Work as the anxiety cure

“I’m too busy.  I don’t have time to worry.” Winston Churchill when asked if he was worried during the 18 hour days he was working. Those engaged in work that they find meaningful “worry” but in a different way than those who are disengaged.  They are immersed in problem solving in the present.  They are […]

Transactional v. Opportunity Cost

Meghan sighed. “I totally get it.  Every day that I’m not doing what I want is one day less that I could be doing something I do want.” Meghan’s job as a administrative assistant in a New Haven law firm was the primary cause of an anxiety diagnosis.  Her parents urged her to change her […]

Career Counseling: The benefits of talking through a critical decision

Blake was at a cross-roads decision regarding different graduate school routes to pursue at UCONN.  The story would drown in details if I described fully.  Suffice to say, he had a genuine quandary and a deadline to solve the issue. I knew Blake from years ago as he had attended school in the Shoreline, Connecticut […]

Filling the resume gap with substance

Theresa, a working mother of three from New Haven, described her career path: I was in marketing for a media company in Stamford after my graduation from UConn.  This was in the late 80s and early 90s.  I did well, had fun, got married, had my first child, and then quit when I had my […]

Career Confusion: Information Overload

Nancy, a recent graduate of Fairfield University, came in for a career counseling session as she was suffering from complete information overload. She had studied nearly a dozen different career paths. She noted the advantages and disadvantages of each and how each could or might not be suited to different parts of personality. Increasingly, part […]

Career Testing: Interpreting the data is what matters

“Can’t you just give me that test that will tell me what I should do?” Sarah said as she lamented her career confusion.  Much like many twentysomethings, Sarah was lost in her career musings and wondering whether she should stay in Connecticut – where she loved – or move to Boston to look for work. […]

Life is short or life is long, either way career change makes sense

“I don’t want to start over now…” so began Dave a thirtysomething sales executive from Stamford who had just expressed his “near hatred of going to work each day.” “Well, without a career change, you will be hating your work days for a very long time.” I responded. It’s either a long life or short […]

Planning your side business

Back in the 1990s, my friend Paul told me about the beauty of a side business.  If you get something up and running, even if it provides a small income, you have a hedge against losing your job.  Paul has always had a knack of seeing the worst so, as a natural optimist, I did […]

When to start career counseling? Before The Crisis

Mike said he was the only guy he knew that had worked at the same company for over 20 years. Having been hired out of college, Mike was on his 22nd year in the same company. While working out of his home office in Madison, Connecticut, Mike had a sales position that usually put him […]