Calling the "Other Guys"

As an intern for Dream Big, I was given the daunting task of calling a list of Southern California community colleges and finding out what type of career counseling services they offer their students. After making it through about half of the list, I started noticing a pattern. Calling the school would automatically send me to a pre-recorded message from which I would have to listen for the counseling department's extension, type in the sequence of numbers, and hope I was attempting to connect to the right place. Sometimes it would lead me to another recording, but other times, after listening to a nice variety of hold music, an actual live person would answer!

There were really two types of people who would be on the other end of the line. One was the "I've been answering the phone all day and I really don't want to talk to you" type, who would quickly direct me to the website and hang up. The other was more enthusiastic, and actually took the time to listen to what I asked. However, after calling many schools, I realized that they all offered a very similar collection of services: an assessment, a counselor with whom you can make an appointment, and some career books.

I put myself in the mindset of a community college student who is trying to contact my career center. I am feeling lost because I don't know what I want to do for the rest of my life. I am having trouble picking classes because I'm not even sure what I want to study. When I learn that my school has a career center, and I am ecstatic. Finally, someone to help me! When I call, I am immediately discouraged by how difficult it is to connect with a person and by the limited number of resources my school has. How will I translate what the assessment says I would like to study into a career?

It is important for these students to know that they are not alone. Armed with that knowledge, these students need to look outside of their schools and find someone who can truly help them. My intention is not to insult these schools; I realize that they are understaffed and underfunded. Those unfortunate realities are the reasons why students need to know there are other resources out there, resources like Dream Big. Dream Big has more to offer these students, as far as connections into internships, hands-on interview training, and resume building.

Although frustrating at times, I realize now that this was not a futile exercise. Dream Big, equipped with a wide variety of unique tools, now knows what students want and how to reach out to them in a better way. As a student myself, I know I want what Dream Big offers-access to every possible resource in order to embark on a career path, and encouragement that that path is the right one for me.

--Jillian Tessier

Life has an Expiration Date

Most people will spend hours searching for the best deal possible in order to save themselves a few extra bucks. To me, I would gladly part with the extra dollars if it means that it saves me time. I have always believed that you can make more money but you can never get more time.

My belief that life has an expiration date, just like the milk that sits in your refrigerator, motivates me to live my life to the fullest. I am in action doing what I love ALL THE TIME. I am a neuropsychologist by trade or, a better descrpition, Brain and Behavior Specialist.

Every morning I get up and look forward to seeing my patients. They are amazing people who come from all walks of life with all types of emotional and behavioral difficulties and I get to help them get better. I derive so much joy out of their progress that I feel guilty taking money in exchange for my services. To be honest, if I didn't have bills to pay I would offer my services for free.

The inspriation for Dream Big came from the love that I have for my "work." Dream Big is about the potential for greatness. I believe everyone has something that they love and are great at; however, not everyone knows what that is or have the right tools to tap into their potential. I think all people would gladly choose a path that is well thoughtout and planned, especially if the end result is a better quality of life for a longer period of time.

Ask yourself this question, if you had the right tools and information to be great sooner versus later, wouldn't you take that route?

Efficiency and Inspiration

The definition of efficiency is the accomplishment of a job with minimal expenditure of time and effort. To this I will add a minimum expenditure of money, since we are all interested in that too!

How efficiently are you finding your way through life? How many times have you thought about or started toward a career only to find that it wasn’t what you had expected it to be? How much time, effort, and money have been wasted through this process?

Let’s look at this from the beginning. There are many new careers available today that weren’t here yesterday, and there will be even more tomorrow that will be someone’s “Dream Career.” We start learning what we want to do very early on by watching what others do and how they enjoy their careers. What do our parents do? Do they enjoy it? Would I enjoy it?

We go on and start our summer jobs and internships. Are these our careers? Not usually, but they are experiences that lead us to our careers. Again they give us an idea of what we like and what we don’t about our jobs.

Before we know it we are being asked to decide our futures and pick classes that will provide us the knowledge to be great in the future. But have we had enough experiences and learned from enough people to know what we want to do? Many do not.

The cost of higher education is rising and a four year degree is taking five to six years because many students can’t afford to get it finished in four years. Don’t you want to be sure that your time, effort, and money spent on education results in your “Dream Career”?

How much further can you go when you get your career right the first time? Would others look to you as an inspiration because of your success, drive, and ambition? Could you be the next Doogie Howser M.D.? How about the youngest C.E.O. of a large company? What about starting your own company and providing the public something they need, but didn’t know it yet?

These are all possibilities that you can achieve with the right direction on how to find and get your Dream Career.

Make your life efficient and inspiring so that others will follow you! Dream Big and enjoy your Dream Career!

~Dr. Jon Herbert

NEWS FLASH: You Only Have One Life to Live (and Remember) By Paco Arespacochaga

Religion, belief and faith aside, the practical truth is you only have one (1) life to live! Yet, in spite of this, most of us are guilty of not living our lives to the fullest. We tend to settle for mediocrity.

Think about it. With the exception of a small percentage of the human race, most of us simply go through the motion of a “day”. We have subconsciously blurred our understanding of the difference between having a JOB and having a CAREER. We get caught in the errands of the day, whilst sacrificing the planting the seeds of tomorrow’s career. And at the end of every day, we say goodbye to our peers and simply say, with the slightest tinge of sincerity, “Have a nice day!”

Did it ever occur to you that “Yesterday” is gone forever? The truth is… “Today is the beginning of the rest of your life!” It’s a statement that should ring loud and clear and true in the four corners of your soul.

That being said, not being able to do the things you have been wired to do is really bad for you. It’s bad for animals too! Can you imagine a thoroughbred horse being asked to do the task of a donkey or a different kind of horse? That horse would have sunk into depression.

And you know what!?! That’s the state you and I will be in if we continue to do the things we really don’t like doing.

One doesn’t have to “dump and jump”, meaning dump the current state where in and jump into the state we are suppose to be in! Most of us can’t afford to do it that way because of financial obligations and other related issues. If you’re part of the majority, stick with your job to remain stable, however, jumpstart your future career by starting it as a “hobby”. You’ll be amazed at how quickly the transition will be. Why? Because you began to do what you really wanted to do! And time does fly when you start to have fun!

Doing what you love to do also always clears your mind. It also gives you a sense of fulfillment. It starts you at another level in your life. It develops in you a sense of passion.

Remember, passion is contagious. If people around you feel your passion, they will get excited! And then be interested in what you do. But then again, maybe you’re just deadbeat scared to move ahead that later on down the road, you begin to realize that you’re better off just having a job.

How do you want to look back on your life when you are lying on your death bed? When your end is near, you can look back at your life with regrets. Or you can look back at your life with joy and laughter. That choice begins NOW!

Take action of your "What if" thoughts.....

"What if......?" when put together, these two words can provoke a colorful thought and image within the minds of several of us. At moments, these "what if" thoughts seem endless when you begin to deepen the pondering of where this "what if" thought can lead to. We sit on our couch, as we watch Discovery channel, or listen one of our favorite tunes on our IPod.....thinking ...thinking. We catch ourselves smiling about the success of this "what if" thought, sometimes leading to a little victory dance while in the shower. Then you go to bed.........wake up the next morning......and that "what if" thought is no longer in existence. There is no life to this "what if" thought, and there is not one piece of this great "what if" thought jotted down anywhere, nor did you share this potential opportunity to anyone. Poof!......gone.

"What if" thoughts can be a barrier or wall if you do not take or know the next steps in bringing these "what if" thoughts to life. Make these opportunities exist and happen! Take time right now to think about an individual that you know of that has succeeded. Do you think this person arrived at their success by stifling their thought process at a point of just a "what if" thought? Majority of your great success stories begin at a moment of thought, but it took great work and commitment for each of these individuals to strive towards each of their goals, whether they set short-term or long-term goals along this success path. However, no matter what path they took, I am sure each great individual overcame challenges along their path to success.

I do not want to sit here and give you a blueprint as to what the next step is in making your "what if" thought exist outside of your head. I believe each individual has made such thoughts exist today by utilizing a variety of planning skills and tools. What I challenge each one of you to do is to choose an idol of yours that has succeeded. Find out what their "what if" thought was that sparked their road to where they are today, and what they did to get there. Next, utilize a plan of action or tool that this idol of yours used, and make an attempt to apply this plan of action or tool to your "what if" thought........ Make it happen.

~Rich Lorton, M.A.
Program Director of Dream Big Career Center

Internships: More Than Just Fetching Coffee

In our current economic climate, searching for a job becomes a daunting task. As a college student whose only job experience was working for her dad, finding a summer job was even more overwhelming. That's when I decided to switch gears-I stopped trying to get hired at Starbucks and started trying to find a way gain real experience in a field for which I actually have a passion, psychology. I ultimately came in contact with Dr. Conover and became her intern, but only after sending out copies of my resume to everyone I could possibly think of that might have been able to help me. This summer experience has taught me just how important it is for students to put themselves out there. In college, we have learned not only how to be hard workers, but have also cultivated a true enthusiasm for our area of study. We would be a valuable asset to any office! However, the work force will not know how much we have to offer, or even that we exist at all, unless we tell them. I have learned that you cannot have the attitude that an opportunity will simply fall into your lap, instead you have to go out and chase what you want. Sometimes it feels awkward or uncomfortable, like you are "selling yourself" to a potential employer, but I have learned that it has tremendous results. I truly believe that a summer internship is the best way I could have spent my three months at home; I am gaining invaluable knowledge both through observation and practice, as well as forging contacts that I know will extend far beyond August. Therefore, I would strongly encourage every single college student to actively seek out an internship in a field that they enjoy. It may seem like a lot of hard work, but it will ultimately be an extremely rewarding and positive experience.

--Jillian Tessier, intern for Dr. Conover

Tricking Your Brain into Making Lasting Changes

How do you ensure you stick to that diet or stop smoking cigarettes? One way is tricking your brain into thinking that there are so many more changes that it has to reorganize. For example, changing your environment by rearranging furniture or moving art work around gives your brain a surge of new information. When there is at lot of information your brain will integrate and make adjustments. In comparison, if you make only one change your brain will attempt to pull you back into the routine because its' job is to keep things predictable and easy. Therefore, if you want to make permanent changes the best way to go about it is to make many changes at once!

Reducing Anxiety by Using Positive Perspective

When is comes to changing careers or even changing jobs the level of anxiety some people experience can be so severe that it prevents them from moving forward in their life. Sometimes just thinking about being in a new situation or meeting new people causes a physiological response tantamount to spinning out of control. In order to overcome your anxiety you need to have a positive perspective because how you feel about your future determines your outcome. Viewing change as something positive gives you the momentum and energy that you need to make that leap forward!

Here's a quick exercise that helps you discover whether your perspective is negative or positive. Write out all the positive and negative aspects to changing jobs, careers or even what you like or dislike about yourself. If you find it easier and faster to write out the negatives or you have more negatives versus positives on your list then you are naturally a negative thinker. Those of you who are negative thinkers need to work harder at changing your perspective because for you it's counter intuitive. Keep your list of positives handy so when you are feeling that urge to doom and gloom you have something better to reflect on.

Greetings!

This blog is to reach out to people who are not inspired and hate their job. I want to tell these people about Dream Big Career Center, a program dedicated to helping others identify their passions and talents in order to achieve a higher quality of life. We believe everyone has a potential for greatness. If you are interested in tapping into your potential and starting on your path to greatness call us for a free consultation. We have the talent, tools, and resources to help you.

Dream Big Career Center
21900 Burbank Blvd.
Third Floor
Woodland Hills, CA 91367
(818) 992-3113