The crazy thing is, sometimes I get caught up in all of the commitments I have: work, gym, social, assignments, etc and forget that what I have in my life is amazing! I’d like to share my advice on how to keep loving what you do and staying happy!

I’ve found that while as a 20-something young professional we have a ton of freedom and we also have a lot on our plate. We crave social interactions—whether they are with our roommates, friends, boyfriends/girlfriends, coworkers or family there is a necessity in our lives to feel like we have an outlet to talk to people and interact. Don’t get so bogged down with your work that you miss out on happy hours with your college roommates or friends in town for work for a few days or coworkers that are going out to grab lunch—make sure you give yourself this outlet; you’ll feel good about it!

Also make sure to get fresh air. Whether you sit in a cubicle each day, an open environment, a personal office or on your couch, we all need some Vitamin D, no seriously, we do! Take a 10- minute break from your excel spreadsheet or your email campaign and get outside. If it’s too difficult to leave work during the day, consider taking a walk after work or before work, run a quick errand in the middle of your day, order your lunch to pick up rather than delivery. If you’re anything like me, a short walk will clear your head a bit, give your eyes a rest and make your day more productive when you get back to work!

Lastly, take a second to think about all of the great things you’ve got going on! The best way I’ve found to turn my frown upside down or to just think more positively is to reflect on all of the things in my life I am so lucky for. Putting things into perspective really helps—so you had a long day at work—at least you have a job! You hate your job?—then focus more on your relationships and start looking for your next job, nothing is permanent! Give yourself time to reflect on how great you are as a person and how lucky you are and I bet you’ll feel better—sometimes we just need to remind ourselves!

I am lucky. I love my job, I love where I live and I have many supporters to help when I forget how happy I am! Take some time to remember all of the good things going on and you may even forget the ones that aren’t perfect—good luck! (and go outside and get some sunshine!)

Sarah Fudin currently works in community relations for the University of Southern California’s Master of Arts in Teaching program, which provides aspiring teachers with the coursework on how to become a teacher and earn a teaching degree online. Outside of work Sarah enjoys running, reading and Pinkberry frozen yogurt.

To lead that life, to be that girl you must consider the answer to one visionary question– what do I want? Simple question but for most people it’s a complicated convoluted response. We all want lots of things out of life, but how do we clearly discern the direction and the focus of our career? Why does discovering what we want out of life become a hot mess? It’s because the thought of actually following our dreams seems like a myth or way too much work. So we sit at our jobs, day dreaming of what it is like to be the people that make it big, get all the really cool opportunities and long for that to happen to us. Well here is the secret . . . you can’t wish for things to happen, YOU need to make them happen!!

I would never consider myself to be lucky. I love shamrocks and wishes and falling stars, but luck fall in my lap just like that? Nope, never has happened. Nothing ever works out all that easily for me. To compensate for my lack of a lucky streak, I have mastered the concept of simple and plain hard work. I have never hesitated to work for what I want and consistently give myself the opportunity to be in opportunity’s way. ☺ There are two parts to this saying . . . it is true—you must be in the right place at the right time but the other part to this is that there really is a strategy to being in the right place at the right time.

Thinking about doing something or daydreaming all day about the lifestyle that you wish to have is not somehow magically going to make it happen for you; if it did, everyone would have everything they ever wanted. Day dreaming helps you visualize what it is that you want; actually doing what it takes to put the wheels in motion creates the reality. So, almost always, the people that get exactly what they want have been working on achieving what they want for a while already.

Let’s take a look at my action steps to getting what you want:

1. Think about the #1 goal you want to achieve and then work backwards. So for example, I want to be on national TV, like Good Morning America, Today Show, CNN, MSNBC that type of show, so what could I be doing today that would help me get one step closer to making that dream a reality . . . local TV. Start small, finesse your pitch, get some experience, make mistakes and then go BIG!

2. Learn as much as you can about the industry by doing informational interviews and meeting as many people as you can within that industry. It is amazing the amount of people that know each other in a certain industry . . . they all roll together. If you want to make it BIG, it takes the right people, the right connections and the right relationships.

3. You need to spend money to make money. If you set high aspirations like I do, sometimes you need to take a step back and realize you can’t do everything. Know the difference between effort that will never get you anywhere because that is just how it is vs. spending some money and effort to get you exactly where you want to be. I decided that if I want to be on national TV, I have to hire someone who already has the contacts and connections I long to have. I know I am good at building relationships but let’s be honest, no producer from LA or NY is going to answer a random email from an unknown talent.

4. Keep your eye on the prize! It is very easy to lose focus because doubt, negativity and time always seem to stand in the way. If the first strategy didn’t work, try again and then try again and then try again. Everything takes time and it is the people that continually go after what they want who are the ones that get what they want.

5. No dream is too big. When I work with clients I always ask, what is your dream job and most of the time, people are embarrassed to tell me. Listen . . . nothing in this world is too big or too impossible to go after. Start putting the wheels in motion because even if you don’t end up getting what you wanted, I can promise you, you will get close!!

My twitter friend Jacqueline Whitmore, an internationally recognized etiquette expert recently sent me her book Poised for Success to review and I have to say that I was immediately captivated by the title, Poised for Success . . . doesn’t the title just scream exactly what I do with my consulting business? I was incredibly excited to get started. Now I know that I expressed my feelings in the first paragraph about business books but this book is unlike any other book I have read. The book was engaging, easy to read, the tips were fantastic and quite honestly, Jacqueline must have been in my head while she was writing this. The philosophies that she discusses in Poised for Success are exactly what I live and teach my clients every day.

She breaks the book down into four qualities that distinguish outstanding professionals:

Presence
Polish
Professionalism
Passion

Once you have mastered these skills you become more self-aware, you have a different kind of unstoppable presence, and you are able to build life-long relationships. Being poised and polished is not something you can fake; it takes time to articulate and develop but once you have mastered the art of being poised and polished, your career will sky rocket!

Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book:

“You are your own best business card, and when you suit up and step out into the world each day you are sending a message to the world about who you are and how you want to be perceived.”

“There’s putting on clothes and there’s getting dressed.”

“It’s (getting dressed) your personalized method of nonverbally presenting yourself to the world.”

“Looking your best isn’t about vanity; it’s about self-investment.”

“If you want to soar with eagles, don’t hang out with turkeys.” – this is my favorite!!

“It goes without saying that negative self-talk ultimately stands in the way of your success.”

I could go on and on . . .

I HIGHLY recommend this book to absolutely everyone. This book is a must read if you are sitting at your desk wondering why you continue to get passed up for promotions or if you have recently been laid off and you can’t move pass the interview stage. This book that good—call it your mentor or your coach on creating success and believe me, after reading her insight, you will have a different persona that will take your career to new heights!

Jacqueline, you rock girl!

If you would like to purchase Jacqueline Whitmore’s book, please visit Amazon.com

A lot of candidates are not aware or unsure how their profiles on social networking sites like Twitter, MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn are perceived by potential employers. Do recruiters and hiring managers even look at these sites when considering a candidate? The answer is yes, and although social networking is in its toddler phase, it is here to stay and you need to be aware of how it can affect you.

I worked with a candidate about two years ago for a sales position in the Midwest. This candidate had a great background for my client. He was articulate, energetic and seemed to be the perfect fit. This candidate went through six interviews and did a fantastic job each round. When it came time to check references, a search was done for the candidate on MySpace. The content and pictures this person had on their page prevented them from getting the offer. My client dismissed him from the process and moved on.

Facebook has become a powerhouse in the social networking world in the last few years. Facebook allows you to connect with friends, join various groups in which some are professional while some are for fun, read or create a blog. It also allows you to enter in your personal information including where you work and your education. What most probably do not realize is that Facebook is also becoming a favorite sourcing tool for recruiters.

Social Networking Sites: A Recruiter’s Advantage

If I am looking for a Controller with Big 4 experience, I can easily source hundreds of names by searching Big 4 groups on Facebook. From a very quick search I have names, locations and what is most important here is a picture. Let’s just say a picture is worth 1000 words and although you can’t judge a book by its cover, if there is a picture of a half dressed person with two bottles of beer in their hand, I can probably assume the conservative culture of my client isn’t going to be a fit. I can also attempt to join a group (and most of the time, I am granted my request) and gain more information on members such as what other groups they belong to. To each their own, but a good rule of thumb is if you would not want your Mother to see a group you joined, or a picture you posted even if it was all in good fun, keep it off if you are in a job search or wouldn’t want your current employer to poke around and find these tidbits about you. Employers find this inappropriate and they obviously want the best people representing their company. Once your name is attached, you are an open target to be found.

LinkedIn is my favorite professional tool to use. LinkedIn allows you to connect with other professionals and people you have done business with. It is almost like having a picture of your business card out there for all to see. By choice, one can also include his/her past employer, which makes it more like a resume versus a business card. You choose your settings and you choose whom you connect with. Seems harmless right? For the most part it is, but you do want to have selection criteria of who is allowed to connect with you. Unless you change your settings, your connections can be viewed by your other connections. Employers are using this to conduct references. There are ethical issues behind this and a great deal of discussion around what is appropriate and what is not. However, if you are connected with someone from a former employer that the recruiter you are working with knows, or potential employer knows, (it happens a lot, six degrees of separation proves to be a real thing and in a lot of markets, like Milwaukee, it’s more like three degrees of separation) they just need to make one phone call to get a back door reference. If you burned a bridge, and let’s hope you learned from it, do not connect with that person or employer on your LinkedIn profile.

A Shared Secret

If you think it is difficult for others to see what social networking tools you are using, you are mistaken. I want to let you in on a well-kept secret that many do not know about because I want you to be informed. Most have Googled their name. Now when you Google your name, your Facebook page is attached as well as “friends” names. Try www.wink.com or www.yoname.com. These two sites will search the Internet for your name and once you learn how to use it, one can find what you thought was personal and private information. Again, there are a lot of ethical conversations that are being discussed regarding if recruiters should be going to these sites to find out more personal information on candidates. The fact of the matter is they can and will.

I encourage people to use social networking to their advantage. Recruiters are relying on social networking sites more now than ever, even more so than job boards. Be responsible on how you use social networking and you will not run into problems with your current employer, or on your next job search. It is very hard to erase history from the Internet and with our culture becoming more technology focused, always be cautious. Keep those pictures from a wild Halloween party to your own personal online phone album; think twice about the following: what groups you join online, blogs you write to sound off and whom it is you connect with. Being connected is very important; it is how you use this tool that makes all the difference in the world.

Questions? Feel free to shoot me an email at alliemilbrath@thenovogroup.com, or connect with me on LinkedIn — but make sure you are sending me an invite that is social networking responsible!

1). Make your own labels. When I go on a sales call, or an interview, I like to leave behind a “keeper.” So I buy bubble gum and make up my own label for it, which says, “Hire a bubbly blonde,” and include my contact information. No one ever forgets me.

2). Use personalized M&Ms. I just did this for my new bestselling book, The Globetrotter’s Get-Gorgeous Guide: Diet and Beauty Secrets of Travel and Beauty Pros, Traveling Executives and Celebrity Travelers (www.GorgeousGlobetrotter.com). I selected M&Ms in the colors of my book cover, and had them printed with my name and phone number, to be distributed to TV producers, reporters, and potential customers at book-signing events and speaking engagements. My M&Ms come packaged in a business-card case with my business card. The recipients always comment that this is one of the most adorable sales tools ever. Brides even use these personalized M&Ms, in their wedding colors, as wedding favors. Sweet! www.Mymms.com.

3). Use lottery tickets. Take your cue from the financial planner who sent out a mailing to 50 potential customers, with a $1 lottery scratch ticket enclosed, and the message, “Take a chance on me.” It worked like a charm.

4). Celebrate untraditional holidays. When you promote yourself or your business with untraditional holidays, it always attracts attention. One of my clients, a hair salon in Boston called Salon Acote (www.salonacote.com), always promotes itself on Bastille Day, July 14, the French National Holiday, because the owners of the salon are French. This tactic, which I recommended to them, always attracts the attention of media, and customers, because few companies in America celebrate French holidays! For more unusual holidays, check out Chase’s Book of Annual Events, which lists tons of holidays and celebrations for every day of the year. Ask your local library for it and you can read it for free.

5). Visit dollar stores. You’ll never know what you’ll find, which you can create a message around. When I found potholders for $1 each, I sent them to customers with a postcard that said, “Have you put your marketing and public relations on the back burner? I can make your business into a hot topic.” This mailing was very well-received and was very cost-effective.

6). Visit Vistaprint. I love Vistaprint! Usually, to take advantage of premium incentive products like pens, tote bags, hats, and more, you had to buy in bulk. Vistaprint lets you buy just one at a time, and after you make a purchase, many future purchases are FREE – and their offerings are amazing. This is where I purchase custom-made T-shirts, postcards, notepads, notecards, business cards, and a lot more – all with my custom images and messages. Check it out! www.vistaprint.com.

7). Create your own nametag. Whatever you do, don’t go to business and networking meetings with a stick-on label that says “Hello My Name Is.” That’s boring. Try to make a small nametag with images and wording that show off your job, personality and interests. I took the cover of Off The Wall Marketing Ideas, shrunk it down, had it laminated, and put a clip on it, which I wear to all business meetings. It works as a great conversation piece and conversation starter!

8). Nix the boring business card. Whatever you do, don’t have a little white card with black type on it. Use colored cards, colored fonts, and images, and don’t be afraid to give yourself a great title. I’m the “Queen of Creativity” at Maxima Marketing, my marketing and PR firm in Boston (www.MarketingAuthor.com). A CEO of a tea company calls himself the “TeaEO” and a lady who sells beans in Seattle calls herself “The Bean Queen.” Those are titles everyone will remember!

Debbi Kickham is former Editor of Robb Report Magazine, “The Millionaire’s Magazine, and owner of Maxima Marketing, a marketing and public-relations firm in the Boston area. Contact her about marketing, PR, articles, speaking engagements, spokesperson work, you name it! www.MarketingAuthor.com.

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