Whoa! 

After a very long absence I'm here to announce a new publication of my poetry, 36 poems aboutwork and love and everything in between. Expecting book availability through Amazon by mid July. 

I'm happy to show a snippet: 

Work 

Too many people hate or endure their jobs. Since habit and fear are tough taskmasters, here's my two cents on the matter:

Work for pay

is not the way

to need

or lead

or heed

or plead.

Work for pay

can be ok

when you accept,

inspect,

reject and

trek.

Work for pay

you might attest

is not the best

without the zest,

even with the smallest

crest.

But since you still

must pay the bills,

plan refills,

fuel the tills, 

and climb the hills

And work you must,

avoid the rust,

and dust,

mistrust and

crust.

Try instead

to work for joy

Use your head

and make your bed.

Don't stay wed

when all is said.

Work and feel

keep it real,

Maybe heal

Sometimes squeal,

and now and then

accept the deal.

When work and joy

combine—oh boy!

Time put in

where there’s a grin,

beats the sin

of an easy win.

So find the path

Let it last

Have a blast

Make it fast

And in the doing:

The joy is cast.

2012!

Here I am again after a long absence.

I'm pondering whether to continue this blog.

I could.

I might.

love kj

Time Travel

Hello. If you've arrived at this blog looking for me, please come over to my main blog, OPTIONS Associates for a Better World http://www.karenjasper.blogspot.com/. For some reason blogger has landed you here instead, which is fine if I were actively posting on this site, but I'm not. I am however blabbing freely down the road.

Well? Is this a Career Blog or Not?

Allow me to apologize. I did not create this blog on Careers with the intention of not tending to it.

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It turns out my own career has sidetracked me. In addition to my counseling practice, I have just published my first novel and have begun to pull together all the vocational exploration and job search advice I intended to share here into a second book called Good Work If You Can Get It. That book will hopefully be available sometime next Spring.

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Meanwhile, please feel free to leave any career-related question/s you may have here. I have promised myself to check in more often, and if I can be of help to you in choosing and finding good work, I am happy to offer my two cents for no cents.

A Pause....in the Day's Occupation

Should you be a visitor to this site only to find it has not been updated in far too long, thank you for your patience.

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Soon we will be resuming the quiet march toward Good Work.

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Most Sincerely,

The Management....

WHOSE ON BOARD?

Have you ever wondered how you have come to view the world, make decisions, see yourself? How others may influence your decisions and choice of work?

Nobody lives in a vacuum. Every step we take reverberates to those around us and every choice we make is influenced in some way by those around us. When you’re not aware of the messages you pick up from others—especially influencial others—you can find yourself going through the motions without knowing why.

That is not a good approach for finding joy in life or work.

For 15 years, Marsha and Alex have talked about moving to the country and building the house of their dreams. Instead, they continue to rent and probably always will. The reason: Alex’s parents warned him throughout his childhood never to trust, especially the real estate market--that everything he worked for could be snatched away in a single instant.

Michael’s influence could not be more different than Alex’s, but it has restricted him in a similar way. When his best friend Teddy unexpectedly died before they were able to take that cross country trip they had planned for years, Michael,decided he would leave his job as a successful attorney and live for the moment. Except he hasn’t been able to figure out what “the moment” should look like. Some of his friends tell him to travel the world; others advise him to grow up and get back to practicing law.

Sometimes advice from others helps and clarifies. Other times it harms and confuses. Here’s an exercise that will help you understand who influences you and why….

Imagine you are the President and CEO of your life. Who sits on your Board of Directors? Identify at least three people and up to five who have something to say or some influence over the direction you take and the decisions you make. Your Board Members may be living or dead, young or old, real or imagined. Write the name of each person in the circles below.
Once you have identified your Board of Directors, convene a meeting. You have a matter to address, and that matter concerns a question about your career, work, or future plans.

1. Write the Agenda for the board right now:

Good afternoon, Board Members. The issue before us today is about me.Specifically:

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

2. Next, think about how each member of your board will respond to your question. What will his/her position be? What is each member likely to advise you? Under the name of each person, write a few words that express that person’s advice to you. What does this tell you? Do your Board Members agree with each other? Does their advice reflect the realities of your life today? Does it tell you more about how they see their own situation rather than yours? Are they respectful? Do they believe in you? How do they see the world? Is the advice confusing? Comforting? Uncertain?

You will find that certain words and phases provide clear clues and helpful themes.

Take a look at Ed’s Board. He taught science for 9 years before being promoted to High School Principal. He knows that he does not enjoy his work, even though he is well liked and highly regarded by students, faculty and parents. He easily knows the position of each of his Board Members:

Father: Don’t be foolish. You have a job that pays you far more than you could ever earn as a Teacher. You have to be practical. I knew you’d have problems the moment you decided to get married instead of going to medical school.

Wife: I just want you to be happy

Superintendent of Schools: You are a natural leader with a good business sense. I can see you replacing me someday if you stick it out now.

Sons (twins, age 7): Let’s Play, Dad. Let’s build rocket ships!

Best Friend Doug: You do all the right things but it seems to be at a high cost. I think you should go back to being a teacher and forget about advancing.

Ed is surprised to learn that the people who matter most to him—his wife, his children, and his good friend—do not encourage him to remain in any job where he is unhappy. He is also surprised at the strength and influence of his father’s voice, even though he has been dead for 11 years.

When you look at Ed's Board, here's what they say: don't be foolish, be practical, just be happy, natural leader, stick it out, let's play, high cost, teach. Different opinions: that's no surprise. But who does Ed listen to? And why?

What does your board say? Who speaks the loudest? Who dominates? Who do you listen to? Who knows you best? Who speaks the truth?

Most people who complete this exercise are surprised by what they learn. Take a moment to write down your observations and thoughts about the advice you get from others…..and then, write down the words and phrases ONLY from who knows you best and/or who speaks the truth. This make take a small act of courage on your part, but filter out the "shoulds" and "oughts" and predictions of gloom and doom. Pass them on by, and then write the advice you know to be true.

Your board has spoken....

Oh, by the way, this is a good time to tell you: the observations and thoughts about the advice you get from others should be brief enough that they can fit in a pie slice. This will be your SECOND pie slice: along with words from the Line of Your Life...

...Because next week I will introduce the Good Work Circle, where you will be able to store and learn from the words and phrases that will lead you to the work of your dreams.

GOOD WORK--BAD WORK

Is your current life, career or circumstance good or bad?

On the line below, put a ‘star’ somewhere--anywhere--that comes closest to where you fall right now. Don't take too long to think or your mind will step in and your answer will be influenced by what is safe or what is concrete or how things SHOULD be. Instead, just respond as honestly as you can.
_________________________________________________
Things are bad...... I'm not sure........Things are good

"I had all those cable networks reporting to me, I had a number of windows in my office and I had all the corporate perks you could possibly imagine, but that wasn't what I was about, so I left."- Geraldine B. Laybourne, resigned as President of cable TV operations for ABC & Walt Disney Co., now with Oxygen

I want my identity back. I don't want to be known as the CEO of AOL Time Warner . . . I'm my own person. I have strong moral convictions. I'm not just a suit. I want poetry back in my life. - Gerald Levin, former CEO of AOL Time Warner (the world's largest media company)

It doesn't matter what level of fame or fortune you've achieved: I’ve never met anyone who permanently escapes the search for purpose and passion. The fact that you are a human being guarantees that sooner or later you will come to face this issue head on.

You might find "it"--those moments when you and everything around you are in allignment with the rest of the universe-- in your spare time, or once a year while on vacation, or if you're really lucky, in your paid work. If the latter, consider yourself very lucky, because most people plod through their jobs for security, money, but not for purpose and passion.

And yet, if it's is so damn important, and it is, why not let yourself believe you can find it in the work of your dreams?

We're going to call this state "GOOD WORK". Here's what it is and isn't:

Good work is meaningful, enjoyable, interesting, rewarding.

And bad work is boring, miserable, meaningless, and depressing.

Before I tell you how most people describe work that they consider to be “good”, what is your own version of good work? Answer the following by writing down words, phrases, sentences—whatever comes to mind:

I know when I’m doing good work when:
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________

How much of this description is present in your current life?

If your answer is “very little” or “none”, you should know that it not only doesn’t have to be that way, it is unhealthy for you to keep it that way. Good work matters.

Here’s what good work isn’t. Most research studies confirm that good work does not depend on:
your job title,
how much money you make,
how successful you are,
or even what you do.

Assemblers in Detroit and Teachers in Baltimore can experience their work as good, and CEO’s in Boston and Production Supervisors in Louisville can experience their work as bad. At its core, good work is not about prestige or salary or power or benefits. It’s not even about your job duties or tasks or responsibilities.

Here's what Good Work IS about. People who are generally happy with their jobs report the following characteristics:

· Time flies: You lose track of time when you are doing good work
· You are in control: You are able to do a job in a way that feels efficient and
respectful
· What you do contributes in some way-- to your well being, to others, to
society, to the planet.

Differences in income, education and employment tasks bear little relationship to whether or not a person is fulfilled by the work that he or she does.

Some work is inherently and obviously bad. There is nothing redeeming about showering rain forests with pesticides or scamming elderly seniors out of their life savings. Fortunately, we have courts and governments and agencies to protect us from the very dark edges of bad work. Unfortunately, we do not have the benefit of such arbitrators when it comes to our individual career choices: you are more or less left to figure out good and bad on your own. And because 80 % of all Americans report that they are unhappy in the work that they do, most of us haven’t done a very good job for ourselves in figuring good from bad.

I encourage you to think about Good Work as a practical and achievable goal. The happier you are in life, the better for everyone around you. People who do bad work often come across as uncaring, incompetent, bitter, short tempered, or fatalistic. And it doesn’t matter if you are a college professor or the person who cleans bathrooms. Put aside your job title or job tasks for a moment and think about how you work.

Remember Rule # 1: You are not what you do. You are how you do it.

Whatever your current situation may be, think about what makes good work good and bad work bad. Then think about how you work. Then be patient, because in the next few months you'll be looking at the work of your dreams.