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Life is Too Short to Be Unhappy, Create Your Own Inspired Work By Vicki Morris
Life is Too Short to Be Unhappy, Create Your Own Inspired Work
By Vicki Morris
Here is an interview with Vicki Morris, the Career Happiness Coach, founder of InspiredWork and author of the Inc. Best 100 Business book Happy Habits., and the transformational career guides InspiredWork: Create Work You Love in 8 Weeks and its companion InspiredWork Workbook.
Why did you write InspiredWork?
I wrote InspiredWork because I believe life is too short to be unhappy at work. Many of us spend more than half of our waking hours at work. As a result, work plays a major part in our lives and impacts our mental, emotional and physical health and wellbeing. Plus, our happiness level – happy or not – also spills over to our colleagues, friends and family. I know this from personal experience because I went through 16 full-time and consulting job transitions in my 27-year career and I experienced a lot of unhappiness that affected me and everyone around me. Fortunately, I was able to turn my pain into fuel and my career journey can now be titled “From Career Unhappiness to InspiredWork.”
What is InspiredWork?
InspiredWork is work where you:
- Are FREE to be yourself,
- Feel FULFILLED by using your gifts,
- Are HAPPY at work, and
- LOVE your life.
My experiences have led me to understand that in order to have our own inspired work that truly speaks to us and fulfills our life’s purpose, it’s not about finding it – it’s about creating it from the inside out and enjoying the journey.
This concept of InspiredWork is the basis for my latest books InspiredWork: Create Work You Love in 8 Weeks and the companion InspiredWork Workbook, as well as the company and the movement that now has 50,000 followers.
The InspiredWork books are transformational career guides for individuals who have been in the workforce for some time, but are seeking a change. Whether you’re job seeking because you’re currently out of work, would like to make a career change, or are considering your own startup, this book provides a specific strategy for each unique situation. It also aims to tackle the unhappiness epidemic in the workplace.
What is the unhappy work epidemic?
Many of today’s workers feel stuck in their current roles. In fact, Deloitte research shows that 80% of employees are unhappy at work. That’s an overwhelming majority, and my belief is that many people are demotivated and de-energized in their careers. InspiredWork aims to address those issues by getting to the root cause – it puts the power in the hands of the individual.
Why do you think it’s important for individuals to take charge of their own careers?
Even in the very best companies, you’re responsible for furthering your career and taking control of your future. Now more than ever before, it’s not just about seeking out opportunities, in many cases, it’s about creating them.
Is this what you mean by “create the work you love?”
Yes. The main idea behind InspiredWork is that we as individuals can discover what it is that we value most in our work, and then we can create and pursue career opportunities that align with those values. I also believe that creating your own version of work that’s most inspiring and empowering to you should be considered a critical life skill. When you look inward first to determine what exactly you need in a career, you can then take a healthier approach to your goal, whether that’s finding a job, starting a business, or changing careers.
How is it possible to create inspired work in just 8 weeks?
I’ve provided a step-by-step guide that includes everything jobseekers and entrepreneurs need to find a job, change careers or start their own business in only 8 weeks. I encourage readers to dedicate at least one hour to their career journey each day. By following the steps I’ve outlined throughout the guide, professionals will have everything they need for a successful and personalized inspired work journey.
The five-step InspiredWork System starts with “Inspiration & Energy.” Why is that important for your readers?
There are different reasons as to why this is important for each unique type of reader. For instance, jobseekers often approach employment as a solution to a problem. We’re trained to think that the “problem” is being out of work, and the solution is to find a new job as quickly as possible. While some jobseekers do indeed need to find work quickly for financial reasons, at the very least we must pause to re-energize ourselves and take an inward approach to find inspiration.
Otherwise, people tend to wind up in a role very similar to the one they just left. It’s critically important for career changers and entrepreneurs as well, because without a solid vision about what you want your work life to look like, it will be very difficult – if not impossible – to get there.
How is InspiredWork different from other career books?
There are so many great books available that offer helpful career advice. Here, though, I’m encouraging readers to take an inside-out approach to creating work they love. Unlike other career guides, I’ve also included 40-days of inspired actions each reader can take based on the career transformation path he or she has chosen such as finding a new job, changing careers or starting a new business. Inspired actions include a combination of inner work (e.g., creating an InspiredWork vision that is heart-centered, reprogramming your conscious and subconscious mind for success and raising your energy daily) and outer work (e.g., creating an authentic personal and/or business brand, establishing a personalized career plan, and implementing a marketing campaign to achieve your career goal). The inside-out combination is very effective because it ensures each reader to discover what inspired work means to him or her personally and it provides practical actions he or she can take to transform his or her career in only 8 weeks.
What is the one inspired career action you recommend everyone take?
Whether you do it for yourself or for your loved ones, I highly recommend that everyone do an annual Career Happiness Checkup such as the InspiredWork Quiz. That’s really the best career advice I can give anyone in the workforce. If you have never done a career happiness checkup before and don’t know how happy or inspired you are at work, take the FREE InspiredWork Quiz and get your career happiness score today. Knowingwhere you are is the best first step you can take to being happier at work and creating your own inspired work.
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Scarlet by Marissa Meyer (Book Review #5)
Summary
“Cinder returns in the second thrilling installment of the New York Times-bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She’s trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she’ll be the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive.
Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn’t know about her grandmother and the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother’s whereabouts, she has no choice but to trust him, though he clearly has a few dark secrets of his own.
As Scarlet and Wolf work to unravel one mystery, they find another when they cross paths with Cinder. Together, they must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen who will do anything to make Prince Kai her husband, her king, her prisoner.”- by Marissa Meyer
Review
We all now know whom Cinder is and how important it is for her to get out of prison and to confront Levana Blackburn. In Scarlet, on the other hand, we do not hear much from Cinder until it is towards the end of the story. This book focuses on Scarlet, her background and her one sole mission to find her grandma. It is supposedly a retake on the “Little Red Riding Hood” story, however; it is far from it. I do not think that Marissa Meyer intended the story to be like that fairy tale either. There are some similarities, such as the red jacket or the wolf and the grandma; however, in this review on tales, you can see that Scarlet is not that sweet innocent little red riding hood. The wolves are after the grandma, but not the one wolf she eventually falls in love with in the story. The entire book is connecting pieces from the past and blending it with the future.
I found Scarlet very tomboyish. Apparently working on a farm and being abandoned by her father was hard on her and she had to learn to defend herself to survive. Her grandma kept a big secret from her, which I liked. That secret kept her from harm but also made her feel lonelier as she discovers that no one has ever been truthful to her. She is strict, harsh and attempts to hide behind a self-created shield. She does not like to show any emotions of which could jeopardize her stone image.
I liked Michelle Benoit’s story, and how it was all connected to the puzzle, we have been trying to put together from Cinder. This book introduces Throne. He is the “Ryder” character we all know from “Rapunzel.” He is just as funny and a bad boy of course. He brought out a lighter side of the story since Scarlet is almost always angry, harsh and just to the point. I am glad that Throne was in this book, and I think it was a good move from the writer to mix the three characters and slowly move us on to the third book “Cinder.”
Written by Jeyran Main
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Self Blossom by David Russell (Book Review #301)
The story has a subtle poetic literary standard to it. The main character is not as likable or in many aspects relatable to a woman and that I believe sums up the reason why the story may not resonate with a lot of readers. The book is a combination of a romantic setting with the added erotic literature description with a sprinkle of a woman’s liberation.
What the book did possess was a very sweet, sensual, dreamy and romantic side to it that fiction lovers would appreciate. The work is well written and I believe it complimented the genre it is relevant to. I believe the strongest aspect about this book was its world setting. Selene has so many thoughts and poetic discussion with herself that it was very easy to envision the surroundings she was in.
I recommend this book to romance readers.
Written by Jeyran Main
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Today I think i’ll be…. by Marion Nadeau (Book Review #300)
In this book, Aubrey imagines being a flamingo. She decides to have a picnic with her other imaginary animal friends at the lake. I enjoyed the fact that the literature font appeared to be handwritten.
The book also has fun facts about animals adding an educational touch to this story.
I recommend this book to parents and children that love animals.
Written by Jeyran Main
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How I am Spending My Afterlife by Spencer Fleury
Tell us about your genre. How did you come to choose it? Why does it appeal to you?
I don’t think I did choose it, at least not consciously. I knew what the story was that I wanted to tell, and only after I was well into writing it did I start trying to figure out what it was, category-wise. I’m not surprised it turned out to be a literary noir, though. I’ve always thoroughly enjoyed books and films in the genre, probably because they often speak to a self-destructive element of human nature that I just can’t look away from. Certainly, that describes the character of Alton Carver in my book, and since he’s the driving force of the entire narrative, it seems like a natural fit.
What do you find most challenging about the writing process, and how do you deal with it?
No question, it’s the compulsion to second-guess everything in the early stages. It derailed me from ever really getting started when I was younger, because all my first drafts were so terrible. But that was before I understood that first drafts are supposed to be terrible; the good stuff emerges from the rewriting process. So I force myself to just write a certain minimum number of words when I’m working on a first draft, as a way to ensure that at least some progress is made each session. And sometimes, when I go back for the first round of rewrites, I find it’s not as bad as I originally thought. I still rewrite it, though, because you never get it exactly right on the first try.
When and where do you do your writing?
If I’m working on a short story, I’ll write it basically anywhere I can, whenever I have an hour or more to focus. I wrote a story on a recent vacation to Italy, even though I intentionally didn’t bring my laptop on the trip. But it was for a recurring reading series that I’d been trying to get into for a while, and the deadline was going to pass before I’d be home. So I bought a notebook and pencil and wrote a couple drafts before dictating it into my phone and submitting it with about five hours to spare before the deadline. And yes, writing a story in a cafe looking out onto a historic Italian piazza is exactly as romantic and gratifying as it sounds.
But more recently, I’ve been working on the next novel, and I find I need to set aside larger blocks of time to make much headway. So I’ll write in the evenings or during the day on weekends, usually at home or at this starkly-apportioned minimalist coffee shop near my apartment. I find the background noise of the customers and machinery helps me focus in a way that I don’t really understand, but it works so I’m not questioning it.
What have you learned about promoting your books?
The biggest thing I’ve learned so far is that it’s incredibly hard to get anyone to pay attention to you, especially before you really have any kind of a track record. There are so many authors out there, all trying to promote their own books by using the same channels everyone else uses. It’s really crowded, and it’s a huge challenge to get that needle to budge.
That said, I have to remind myself that book promotion for an indie author like me is necessarily going to be a long-term project, and that short-term wins are going to be scarce for a while. It’s dispiriting and frustrating, but as a writer you’ve got to keep doing it because nobody else is going to care as much about your book as you do.
What are you most proud of as a writer?
Finishing and actually publishing this novel. Seriously, I know so many people who have started first novels but never finished them for a variety of reasons, all of them valid. Writing a novel is a huge demand on anyone’s time, and the act of writing fiction can be way more personal and revealing than some people expect or are comfortable with. I don’t blame people for stopping, but this was something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. I’m proud to have succeeded – and I have succeeded, even before selling a single copy.
If you could have dinner with any writer, living or dead, who would it be and what would you talk about?
Douglas Adams. As for what we’d talk about, well, pretty much whatever he’d like, though I expect he might be disappointed if he wanted to talk about cricket.
How I’m Spending My Afterlife
By Spencer Fleury
Genre: Noir, Suspense, General
Alton Carver has a problem.
A cocky lawyer in his mid-30s, he’s under federal investigation for embezzling and securities fraud. Instead of spending the next three to five years behind bars, he’s got a plan: stage his own death, take the money he stole and light out for Central America, leaving behind wife Nicole and daughter Clara. But when he sticks around town long enough to watch his own funeral, he makes the unpleasant discovery that the life he’s leaving behind isn’t the life he thought he had.
When he overhears the way his former colleagues talk about him now that he’s “gone,” Alton is forced to reconsider his self-image as a respected and admired pillar of the legal community. Then the shock of seeing Nicole in the arms of another man leads Alton to postpone his plan to run for the border. What comes next is a slow-burn train wreck, a tale of self-deception, revenge and bad decisions.
About the Author
Spencer Fleury has worked as a sailor, copywriter, economics professor and record store clerk, among other disreputable professions. He was born in the Detroit suburbs, spent most of his life in Florida, and now lives in San Francisco. How I’m Spending My Afterlife is his first novel.
http://www.facebook.com/spencer.fleury
http://www.twitter.com/spencerfleury
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/how-im-spending-my-afterlife-spencer-fleury/1126718547
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35662380-how-i-m-spending-my-afterlife
The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg, M.D., and Zoë François: Reviewed by da-AL
Happy bread day to me! Happy bread day to meeee!
Tango gatherings are social in the best way, often involving potlucks. When a dance mate brought a yeast-raised loaf still warm from her home oven and proceeded to describe how easily she’d baked it, I ran to get the book she’d gotten the recipe from.
Truly, “The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day,” by Jeff Hertzberg, M.D., and Zoë François lives up to its subtitle, “The Discovery that Revolutionizes Home Baking.”
The authors didn’t inventor no-knead yeast bread. Nevertheless, they provide gourmet quality easy recipes illustrated with much glossy high color food porn. This panettone became a family favorite with my first loaf.
In my Iran-born husband’s family, one is either ‘noon-ee,’ bread loving, or ‘polo-ee.’ rice loving.’ Bread lover that I am, I’ve repeatedly tried to bake yeast bread, always failing at producing anything better than hard bricks.
Not so with these recipes! For the panettone, instead of the fancy paper employed by the authors here, I use parchment paper to line the ceramic pot from my electric crock pot, fill it with dough, and then bake just the pot in my conventional oven. For the first half of the baking, I leave it covered. For the remainder, I take the lid off.
The yeasty fragrance of baking perfumes clear to the outdoor perimeter of my house. What a marvel it is to hear a loaf hum, whistle, and crackle a steamy tune as it cools! And what textures! Crunchy, chewy goodness!
Voila! Jacques Pepín puts it best when he states that nothing can compete with fine artisan bread slathered with pure butter.
Here’s Jacques, making his own no-knead bread.
Caveat: “…Bread in Five Minutes…” might mislead some, albeit forgivably, given how easy and delicious the recipes are. The dough takes five to ten minutes to mix. Then it must rise for a couple of hours. Baking time varies, i.e., breadsticks are understandably baked quicker than whole loaves. The dough can be frozen, or it can be refrigerated for up to a week. In either case, let it warm to room temperature before baking.
Written by da-AL
Please visit, share, & comment on her 1st ever blogs: Happiness Between Tails
Click here for Artisan Bread Website
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