life is not stagnate…

 My kids just started their new school term and for the first time in their school years, I didn’t drive them for their first day.  Watching my son drive off with my daughter as passenger really signified a new season has begun.  This latest chapter actually began this past summer with both of my teens vacating the home to pursue goals and dreams of their own. While I have worked since they are in grade school, my life has certainly centered around the family and its needs.  Well, the family need is lessening, and this shift can be scary or exhilarating. So, I choose the latter!  If you are facing the same uncertainty, here are 3 steps to assist in charting out an exhilarating new course or reinvention:

1. Research –  Try an aptitude test to find the best way to align your strengths with jobs may have cropped up since you last worked or looked. The test results will most likely find that your strengths align with what you actually like to do. After all, we enjoy doing activities in which are we excel, right?   For instance if you like to have things in order, investigate an organizing company, closet company or volunteer at a store based charity. Are you gifted artistically? Take an online course in graphic design or desktop publishing.  I am still believer in learning a specific skill that has a barrier to entry to make yourself standout and stay relevant.

2. Volunteer to work –  Need experience with your newly renovated skills? Volunteer to write the monthly newsletter for your neighborhood or community. Try different layouts for the newsletter, then experiment with the promotion of the newsletter in various social media outlets.  Want to brush the dust off of your accounting skills?  Offer to be treasurer of the PTA or homeowners association to get your toe back in the water. Get creative!  These types of experiences become confidence builders, leading to resume builders which can lead to potential jobs. See, not stagnate but fluid…

3. Keep an open mind – Allow yourself to see opportunities in unexpected areas. When attending a school function or your daily workout class, pay attention to those around you. You may find unexpected networking opportunities located on the treadmill right next to you. I certainly have! I am starting a computer class with a friend on my tennis team next week. We have played together for over a year and had no idea we were in the same business and had some of the same technology dreams!

Changing seasons can be a really positive time. Lucille Ball says it all – the only regret will be in the lack of trying.  The key to reinvention is to try a new path and see where it leads. Life is not stagnate, nor should you be!

Our philosophy is to be excellent in both career and life.  addONE Marketing Solutions delivers experienced, marketing staffing solutions to fit any size project or budget.  Filling marketing staffing gaps or providing outsourced marketing departments makes us “the smartest addition you will ever make.” Atlanta-based and woman owned since 1998. Visit add1marketing.com for more information.