This Is Not The Career I Ordered™ Blog
Savvy Professional Career Wisdom by Caroline Dowd-Higgins
This is Not the Career I Ordered is read by thousands of careerists around the globe. With savvy tools, inspiration, and resources, this timeless book empowers you to enjoy your career, and love your life!
Future-Focused Leadership
Leadership has evolved over the decades and savvy, future-focused leaders empower others to do great work. The shift from command-and-control management, to leading with empathy, humility, and vulnerability is essential to attract and retain top talent. If this leadership style is new to you – it can be learned. Let’s take a closer look at […]
2023: Let’s Do This!
As we begin a new year, the time is ripe to start fresh and consider what you need and want to be happy, healthy, and gratified in your life and career. The pressure to pick a new year’s resolution can be stressful. Instead of a singular resolution that is likely to wane in a few […]
Vacation Matters: Don’t Be A Work Martyr!
Since the summer vacation season has drawn to a close, I invite you to take stock of the time you’ve had off so far this year. Have you taken all the vacation that’s coming to you? According to an eye-opening new study commissioned by Travel Effect, an initiative of the U.S. Travel Association, forty percent […]
Gail Sheehy’s 10 Dares to Take in Your 20s Part II
Gail Sheehy’s new book Daring: My Passages is a memoir of life experiences from a woman who knows how to embrace life – the good, the bad, and the ugly. Gail very generously agreed to allow me to feature her Huffington Post blog about 10 Dares to Take in Your 20’s – here is Part […]
Gail Sheehy’s 10 Dares to Take in Your 20’s Part I
I had the great pleasure of interviewing the iconic author, speaker and journalist, Gail Sheehy for my podcast series Your Working Life recently and I am honored to call her a friend. Gail’s new book Daring: My Passages is a memoir of delicious and difficult experiences from a woman who knows how to live life. […]
Confidence Part II – Change Your Body, Change Your Mind
You may recall the scenes in The Sound of Music where Julie Andrews, as Maria, is trying to summon her confidence as she prepares to interview for the governess post with the Von Trapp Family. I love Maria’s feisty, go-get-em attitude. She’s terrified, but she holds her fear at bay by dancing down the road […]
Confidence on Tap – Part I
As a career consultant, I’ve coached many clients who’ve suffered from a debilitating lack of confidence, and my best advice – born from experience – is to take action. Moving through my own career transition from opera singer to university director, and, additionally, to author, speaker and coach, has tested my confidence mettle, to say […]
Get Moving! 6 Tips to Help You Exercise at Work
Earlier this summer, CBS Sunday Morning did a story on a trend making a difference in offices across the country…instead of simply working at desks these days, employees are working out at their desks…on built-in treadmills. Since I’ve been doing my best to incorporate more exercise into my workday, and encouraging my coaching clients to […]
How Fitbit Helped My Career
Everywhere I go, I’ve noticed that elevators are almost empty and stairwells are filled with people tracking their daily steps with wearable fitness devices. I’m a Fitbit user and I’m happy to report that this accountability device has improved my health and my career more than I ever imagined. I check my mileage, my stairs […]
Stop the Busy-ness! Redefine Success on Your Terms
We all love to talk about how busy we are. It means we’re needed. It means we have places to go and people to see, and it also means we may well be running ourselves into the ground. Blogger Guy Kawasaki went so far as to implore readers to ‘stop the glorification of busy’, and […]
Surround Yourself with Positive People To Boost Your Career
I have been getting some wonderful blog submissions from freelance writers who have career wisdom to share. Sandra Mills is a freelance health and career writer. She likes helping people advance their careers and live healthier lives. I particularly enjoyed her piece below and I know you will as well. You can follow Sandra on […]
Habits for Success: How To Work Smarter
I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing over 400 women from around the world about work and career for my book: ‘This Is Not The Career I Ordered’ and my forthcoming book: ‘Thrive Where You Are’. Whether entrepreneurial in spirit or working in more corporate environments, many of the women I spoke with had similar ‘habits […]
Don’t Be a Vacation Loser
It’s vacation season and the time of year to step away from work to recharge and refresh. Sadly, many people don’t take all the vacation days they earn. Others who take vacation end up working during their time off which defeats the purpose entirely. According to a Glassdoor survey, only 25% of employees with paid time […]
Assess Your Career VIPS: Getting to Know YOU
For many of us, asking the question ‘What do I want to be when I grow up’ doesn’t stop at age 22, or even at 42. While I have coaching clients right out of college who feel at sea because they’re unsure of their career direction, I also have clients who are looking to transition […]
