A great book I read

[JoannaC]

I read a great book which might interest others. It is called "Unstoppable Woman" by Cynthia Kersey. The idea of the book is to pick a goal and spend 30 days working on it. There is an inspiring reading for every day, and various tips/suggestions/journal prompts. But the crux is the plan is two main things:

1) Every day you will plan your day. This is a habit I have kept up, actually, and I find it really helpful. It is so simple, but really helps keep me focused.

2) Every day, you take just one concrete action toward your goal. I often find my goals a bit overwhelming, and this take out the fear. Of course, you can do more than one thing. But one thing is the minimum, and even if you only do that one thing, you will have taken 30 concrete steps toward your goal at the end of the challenge, which will certainly put you closer to the goal than when you started. I really have internalized the idea since then of just going one step at a time and doing one thing at a time. If you set your goal to make one phone call, or write one email, and you achieve it, that is success you can build on. That is better than having something too broad or ambitious for you to complete successfully.

I did the challenge from this book last year and my goal was to work toward getting a teaching job for September 2006. I took one step per day toward this goal. I did not wind up getting a permanent contract, but I did get a junior position for the year, and it is with a school where I can keep in touch and have a long-term relationship. The principal also knows a network of other principals, so she will be a wonderful reference, and it proved to be worth it to take the job, junior though it was, just to have something to build on for later and get the experience and the really good reference. Truthfully, I was a little bit stunned that I met my goal.

Anyway, I am not the author of this book nor am I affiliated with it, but I thought others might enjoy it.

[and]

Joanna, this is a nice testimonial of what following useful information can bring into your life. It looks like you're making great progress. Good job!!!

So what are you future big goals you're going to be working towards?

Andre

[JoannaC]

Hi Andre. My future big goal is to obtain a permanent union position at a school It is a tight market right now and having French will be one of the best ways to improve my chances. I am going to be taking the course that will qualify me for this, so I am studying up. I am mostly fluent, I would say 95% fluent, but that last ten percent is the synthesis stuff and it's the hardest part, just becoming comfortable speaking and integrating all the little bits of vocab and grammar so it comes naturally. I am not sure I want to be a French teacher forever, but I need some stability and a decent income for a bit after all the career instability I had. So I am going to start there and see where it takes me. Also, I want to work on some personal things e.g. getting a relationship and improving my fitness.

[and]

Sounds like you have that planned out... For other things make sure to set measurable goals for all areas.