Vol 1 Iss 9

My daughter hit me with a completely new concept last week. She and her sweetie are moving to Taiwan. This should not surprise me as travel is a huge value of hers and she's just about the gutsy-est person I've ever known.

At the tender age of 18 she declared she was moving to either Seattle or New Orleans. She met up with a cousin living in New Orleans in September and by November, she was on her way. She prepared by taking a second job and packing or giving away all her stuff. Two days after her arrival, she had a job waitressing. She lived there three years and truly stepped into her own life.

So, off she goes again. Another adventure with a whole new set of

skills to learn and challenges to grow through. I'm very proud.

Her hunger for new experiences is typical of a type of personality that Barbara Sher calls "Scanners," those of us who want to taste everything. If you're finding it difficult to settle on one career, perhaps my article this week will interest you.

So, what are you doing to challenge yourself? Please e-mail me with My Personal Challenge in the subject line and tell me your story.

Seems that lately I've been talking to a lot of people who would love to change their career but are all over the map with ideas about what to do next. They look at the want ads and circle 15 vastly different job titles, confident that each one is interesting and do-able. And they are.

Perhaps you might be what my favorite career-change author, Barbara Sher, calls a "Scanner." As she says:

Scanners want to taste everything. They love to learn about the structure of

a flower, and they love to learn about the theory of music. And the adventures

of travel. And the tangle of politics. To scanners, the universe is a treasure

house full of a million works of art, and life is hardly long enough to see them all.

Sound familiar? I know it does to me. I always said, "I know enough to know I don't know enough." And I always want to know more. One career would never fit me; I'm too curious about what it would be like to do something else. It's a little tough on the resume, but, wow, talk about life experience. (Hmmmm, I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree...)

The problem is, that type of personality is not honored in our culture. Specialists are the ones that get all the glory. If you're a scanner, you've probably looked around and thought "If I had just stuck to it, I'd be at the top of my game now." Instead, you're underemployed and you don't get no respect. Your family apologizes for you saying, "She's still finding herself."

Well, there's nothing wrong with being a scanner. Scanners have a unique talent for learning and stretching the imagination. You're adaptable to new situations and flexible under pressure. (Blessed are the flexible for they shall not be bent out of shape.) You may be unwilling to commit to a specific path, but that does not mean you have a low IQ or lack discipline. Just the opposite. You delight in all things new and you're smart enough to appreciate them.

For ways of finding a career that honors your nature as a scanner see the Career Tip below.

As a Career Coach, I can be your partner through this process. Please contact me at debra@forwardmomentum.com for more information!

She drank from a bottle called DRINK ME

And up she grew so tall,

She ate from a plate called TASTE ME

And down she shrank so small.

And so she changed, while other folks

Never tried nothin' at all.

One problem for scanners is thinking there is only one right answer. The truth is, you have a lifetime ahead of you (even if you're retired!) and you don't have to give up your choices and interests to conform to our culture's insistance on becoming a specialist. Leonardo da Vinci, Ben Franklin, Buckminster Fuller, and many others have proved that you can do it all.

If you're a scanner - plan your life to fit your abundant gifts. Here is an exercise taken from Barbara Sher's fabulous book, I Could Do Anything I Want If I Only Knew What it Was: How to Discover What You Really Want and How To Get It. (This book is loaded with amazing exercises to help you in your search. Go buy it - you'll want your own copy.)

1. Make a list of every life you wished you could live. Start with 10, but if there are more, write them down. Your list might look like this:

2. Identify your available time. Looking at your list, quickly answer the following questions with one of your ten (or more) lives. Don't "figure it out," put down the first answer that pops in your head:

~ Which life can you devote yourself to this coming year?

~ Which life can you do when the first one is completed?

~ Which activities can you do for twenty minutes or less each day?

~ Which ones can you do on a weekend?

~ Which ones can you do once in a while?

This is how people actually do things. They don't do them all at once, they fit them into their lives. For example, they don't go away and write, they write when they have time. If what you're writing captures your interest, then push off some other things and write in a more concentrated way. A few days later, you'll be finished. Then you'll put it away and may not want to write again for another month. The key is sequencing.

3. Make a quick three-year plan. What will you do in year 1, year 2 and year 3? You can extend this to a 30 year plan and plan in 5-year increments. You will find time to do what you are interested in - you always have.

You've got more time than you think. You don't have to cram everything into your schedule right now. The truth is, a too-rigid schedule might prevent you from doing all the things you want. Take writing a poem, for example. How much time does it take? A short burst can be very satisfying without dedicating your life to poetry.

Scanners can have satisfying careers that honor their personality. For example, you could be a travel agent, a newspaper reporter, a poet, a librarian, or a teacher. Your career will encompass your curiousity, your love of learning and your adaptability. And, you'll continue to explore along the way. You can't help it!

Let me know how it goes for you!

You, or someone you know, are looking at retirement in a few years. You're fretting your money situation and thinking this is how to plan ahead. Yet, you have this nagging feeling that there's more. Well there is. You can have a retirement that is fulfilling and meaningful, but you have to plan for it.

I have partnered with a financial planner, Evonne Ryan, from Life Transition Planners, Inc. to present a highly interactive workshop for those who are approaching retirement.

We are inviting only our clients and their referrals in order to test our dynamic process for planning a life with meaning after you retire. Please let me know if you are interested.

There will be two seminars presented in the Denver/Boulder area in May. To download a flier with the details, click here.

You are free to use material from Moving Forward! in whole or in part, as long as you include complete attribution, including a live web site link. Please also notify me where the material will appear. The attribution should read:

"By Debra DeVilbiss, CPCC, of Forward Momentum, LLC. Please visit Debra's website at http://www.ForwardMomentum.com for additional articles and resources on creating your right livelihood."

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