What are your keys?

The Apology
So it has definitely been a long month since I've posted! I've thought of many, many topics to write about over the last few weeks but have been strapped for time to do them justice.

I thought maybe I could write at night, after the kids were asleep. When I was younger (hate that phrase), I painted entire rooms at 3 a.m.  But these days I find sleep is more of a commodity than ever before, and that trying to stay up late to get something done (like this blog), usually results in something not so great. It's hell to get old!

Moving On
 I watched a segment on The Today Show recently about women returning to work after being home with kids for 5-10-15 years. Now, I'm not entirely certain I'm ready to return to the workforce at this time but it sounded like an interesting segment and I'm glad I watched it. They interviewed two "experts" about some of the issues we face and how to prepare for the job transition. The experts were Sarah Brokaw, author of the book "Fortytude" and Pamela Mitchell, author of the book  "The 10 Laws of Career Reinvention."

One of the most important things I heard from both authors involved self-esteem. Brokaw said that women returning to the workforce need to get their confidence up. “There’s always going to be three key strengths you can develop and hone," she said. Her advice was to figure out what those strengths are at home, and then bring them into the workforce. At the very least, you can remind yourself of what those three key strengths are before you go into an interview situation.

This got me to thinking about what my own three key strengths might be... and that this is a great exercise for anyone, particularly those who are going through some sort of transition. When you've been working in the same job or doing the same thing for many years you can sometimes lose sight of what you are best at doing, and it's important to keep that in the forefront of your psyche. In my particular case my job is being a mother, so I'm going to take some time over the next few days and figure out what my three key strengths are as a mother. I'd love for you to think about this subject and figure out your own key strengths and, if you're comfortable, sharing them! I promise I'm not trying to go all Stuart Smalley on you, I just think it's important not to allow our own sense of humility to sabotage our efforts to grow.

I haven't had time, yet (hah!) to read Sarah Brokaw's "Fortytude" but it's definitely on my list! If anyone has read it, please let me know what you thought of it.  I'll be posting a little review on it sometime soon!

Hugs & God Bless,

Beverly