Jul

20

Posted by FFAWN on July 20, 2008 4:33 PM

One very relevant issue for women (and men) these days is financial education.  With lots of uncertainty in the banking world, it is important to have a basic understanding of financial processes (eg. loans, mortgages, savings, investments) in order to protect yourself from getting into an uncomfortable situation with your personal finances.  You should make sure that you have an understanding of what you are getting into - for example, the level of risk associated with your investments, or whether you're getting a competitive rate on your savings account or mortgage loan.  You need to be able to look out for yourself and feel confident with your decisions, financial and otherwise.

We've compiled some resources that can help you protect yourself from risky investments, save up for a rainy day or a large expense (eg. a new house), pay off your debts, and organize your personal finances so that you can spend less time worrying and more time enjoying what you've got around you!  Do you know of other helpful websites and resources that have helped you on your own quest for financial education?  If so, please share them with other readers by commenting below.  Thank you, and enjoy!

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Jul

5

Posted by FFAWN on July 5, 2008 4:48 PM

We all know that self-esteem is an important defense mechanism to help us guard against daily hardship in our lives. But how do we encourage our children to have high self-esteem and to be confident in themselves? This article from KidsHealth.org gives some great (and easy!) suggestions on fostering self-esteem in your little one.

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Jun

30

Posted by FFAWN on June 30, 2008 7:13 PM

One of the members of Our World, NZCareerCoach, has offered up her secrets for wise decision-making.  We hope her advice will help you with the big decisions you have to make in your own life.  Let us know what your favorite decision-making tricks are!


HOW DO YOU MAKE YOUR DECISIONS?

Are you a rational decision-maker who carefully weighs up the pros and cons before taking your next step?  Or are you an impulse follower that listens to her heart to make the right move?

The best decision-making model I have come across, that I now use for all my training and advice sessions, is a combination of rational and emotional.  The first step is to define your decision into single options.  For example, "Shall I continue working in administration or shall I go back to school to study as a Dental Assistant?"  becomes "Whether to become a Dental Assistant?"

Divide the rest of the page into two columns, named Pros and Cons.  List all the pros and cons you can think of for this one decision.  If there is a person whose opinion you feel is a vital part of your decision making, include them in the list.  Now go back through and mark each Pro and Con with a score out of 10.  Remember to mark these using your own values and interests.  Total these at the bottom of the page and any landslide victories should give you the confidence to start an action plan and move forward.

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Jun

16

Posted by FFAWN on June 16, 2008 2:31 PM

One of our fellow members here in our Our World, who works as a career counselor in New Zealand, was gracious enough to share some advice on honing your decision-making skills and getting to better know your strengths, passions, and decision-making style. We hope her advice will help you make informed, confident decisions as you consider your own career path.  If you are interested in becoming a contributor to Our World, please email us at blog@ffawn.org.


MAKING BETTER DECISIONS

Knowing yourself and what works best for you will make you feel more confident about your choices particularly regarding your career.

If you are dithering over a decision, it may be that you don't have enough information.  Subconsciously your mind is stopping you from moving forward into unknown risks.  Do you really know what the job is like, how much a qualification would cost, how much childcare would cost, or if there is any financial support available?  If not, how can you make a life-changing decision?  So get out there and start researching!

Unfortunately many people gather their information from the wrong sources - canvassing a range of colleagues, friends or family to gain opinions of each choice they make.  The end result is usually to leave you even more confused!  Even the best input always needs to be filtered through your own values, interests, risk-taking comfort level and self-belief.

So gather information from the right sources while acknowledging their biases and using your own self-knowledge to filter it - Career Advisors, College Services, Employers, Recruiters, Human Resource Managers, and Employers are all people with valuable information on careers, jobs and training.


KNOW YOURSELF


Remember, however, that no one can possibly know you as well as you know yourself.  They don't share your fascination with architecture, or how people's minds work, or your love of working with children, so why would you let them make your decisions for you?  It is the decisions based on good information, including knowing yourself, that are the easiest decisions to make and the hardest to regret.

There are many personality type tests, career assessment tools, and life coaching books that can help you to define what is most important to you, what tasks or work types interest you and where your greatest skills lie.  The best of these then combine your answers to suggest types of work where you will be more successful and fulfilled.

You can gain further confidence by looking at decisions you have made in the past and how you made them, allowing you to see what has worked for you and what hasn't.  Deciding to go to law school only because your parents had always planned for it, deciding to take a film class rather than marketing because your friends were all taking it, deciding to take yet another administration job with a pay increase rather than a salary drop to get into graphic design as you had always dreamed of - usually these are the decisions that lead to a lack of fulfilment or a sense of frustration.

Many people feel that a dream job is just that - a dream, but even taking one of the small steps toward a dream can mean every day is more fulfilling.

For more information on assessing yourself and possible career choices, you can take assessment tests like the Motivational Appraisal of Personal Potential (MAPP), which is completely free, or the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI), which you'll need to pay for in order to receive a complete interpretation of your score. You can also try some of the free tests compiled by About.com here. I do however recommend combining any assessment with the services of a Career Counselor to interpret the results.

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Jun

1

Posted by FFAWN on June 1, 2008 3:38 PM

In case you haven't seen it already, Mary was featured on cover of the June 2008 issue of Essence Magazine, along with Jill Scott and Alicia Keyes, described by Essence as "the truth and the light in R&B."  The interview focused on how the three have grown since their debut albums and how they've dealt with their successes and failures over the years.  You can read an excerpt from the article here.  How you have been inspired by Mary and other celebrities as you've watched them grow throughout their careers?

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