Stuck In the Middle

I have been thinking recently that most of us are stuck in the middle of various scenarios.

Exhibit A: The economy - people are afraid to stay in their current job but they are afraid to change jobs even if they know they should.

Exhibit B: The government bailout of AIG; people are angry that the government gave them money and they are using for bonuses and that American's will have to foot the bill so to speak. Had the government NOT bailed them out the consequences could have been much worse!

Exhibit C: Individuals on their weight loss journey; stuck between two sizes. One size is clearly TOO big while the other size is NOT quite big enough.

Stuck in the middle; it can be a tough place. OR it can be a time for breaking out of old ideas. Ideas that have held us back from what we really want; Freedom. We all want freedom from fear which is a false idea because its your ego trying to get you to believe that YOU call the shots. Hey - wake up - your higher power calls the shots (no matter how much you want to control everything) once we get clear and tuned into it then life really does even out.

During times of uncertainty I like to call on advisers or coaches. Some of my personal favorites are Marianne Willamson, Gary Zukav and Eckart Tolle. You may find peace reading their words as well.

I challenge all of you today to let go of fear; know that all the reasons we feel stuck are just a minor blip on the radar screen and will pass. It's time to move on and to move into the next phase of your life; be it a new job, new home or new career. You can do it and so can I.

Enjoy the rest of your week I know today calls for Blue Skies!

New Year's Motivation

My New Year's motivation has come in the form of a competition with a friend of mine. Lucy* knows I have been working on a weight loss plan since April 2006. When I started I was at 33% body fat; recently my trainer took measurements and I am happy to tell you I am now at 18% body fat. The motivation/challenge now is to get "bikini ready" actually to wear one on Memorial Day 2009 at Lucy's pool.

By accepting the challenge I am doing a couple of things; a better job of planning and time management. These two tasks will serve me well with my recruiting business. A few tools I plan to use are the personal Calorie Counter and The National Body Challenge site. The other two things I plan to do are still work with my trainer Liz Greene twice a week and continue my cardio workouts but go more frequently.

I would love to eventually have abs as rock hard as Pink's! but look, for an almost 50 year old I'll be happy to get as close as possible! Everyone says Life is a Journey and who knows maybe once I reach the bikini goal I'll move onto mountain climbing!

Whatever your motivation, challenge or resolution is for 2009 I recommend you get a support person, coach or group to be accountable to. Having someone to report back to is motivation enough not to eat that slice of pie!

All the best to you for a fantastic 2009! I hope you get everything you want this year.
Vicki

(*names have been changed)

Moral Compass?

Back in the time of Christopher Columbus he used DR or Dead Reckoning and Celestial navigation to find is way to the New World. Later Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts used a compass to find their way so as not to get lost while on hikes. They are also taught the tenets of having a good moral compass by following the Laws of the Scouts which cover areas such as being honest and fair, friendly and helpful, be responsible for what they say and do, use resources wisely and leave the world a better place.

A lot of us grew up in the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, and I think right now most of us are wondering what has happened when we have people like Illinois Governor Blagojevich and Bernie Madoff operating in such a way as to cause harm to others? One could definitely say that Blagojevich wasn't trying to use resources wisely and Madoff certainly wasn't trying to leave the world a better place than he found it; other than for their own gain.

How does someone get off track and blatantly steal from people for such a long time? It's heart breaking to see just how many individuals, couples and families are ruined by Madoff's lack of a moral compass.

The moral compass light has been shown on the Recruiting Profession from time to time as well. Unfortunately all recruiters can get lumped in with a few that have tarnished our profession. So what can we as Recruiters do to gain and keep the trust of candidates and clients?

For starters let's treat everyone with respect; whether it's in person or on the phone. That means honoring their request to not contact them or not send their resume out to a client without first asking permission. How about keeping the Scouts Laws in mind as we go through our day. As recruiters we should be in the business of building relationships, not making a fast buck. (Remember Madoff?) I believe the overwhelming majority of recruiters are into building relationships with only a few dipping their toes into the dark waters.

Throughout history it has taken a few crazy people to make us think maybe now is the time to get back to the basics. Like I have always said, Ethics never go out of style.

Pictures of Prague, Vienna and Budapest Trip

Check out the pics of our trip on Flickr sorry the other link didn't work

Lauter's Lines: Our Prague, Vienna & Budapest Trip

Lauter's Lines: Our Prague, Vienna & Budapest Trip

Technology, Recruiting and the Blog Post

Today I want to talk about using technology from a recruiters perspective. You can probably tell from the majority of my posts that I am a work in progress in the blogging/tech world. I gotta tell you I am really good with LinkedIN I have actually been using it since it started in 2003/2004 time frame. I am also getting the groove of Twitter and I promise I am not obnoxious by tweeting about my own blog and self promotion; am pretty good with 140 characters or less in getting my thoughts across. And I am really good at using technology and the Internet to find the people my clients pay me to find.

I am actually good with all that stuff except I am a work in progress when it comes to the blog posts. I have been told that I over think things. Honestly when you are trying to capture your thoughts and then put them out there for everyone to see you just don't want to be judged too harshly.

So my secret is to read a variety of bloggers that discuss topics I am interested in knowing more about. It's a way for me to learn about what I don't do well...the blog post. I would like to give Props to a few bloggers and blogs that always seem to have interesting posts and thoughts.

One of the wittiest bloggers I follow is Maren Hogan not only is she a terrific writer and has interesting topics but she does it with humor and warmth.

As I have said in several posts you can't go wrong if you are following the folks at Brazen Careerist The cast of writers and the information they write about offer up some of the best advice and tips for your career; even for those of us in the Baby Boomer generation!

I also follow what I call general business folks; Donald Trump 's blog you can never go wrong if you are following successful people like Donald Trump. The guy pulls himself out of financial twists and turns and always comes out on top; let's face it who doesn't want to come out on top?

If you are trying to define yourself from a personal branding/marketing perspective you just may want to check out Dan Schawbel he offers practical tips on how to build a personal brand and market ones self. I always get some great advice when I check read his blog.

I give you these few folks so you can check them out. I am definitely following them and doing everything I can to be a sponge and learn from their brilliance. They are just a few of the shining stars out on the www, let me know who you like to follow. I just may be able to learn from them too.

Our Prague, Vienna & Budapest Trip

From November 7 - November 19 we took a trip to Prague, Vienna and Budapest. We traveled with two other couples; Tim and Linda Gartland and Tom and Helen Fraser.

We stayed in some terrific hotels and had some good; some not so good meals and learned a whole lot about how the three countries have been connected through centuries.

Take a look at the pictures and you will see various architecture and points of interest. I can assure you Rick Steves has no need to worry about me trying to take his job. Travel can be fun but it is also exhausting. We actually used one of the travel guides he recommends in his information about Prague and we had a wonderful experience. In each city we booked a guide which made the experience all the better. It is worth paying for a guide to not only show you the highlights but also the out of the way places and interesting sites you would not have found on your own.

Eastern Europe overall was very interesting and a pleasant surprise. I would highly recommend checking it out; it's very different than Western Europe but the people we encountered were extremely friendly.

I hope the pictures will inspire you to travel with your friends; get outside this big United States and see how people in other countries live and work. They like us, work, have families and want a better life. I would say we are all alike.