I almost didn’t write this blog post because it is such a cliché for psychologists to write about New Year’s resolutions. However, my curiosity won out because I wanted to know what science says about New Year’s resolutions because there are so many articles claiming to offer good advice but providing no credible sources for […]
Personal Branding Has a Branding Problem
By Last updated: Tuesday, May 29, 2018
After years of job seekers being bombarded with career advice about personal branding, a lot of people are expressing disgust. A new industry is capitalizing on hatred of personal branding and reassuring job seekers that they don’t have to do anything as tawdry as personal branding. If you Google, “I hate personal branding,” there are […]
Are Assholes Winning?
By Last updated: Sunday, March 4, 2018
(Warning: This post uses strong language because I highly recommend a book with strong language in the title.) Sometimes Assholes Succeed This year I’ve watched in dismay as some truly terrible people have scored business successes that seem to reward bad behavior. Clients report to me their confusion and frustration as some of the most […]
Avoid the Sunk Cost Trap
By Last updated: Tuesday, October 4, 2016
Sometimes my educational backgrounds in economics and psychology converge. One of those times is exploring how to avoid the sunk cost trap in making career and life decisions. In the field of economics, sunk costs are costs you already paid and that you cannot recover no matter what you do. Examples of sunk costs are […]
How to Overcome Anxiety About Uncertain Income
By Last updated: Tuesday, May 10, 2016
Unfortunately, many people stay trapped in a job they hate because they are anxious about the uncertain income of self-employment. I interviewed business owners about how they overcame this type of anxiety. Here are their best tips: * We have been raised to believe that a paycheck and benefits provide safety. What I would tell them […]
What to Do About Ambivalence
By Last updated: Saturday, January 27, 2018
If I were asked to pinpoint one dynamic that keeps people from achieving career happiness, it is ambivalence. Because so many people ask me how to resolve this, here are some thoughts about what to do about ambivalence: First, recognize and name your ambivalence for what it is. Ambivalence is a psychological condition where you […]
The Truth About Overnight Success
By Last updated: Monday, January 11, 2016
Everyone loves instant gratification, but in reality, success rarely happens instantly. The truth about “overnight success” is that it takes up to a decade to make it happen. Paul Buchheit, creator and lead developer of Gmail, blogged about how overnight success takes a long time. He wrote that it took 7.5 years for Gmail to evolve from […]
How to Feel More Energized and Alive at Work
By Last updated: Monday, November 28, 2016
How energized do you feel in your career? How energized do you want to feel? Is there a gap there? Today I want to share a simple yet effective framework for closing that gap and improving your here-and-now, regardless of whether you love or loathe your job. When clients come to me for career change […]
Dealing with Narcissists in the Workplace
By Last updated: Sunday, February 7, 2016
Sooner or later in your career, you will run into someone whose personality is so difficult, you will despair about ever finding a way to work with that person in any productive way. One of these types of difficult people is the narcissistic personality. Narcissistic personality is characterized by an unrealistic or inflated sense of […]
What Do Career Counselors Do?
By Last updated: Monday, November 28, 2016
One of the most common questions I am asked is, “What do career counselors do?” Usually people ask this question for one of two reasons: (1) They are considering becoming a career counselor themselves and they want to know what the day-to-day job is like, or (2) They are considering hiring a career counselor and […]
