressing the employer is the goal, but being able to write the best resume by yourself will not only impress the employer, but give you satisfaction because your hard work paid off in the best way.

job, jobs, career

Tomorrow will be a Better Day

Tomorrow will be a Better Day

Your career has its ups and downs

We all have or have had career slumps and they do pass. If you are feeling "slumpish" these days, know that you will look back one day and recognize the valuable lessons you've learned from this time in your life. Everything happens for a reason-you just might not know the reason yet.
If this is a down period for you, the good news is it's up from here.
While You Are Figuring Things Out, Trust That Tomorrow Will Be A Better Day. Here's How To Focus On What's Yet To Come:

1. Write Down What You Want Your Future To Look Like

Create a picture of where you see yourself in the future. Your picture can be one of where you want to be in a day, a week, a month, a year, or even farther into the future. This picture gives your journey a clear and reachable destination and provides focus.
Close your eyes. Let your imagination take over. Get in touch with what you really want and what is important to you. Ask yourself what you want and get your answers down on paper. Keep this description with you and look at it every day. Great things tend to happen to those who know where they are going.

2. Have A Plan

Once you have your answers, you can begin to put them into a formal structure.
Having a plan is vital to your success. With a plan, a fulfilling career will be far easier to achieve. Without a plan, you will be working far harder than you have to.
The trick is to be clear about the steps that are necessary to ensure your success. The more specific you can be in describing your steps, the better. Figuring out in detail what steps you will take-and when you will take them-is the foundation of your plan.
Another reason to create a plan is that it will prevent your goals from becoming overwhelming. The temptation to feel overwhelmed is normal. You are, after all, about to jumpstart your career. The structure of your plan will give you comfort and help you get moving again.

3. Take Action

Action is essential to your success. And, one of the best ways to keep your momentum going is having the steps you created in your plan written into your calendar.
Use your calendar as your friend to help guide you and keep you on track. Having a calendar will help determine whether you reach your goal or not. If your steps are written into your calendar, there is a higher probability that you can quickly check them off your list, because what you need to do is in front of you. If your steps are not in your calendar, they probably will not get done, because you may forget what you need to do.
Your calendar is your friend. Begin your friendship by opening your calendar and entering the steps from your plan into it. Commit to doing at least one thing every day, whether you feel like it or not. One action per day leads to a substantial number of actions taken over time. This is how you will be successful.

4. Tell Yourself That Greatness Is Waiting For You

The workplace, from time to time, can take a toll on your self-esteem. For example, if you are working in an environment that is filled with negativity, it will be harder for you to be positive. If your boss tells you daily that your work is no good, it will be harder for you to believe in your abilities. If you have been out of work for some time, it will be harder for you to trust that you have something worthwhile to contribute to the workplace, or more difficult to think why someone would hire you.
How you view yourself is how the world views you, too. If you are confident, the world sees a confident individual. If you don't feel good about yourself (for whatever reason), the world sees a person they don't have to pay much attention to.
Many clients have asked me whether I think they will be successful in reaching their goals. My answer is yes-if they do the work and they believe in themselves.
So, what do you say? You only have one life to live, so it might as well be a life you love!

Written & Contributed by:
Deborah Brown-Volkman, PCC
Career, Life, Wellness, and Mentor Coach
President, Surpass Your Dreams, Inc.

employment, careers, Indonesia vacancy

How to Create a Vision For Your Career

 All of life's journeys begin with the phrase, "I want."

Think about your career and the times when you said "I want." Maybe you said "I want" go to college-and then enrolled in school and completed your degree. Maybe you said "I want" to work for a large or a small company-and you are working there now. Maybe you said "I want" to lead teams-and that's one of your current responsibilities. "I want" is a very powerful phrase. Without it, it's hard to go very far.
Imagine going on a trip without selecting a destination beforehand. What would you pack? How would you get there? Where would you stay? Your trip probably would not end up being much fun.
It's the same with your career. Not being able to visualize your desired result leads to results not happening. Goals are reached when you decide what you want, and then take action to get it. Without an end in mind, you will wander aimlessly; and as long as you are aimless, you will be wasting time. You will feel lost. You will be like a stray leaf, going wherever the wind takes you.

What's a Vision?

My definition of a vision is a visualization or a picture of where you see yourself in the future. Your picture can be one of where you want to be in a day, a week, a month, a year, or even farther into the future. The visualization of your goal is what compels you to move forward. A vision is a snapshot of what you want your career and life to look like in the future. This snapshot gives your journey a clear and reachable destination and provides focus.
All goals are reached in the mind first. You see yourself both achieving that goal and experiencing the satisfaction it will bring you once you are there. This picture is what will help you to persevere during times of doubt. Your picture of success will give you purpose, power, and excitement. Your picture will give you a reason to get out of bed every day.

How do you create a Vision?

Close your eyes. Let your imagination take over. Get in touch with what you really want and what is important to you. Ask yourself meaningful questions. Let the answers come to you.

What Questions will help get you to a Vision quickly?

Here are some questions you can ask yourself:

• If it was possible, what would be different in my career?
• What type of job would I have?
• What would I be responsible for?
• What type of boss/co-workers/team would I have?
• What kind of hours would I work?
• What type of company would I work for?
• What sort of culture would the company have?
• What city would I live in?
• How much money would I make?
• How would I handle stress, my workload, and deadlines?

Once you have thought about these questions, it is time to get your answers down on paper. There are no right or wrong answers to these questions. The answers are what is true for you-not what someone else wants for you, but what is truly in your heart. Listen to yourself, and your answers will be the perfect ones for you.
Once you have your vision, then it's time to make it real.
So, what do you say? You only have one life to live, so it might as well be a life you love!

Written & Contributed by:
Deborah Brown-Volkman, PCC
Career, Life, Wellness, and Mentor Coach
President, Surpass Your Dreams, Inc.

employment, careers, Indonesia vacancy

Change how you feel at Work

Change how you feel at Work
Work can be frustrating and stressful sometimes.
Yet, no matter how tough your job is, you'll need a healthy mind and body to tackle it. If you are eating poorly, not exercising, or internalizing stress, you won't feel well. And if you don't feel well, you can't treat your career with the attention and respect it deserves. Without energy, you cannot make your career as fulfilling as it could be.
As a career coach, I speak to hundreds of people each year who are unhappy with their careers. When I ask them what they eat, how physically active they are, and how they handle stress, their answers do not surprise me. One by one, they tell me that they are not taking care of themselves.
How can you love what you do when you don't feel you best? How can you build momentum in your career when you are tired? How can you fulfill your dreams when you don't have the energy to make it happen?
You Can Change How You Feel At Work. Here Are Some Things You Can Do To Make This Happen:

Let Go of Anger

Anger is a normal emotion. But, when you cling to a painful emotion such as anger, you cannot feel energized. When you free yourself of angry thoughts, by forgiving yourself and others, you will free up a lot of mental space which can be filled with newfound energy.
Solution: Decide to let your anger go, so you feel better and more productive.

Let Go of Blame

We are a society of blamers. We all do it. Even though we criticize others for not taking responsibility, when it's our turn to be responsible, we tend to look outward to assign blame if something goes wrong. Blame feels good, because we don't like to admit being wrong. The downside to blame is that it allows you to stay stuck when you could actively be trying to improve the situation.
Solution: Decide against assigning blame. Blame will drag down your energy level. If something at work is not going well, accept what is happening and try to learn from it. This way, you can make progress and move past it.

Change Your Beliefs

Your beliefs are powerful. They set the tone and direction for your career. If you say that you want one thing, but actually believe another, the resulting conflict will hold you back. Belief is critical to victory. If you do not believe that you can have a high level of energy in your career, then you are unlikely to achieve it.
Solution: Decide to let go of the beliefs that no longer serve you. Instead, focus on believing that you can transform yourself into a healthy, lively person.

Change Your Attitude

Your career can be compared to a journey. As with any journey, there will be highs and lows along the way, in this case, spread out over many years. When good things are happening in your career, it will be easier to feel energized. But when more challenging things are occurring, it will naturally be more difficult to manage your energy efficiently.
Solution: Decide that your attitude will not keep you from being in the best possible mental and physical health you can be.

Make Better Choices

Your career is filled with choices. Some of them will empower you, and others will hold you back.
Of course, no-one intentionally makes bad choices. Every time you ate something that did not nourish your body, or skipped a workout, you probably made what you thought was the best choice at the time. You weighed your options and believed that you were doing the right thing. When you learn to question choices that are bad for you, you can also learn to make better choices in the future.
Solution: Decide to make better choices. This is a vital step towards creating a healthy, energetic new you.

Change Your Job

Does your job increase your energy or drain it from you?
Many people stay in their jobs longer than they want to, because they are unsure of what to do next. They tell themselves that the answer will come someday. Whenever that day comes, they will make their move. But in the meantime, they are stagnant and unhappy.
Solution: Decide to change your job if you are unhappy in the one you have now and you have given it your best shot.
So, what do you say? You only have one life to live, so it might as well be a life you love!

Written & Contributed by:
Deborah Brown-Volkman, PCC
Career, Life, Wellness, and Mentor Coach
President, Surpass Your Dreams, Inc.

employment, careers, Indonesia vacancy

Laid Off? Today is a Brand New Day

A sudden job loss can be very unsettling, and it makes a person look inside in order to get perspective on their situation.
I was a person that was laid off too a few years back, so I know what it is like to not have a job to go to.
I feel fortunate, though, that I was building my coaching practice while working full time. Because of that, I was able to transition into coaching full time. But still, not seeing the same faces everyday, having deadlines, and an office to go to, took some getting used to.
The best thing about that experience is I had the opportunity to create whatever I wanted with my future. I could coach full-time. I could go into consulting. I could freelance. Whichever way I chose, I knew that it was the start of a new adventure.
For me, the job loss was a blessing; and it can be a blessing for you. Yes, you will worry about how you will pay the bills, if you will get another job, and when the new job will come. You will also have the opportunity to spend more time with your family, friends, and yourself. You will have time to do all the things you wished you had time for when you were working. You can go to the gym, get outside more, and use the time to reevaluate your life and your career. (Yes, this is a good thing.)
So How Do You Make Peace With What Just Happened To You And Create A New Future? I Have 7 Tips For You:

Recognize That Losing Your Job Was Not Your Fault

Yes, there is some relief knowing that the inevitable has finally happened vs. the waiting to see if you will go next. But there is still a little part deep inside you that wonders if it was your fault. Maybe if you worked harder, then this would not have happened. Maybe if you worked weekends, evenings, etc, it would have been some else that was cut. Maybe if you participated in office polices more, you would still have a job. All these thoughts drain your energy and take away from the contributions you made when you were there. Your company was not doing well. They had to cut costs, and you were one of the people they cut. This is all there is to it. Period. Stop making it mean something more.

Decide What's Important To You

You probably have put YOU on hold for years as you have been spending all your time figuring out how to mold yourself to be someone else. You worried about what your boss thought of you, what his or her boss thought of you, and what your co-workers thought of you. You spent many evenings trying to calm down or figure out what to do with a co-worker or boss that was driving you crazy. All of this is gone (if only temporarily) and now you get to decide what is important to you. What makes you happy? What gets you excited? These are questions that you can answer because you have been given the gift of time to do so.

Recognize That The Time Off Is A Blessing

Things in life happen for a reason. There was some purpose for you to stop and reassess how you have been living your life at this point. Why do you think this happened now? Were you working too hard? Were you neglecting yourself? Was your family screaming for you to spend more time with them? Now is the time to see if your former lifestyle will fit your future one. Use the time wisely because an opportunity like this one may never come again.

Decide What You Will Do Next

Will you stay in the same career? Will you do something different? Will you start your own business? Or, will you decide to scale down your lifestyle so you can stretch out the time before you go back to work? There is no right or wrong choice, only what calls to you. Trust your instinct. The answer is inside you. It is up to you if you will take the time to listen.

Put An Action Plan In Place

Now that you have free time, how will you make it as productive as it can be? How many resumes will you send out each week? How many hours each day will you spend searching for jobs online and in the paper? How may people will you talk to, and how e-mail's will you send out? Your job search does not have to consume you, but having a daily plan, will keep you from sitting in front of the TV saying "I really should be looking for another job."

Get Support

Enlist the help of a friend, spouse, coach, colleague, etc. Someone who will listen and support you through this transitional period in your life. Looking for a job can be frustrating, time consuming, and disappointing. Remember that you do not have to do it alone.

Reward Yourself

Yes, the final reward is finding a new job, but there are milestones that can be rewarded along the way. Sent your resume to five employers? Reward. Went on one job interview this week? Reward. When you look back, you will know that you are not the same person you were before this happened. And, you will smile to yourself because you know that this is a good thing.
So, what do you say? You only have one life to live, so it might as well be a life you love!

Written & Contributed by:
Deborah Brown-Volkman, PCC
Career, Life, Wellness, and Mentor Coach
President, Surpass Your Dreams, Inc.
employment, careers, Indonesia vacancy