In This Issue

News from Joan (right)

Purposeful Living(below)

Quotes for the Month

Job Seeking Tips: The Holidays Are a Great Time for Finding a Job

Quick Links

News from Joan!

Happy Holidays, Wishing You a Prosperous Healthy and Joy Filled New Year!

It is time to consider trends for 2010
To see an overview of the ongoing and new trends for 2010, check out Trend Watchers

Purposeful Giving
My favorite holiday charity gift in the name of friends and family is to Heifer International
This organization gives animals to impoverished people around the world and includes training to care for and breed the gifted animals.

The unique thing about the Heifer project is that all recipients agree to breed their animals and give the first female offspring to a neighbor. They pass on the care and breeding training and the agreement to give the first female to a neighbor.

Within a few years, a whole village is lifted out of poverty. This is so much more useful and fulfilling than just giving money to an aid organization. The old saying that if you give a man a fish, he is fed for a day, but if you teach him to fish he has food for a lifetime really works here.

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Need a Breakout Speaker for Your Local, Regional, or National Professional Association or Business Networking Group?
As a professional speaker and former trainer, Joan will give your organization great ideas and practical tips they can implement immediately. View a list of topics and in-depth descriptions

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THANK YOU FOR YOUR REFERRALS. They are the greatest compliment you could give me. Schedule a FREE, no-obligation consultation TODAY! Call 832-458-0455 or email me: joan@bolmer.com
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A spam-free newsletter written and published by Joan Bolmer, Executive, Business, Career and Personal Coach. For more helpful ideas, visit my web site

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1. Purposeful Living

by Bill Crawford Ph.D, Author of Life from the Top of the Mind

Your life is not about what you are doing. Yet, it is true that what you are doing is often a reflection of what your life is about.
~ Adapted from Neale Donald Walsch

I love this little quote because it packs so much valuable wisdom into a very succinct statement. The first part "Your life is not about what you are doing" reminds us not to get caught up in the details of "what needs to be done" in such a way that our life becomes a "to-do list" and our worth is measured by our ability to "check off" as many items as possible.

Instead, this first sentence encourages us to inject a sense of purpose and meaning into what we do so that whatever we are doing reflects our state of purposeful "being" that transcends whatever seemingly mundane activity in which we may be engaged.

This philosophy is captured in the quote from a book by Rick Fields which says "Before enlightenment, chop wood and carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood and carry water." The gist of this work is that wisdom and/or enlightenment is not necessarily about removing one's self from life and further, any activity can become an opportunity to practice being a certain kind of person and, thus, serve a higher purpose.

The second part of the quote "Yet it is true that what you are doing is often a reflection of what your life is about" reminds us that what we choose to "do" or how we choose to spend our time/life is, in essence, a statement about what we believe to be important.

Now, on the surface these two perspectives may seem to be at odds with each other. However, I believe that if we look deeper, we can see how they are actually very complimentary. For example, in terms of helping us create a purposeful life, it's vital that we understand that the particular activity in which we happen to be engaged isn't what's most important, but instead it's how the qualities, characteristics, and/or sense of purpose that we bring to our "doing" serves the creation of our "being" or who we are.

The more we comprehend this wisdom, the more we can use our activities to practice being a certain kind of person. Further, any time we want to truly know whether we are creating our lives "on purpose," we can look at what we are doing and see if the reflection is congruent with our highest purpose. If it is, then we can celebrate the congruence between our doing and our being.

If, however, this reflection is incongruent (meaning that what we are doing is out of step with our highest purpose), we can either change what we are doing or choose to bring a sense of purpose to the activity so that it becomes not just "what needs to be done," but an opportunity to practice defining who we are. The more we do all of this "on purpose," the more our "doing" and our "being" combine to create the purposeful life we were all meant to lead.

Check out more great stuff from the top of Bill Crawford’s mind

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What Clients Say about Joan

Joan Bolmer is the woman who I spoke about at our meeting last week. I followed up with her after she presented to the Sr. Managers Group meeting a couple of weeks ago and she did incredible things for my resume. The best thing was that she did not write it for me. She asked me to send her written answers to questions that she sent me like ‘What do like to do and do well?’ When we connected over the phone, she pointed out phrases that I had written and showed me how to weave them together to better communicate what I do in my resume. They are my words, not hers, but she helped me get them into my resume with power and focus.
—Art Saxby, Sr. Marketing/Financial Executive

Quotes for the Month

Remember that fear always lurks behind perfectionism. Confronting your fears and allowing yourself the right to be human can, paradoxically, make you a far happier and more productive person.
—Dr. David M. Burns

To accomplish great things, we must dream as well as act.
—Anatole France, French novelist (1844 - 1924)

Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.
—Abraham Lincoln, Lincoln's Own Stories, 16th president of the U.S. (1809 - 1865)

Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives.
—William James, US Pragmatist philosopher & psychologist (1842 - 1910)

Job Seeking Tips:The Holidays Are a Great Time for Finding a Job

If you are looking for a permanent or contract position, this is a great time to network and look.

There are projects that must be completed and monies spent before the end of the year. Budgets and projects for the new year have been approved and talent is being sought now to fill those needs. Lots of job seekers are taking the month off to visit family and friends, so there is less competition.

Don’t get discouraged, business in many sectors is picking up. Holiday parties are a great place to network. It’s time to have fun and meet new people. Do not turn down any invitations. Be sure you are carrying lots of business cards to give out and have your 30-second infomercial refined and ready to use.

If the people you meet don’t have a business card handy, have a pen and one of your cards ready for them to write down their contact information for you. Follow up with a phone call or coffee date the next week.

Holiday cards are a great way to bring your friends far and near up to date on your search and companies to which you would like introductions. Ask for what your want!

If you live in Houston, TX ask to be put on the monthly job listings from Paula J. Marion, CPC, Marion Staffing Solutions 713-534-1855; 713-208-9313 pmarion@houston.rr.com


If you want to power up your resume, job search, and interview skills, give me a call at 832-458-0455 or email me at joan@bolmer.com for a free consultation.

Quick Links

Living Well


Winning with Difficult Clients


How to Interview Prospective Employees like a Pro” E-Book


Favorite Resource Links

Check out Joan's paintings
and notecards.

The Touch