Green Career Central Blog

Listen To Your Desires

When I work with clients who are searching for the best way to redirect their career, they typically want to focus on the logical, practical skills that they have. Before they even describe those scenarios I know their heart isn't in it!

Why go for a career that doesn't engage you?
Why limit your options by focusing on what you should do?

If you have an urge, a craving, or a desire to explore a topic, track and industry, read about a solution -- do it!!

You don't have to KNOW how it's all going to turn out. In fact, you CAN'T know! It's in the exploration that your ideas will evolve and new insights will coalesce in ways that bring out career ideas you never would have thought possible when you started your quest.

So...starting today...begin to listen to what's calling to you. Follow the thread. Collect the clues. When the time is right, weave them together to create your new direction.

(And...along the way, pretend you are this bear! Take time to smell the flowers (savor the clues) that you discover along your journey!)

"Our deepest wishes are whispers of our authentic selves. We must learn to respect them. We must learn to listen."   ~ Sarah Ban Breathnach

 I love this quote because it reminds us to listen to our own desires!

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Would you like to connect with others who share your passion for the planet and for sustainable solutions? 

Join our Green Career Central Facebook Community - look for the "Join" link in the upper right corner of the group's page.

See you there!

Finding Your Work is a Creative Journey

Make no mistake about it, finding your work is a creative journey. It's a continuing unfolding of your strengths, passions, and talent.

There's a refinement that happens over the years that is difficult to explain to those just starting to connect with their life work.

I've been in business 22 years this year. I've been excited about every stage of my work. For a long time I felt as though I was pulled in two directions professionally -- understanding life transitions and helping people find careers they love.

Personally, I've been passionate about all things environmental, sustainable, and green throughout my life.

Five years ago I discovered a way to bring my passion for the planet and my career transition work together in the form of Green Career Central. That was a lightning bolt moment of recognition that changed my business and my life focus.
 
In the last 6 months, and specifically in the last couple of weeks, I've seen a brand new layer unfold where I see my work in transitions weaving back into my work in a much bigger way than ever before. I'm really excited about what is taking shape!
 
If I'd turned away from one of these paths at some point in the last 22 years, I would have missed something very, very powerful!

Click on the link below and read the quote. It's important that you breathe these words in. Where ever you are on your adventure, you are likely to see something that gives you a new level of strength, compassion, and inspiration.

Let us know what you discover after reading the quote.

"There Are A Lot Of Quotes About Creativity; Here’s One That’s Actually Useful"

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Would you like to connect with others who share your passion for the planet and for sustainable solutions? 

Join our Green Career Central Facebook Community - look for the "Join" link in the upper right corner of the group's page.

See you there!

Why the World Needs You More Than Ever

Recently the 39 year old Executive Director of the Rainforest Action Network, Becky Tarbotton died unexpectedly after swimming in the ocean while on vacation. Environmental/climate/social change communities are reeling from her loss. I wasn't fully aware of her work until I started reading people's comments about her vitality, impact, and passion.

It's moments like these where you have a moment to take a mental review of your life and what you are doing. I was struck by this paragraph, written by Celia Alario of the Huffington Post.

"I’m asking you, not just for Becky, not for me, not even for future generations, but for yourself, **to dig deep and find the inspiration to be fully alive and fully present in the work you personally are perfectly poised to do to make the world a better place.** Despite the unknowns, the insecurities, the challenges that might be great excuses not to, would you consider boldly stepping up your contribution to this planet and those who live on it? I can’t promise you’ll win, but I can promise you that you will meet a divine group of inspired shape shifters, systems thinkers and spiritually aware allies who you will be thrilled to become more like. Come on, join in, inject yourself into that law of averages. It was true even before Becky’s untimely passing, but ever more true in the face of it, that we need you now more than ever."
 
A powerful message to step up and into the work you are drawn to do.

(Read more at Spirituality & Health)

 

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Would you like to connect with others who share your passion for the planet and for sustainable solutions? 

Join our Green Career Central Facebook Community - look for the "Join" link in the upper right corner of the group's page.

See you there!

Your Career Transition May Trigger Others

As you consider your passion or launch your career transition, don't be alarmed if your actions trigger others around you.

If others are triggered, it's likely that they are envious or have a journey they need to take themselves. Something may be calling them and they can't act or are afraid to act. Don't let their questions or attitudes throw you off your path!

Keep your eye on the point on the horizon that is your passion and your contribution. Bit by bit, take those steps. It won't happen overnight, most likely, but knowing you are actively on the path will keep you inspired and motivated -- as long as you don't buy into everyone else's opinion of where you should go and how you should get there.
 
Keep in touch with what is true for you! And take those steps. You'll be amazed at where you will be led!

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"People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they're not on your road doesn't mean they've gotten lost." ~ H. Jackson Browne
(Photo courtesy of The Nature of Things)

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Would you like to connect with others who share your passion for the planet and for sustainable solutions?

Join our Green Career Central Facebook Community - look for the "Join" link in the upper right corner of the group's page.

See you there!

Tip of the Week: A New Angle for Envisioning Your Career for 2013

As the New Year begins, are you contemplating your career options?

• Would you like to transition to a new career or position that allows you to have more impact and feel more fulfilled?
• Do you wonder what your best career move is going to be?

If you are like most people, your first instinct is likely to focus on what you will DO on the new job.

You are no doubt making a mental (or written) inventory of your skills, interests, and experience to dream up options for the next stage of your career.

Although considering what you can contribute to a new position is an essential step in your exploration, there's another question I'd like to highlight in this article.

How Do You Want to "Feel" in 2013?

Why is feeling so important? Well, when you think about it, what you are doing on your job is only one element of your job satisfaction, your sense of fulfillment, and your overall happiness. A number of other elements contribute to how you'll feel this year....

Read more of this week’s Tip of the Week.

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Would you like to connect with others who share your passion for the planet and for sustainable solutions?

Join our Green Career Central Facebook Community - look for the "Join" link in the upper right corner of the group's page.
 
See you there!

The ‘Future City’ through a Biomimicry Lens

Last month the Bay Area Biomimicry Swarm met at the San Francisco headquarters of frog to explore ways biomimicry can inform the urban ecosystem by surfacing solutions for repurposing and rebuilding to address current and future scenarios. In addition to members from the local community, participants included professionals attending one of two conferences also taking place in the area: Greenbuild, the world’s largest conference dedicated to green building, and the VERGE San Francisco innovation conference.

To spark the conversation, three members of other biomimicry networks shared how biomimicry was influencing and informing their urban areas.

• Kathy Zarsky, founder ofBiomimicryTX network, gave examples of how looking at Austin a system was surfacing unexpected organic systems that could be leveraged and strengthened with thought and intention. Rather than focusing on building new infrastructure, they are focusing on how to repurpose existing structures to address regional issues such as water management (water use, water harvesting, and water conservation). They are also looking at local species to gain insights into how they handle the challenges of drought.
• Chris Garvin an architect from the BiomimicryNYC network talked about using nature as the source of identifying the building codes for creating a built ecosystem. The goals being to reconnect people back to nature, replicate natural systems onsite, and bring outsourced systems back to the local ecosystem. The defining issues facing New York City include enhancing resiliency in face of major storms such as Sandy, restoring wetlands, and preparing for sea level rise.
  
  
• Alexandra Ramsden, a sustainability design consultant from the Biomimicry Puget Sound network, talked about Seattle's Urban Green Print project. Within the project the group identified storm water runoff and CO2 sequestration (with the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050) as the two main issues to address using the biomimicry lens. To begin their research they looked at how nature handled these two variables prior to the land being developed. It was fascinating to see how the natural wetlands of Puget Sound handled the runoff and carbon sequestration quite effectively prior to development. Now the question is how to bring some of those natural features back into the built environment to minimize these effects in the current day.

After these short presentations we self-organized into groups to explore seven specific ways biomimicry could inspire new thinking about ways to design cities to address issues we face in the future. The seven topics we explored were surfaced from a survey members completed in the weeks before the meeting. The final topics included:

• Aesthetics and quality of life in urban settings
• Climate adaptation in cities
• City services
• Urban food systems
• Building environment, energy efficiency
• Homelessness
• Farming as a living organism

Listening to each group report on their discoveries and ideas highlighted how powerful it is to pull together professionals from a variety of backgrounds to talk about knotty issues that are both multi-faceted and difficult to resolve.

If you'd like to read the insights I gleaned about green/sustainable careers, check out my latest Green Career Tip of the Week

If you'd like to read more about the topic of urban design, read frog’s series of articles on “The Future of Cities.”

Tip of the Week: Want to Discover What You Love? Try a Pinterest Field Trip

Knowing What You Love

I talk to people all the time who fervently want a career that expresses who they are.

• They want to feel engaged, energized, and excited by what they do.
• They want to make a difference in an area that has personal meaning to them.

That's the good news!

When I ask them what they want to do, they really have no idea.

They may be able to give me a vague description of what they want to do
Or they may not know what engages them.
• Or they have some clues, but don't have the words to articulate their passions.

That's not a good position to be in when you are searching for your life work!

The key to finding a career that fulfills your goal to have a positive impact on the planet is knowing the internal signs that tell you:

• What you are drawn to
• What you are repelled by

I call this internal guidance system your Heart Magnet.

If you are just learning to connect with what you love or if you've been pushing down your Heart Magnet's guidance for some time, you'll probably find it very difficult to rely on it for making big decisions about your career. You'll feel a bit shaky--Is this really what I want? What if there's something else out there?

Discover how to activiate your Heart Magnet using Pinterest!

Launching Green Career Central Facebook Group

For those of you who are on Facebook:

I'm excited to invite you to join our new Green Career Central Group on Facebook. We'll be sharing quotes, questions, and opportunities to inspire and support those who want to use their professional talents to contribute more powerfully to the planet.

Connect with others who share your passion for the planet and for sustainable solutions.

To join the community visit the Green Career Central's group page on Facebook and look for the Join link in the upper right corner of the group's page.

See you there!

 

 

Our Anniversary Gift to YOU! Green Career Action Day - November 16th

In celebration of our anniversary,

Carol McClelland and her new business partner,
Rebecca Kieler, are hosting a virtual

 

 

Green Career Action Day!

Our gift to you!

Friday, November 16th
9 am to 2 pm Pacific
Noon to 5 pm Eastern

Each hour we'll kick off a Hands on Opportunity during which you will

 

 

Expand Your Connections

Increase Your Visibility

Grow Your Credibility

 

Please Join Us...for one hour or all five. It's up to you!

 

You'll benefit from this Green Career Action Day
no matter where you are in your career...whether you are:

Happy in your current job

or

Searching for a new job

Hoping to transition to a green career
or 20 years into your green/sustainable career

Register for this FREE celebration event!

 

Not able to attend that day? No problem!
You'll be able to access the recorded webinars,
handouts, and action goals after the event
to create your own Career Action Day.

Green Career Tip: Trailblazing in the Early Days of Green Career Central

Continuing my Green Career Central 5th Anniversary Series

As I reviewed a couple key turning points during the pre-launch of my business and the emerging economy, I see how my views and conclusions differed from what others were seeing and saying.

Although it's been a nerve-wracking journey at times, I felt confident, and still do, that the environmental issues we face and the unsustainable ways in which we currently work, live and play require us (and will continue to require us)to make significant adjustments in the way we do business. 

My premise early on was that the unfolding changes in the way we do business would result in changes in the world of careers. Now, looking back I can see how much has changed since those very early days. Although it sometimes feels as though we aren't making much/enough progress with green careers these days, you'll see we really have made progress in the last five years.

In this article I highlight two of the trailblazers who significantly influenced my thinking as I pulled my business together and launched it in November 2007.
 
A question for you...

As you read the two scenarios that follow, think about what how you are interpreting today's events. Do you see more than what others are talking about in your field or function? Are your views outside the bounds of common conclusions?

If so, you may be a trailblazer.

Read the rest of the newsletter on our website.