Wham BAM Thank you Mam...

I Got It...

So it's been a little over two weeks since I last blogged, and here's the latest.

The week after the interview I was in constant contact with the agent (Kathryn at Eden Brown... who is amazing and I fully recommend) and everything was sounding very positive, there was talk of 'An offer by the end of the week' ... 

I was feeling so grateful, excited and happy and I was telling everyone that I the interview went so well that I was sure that I was going to get the job [in the name of positive visualisation].

But then the 'Sure offer' 

became 'Hopefully an offer early the following week'

which finally reduced to 'A decision be the end of the following week'


It had seemed so certain initially and now there seemed to be so much doubt. I started to worry, I started to feel bad and I started to think negative thoughts and because I was feeling bad I was attracting more bad feelings.

This was a dangerous spiral... so I told myself to 'Slap out of it' [Quote from my favourite ever show Cougar Town]

I turned my attention to how I could fix my negative vibe and started to ponder what I had done to change my energy, I thought about the advice The Secret gives and I realised that I had been trying to work out 'how', and 'when' and 'where' an offer was going to be made which had been instilling doubt that I was going to receive what I had asked for.

From that moment on I resolved to stop thinking about anything that I wasn't sure about and just trust that I was going to get what I want I has asked for.

Every time a negative thought surfaced I corrected it and then pushed it away. I resolved to be calm and collected and instead of thinking about 'when' 'if' 'how' the job offer was going to come I started focusing on fun and positive actions I could take in anticipation of the new job. This included things that i naturally find fun like the new fun clothes I could wear at my new job [I am a big clothes whore by nature and the new dress code is super relaxed... yay! Big selling point for me!]

Once I started getting back on the positive track I started to feel better and the worry went away.

On Valentines day someone left a tube of Lovehearts on my desk [there is a mystery romancer who bestows gifts on all the ladies in the office every Valentines day... very gentlemanly if a little sexist] and in that pack of Lovehearts there was a 'Lucky Day' Loveheart.

I scoffed down the rest [in the spirit of the day obviously] but I decided to keep the 'Lucky Day' Loveheart until I felt that the job offer would come that day. Luckily I didn't have to wait long because the next day I felt sure the offer was coming so I chomped the Loveheart first thing and before lunch I had my offer.

I know the Lovehearts are just a silly game I was playing with myself but I think that if silly games help you to feel good about getting what you want then play away...

I am so excited and proud about starting my job, it is the oh-so desired 'private practice', it has so much career development potential and is such a good company that 6 months ago I wouldn't even have had the confidence to apply for it,

So....

Thank you 'The Secret'

Thank you Davey who has spent a great deal of time investing in boosting my confidence and telling me that 'I can do it'

Thank you to my friends & family who have invested many hours of their personal time checking over my CV and portfolio and boosting my confidence.

I really feel like the new job is a team effort and I really feel like I finally made it x

Since I got the offer there has been an abundance of bubbly and celebration

Right well I am off to my Mums now for more Champagne and a celebration dinner, everyone around the table has something to celebrate tonight so we are officially the 'Good News Crew'!

Then tomorrow my lovely fella is whisking me away to Bruges as part of an oh-so thoughtful Christmas/ Anniversary Pressie

P.S Happy five Year Anniversary Davey

The Interview...

So yesterday was The Interview...

I usually get very nervous at interviews; I was so nervous at my first interview (at NPS) I had to use all my self control not to sob and bolt for the door.

I previously blogged about how positive thinking has transformed my career in the last 18 months (if you haven't read it of you want a re-cap click here) so I was sure that if I could use The Secret techniques I could 'rock their socks' at the interview.

Four of the techniques The Secret recommends played a key part in my preparation:

1) Focus on what you want and trust your instincts
Ahead of the interview I made sure I had enough time to prepare so I wasn't rushed or stressed on the day. Despite my best intentions I had a little mishap on the day before the interview. I took my portfolio to get printed only to find it was going to cost me £200.
This freaked me out and made me uncertain whether I should go into work first and try to sneak print my portfolio. The idea of trying to sneak into work and illegally print made me feel stressed and guilty so I made a decision to trust my instincts and that The Secret would provide an alternative solution.

It did...
The next day I found 'Positive Print' (it was a sign) and got my work beautifully printed and bound for £40 with no stress (which on the day of your interview is worth its weight in gold)

Incidentally two other things happened at the print shop:
1) I got stuck in the snow, so I would like to that the kind man that pushed me out of the icy trench
2) I got a call from another recruitment consultant offering me an interview for the same position = massive confidence booster!

2) Visualising the result that I want
During the run up to the interview I spent time researching the company and managed to pick out a few details and questions for the interview. On the journey there I visualised exactly how I wanted the interview to go focusing on the things I had learnt about the company particularly the design awards they have won.

It was brilliant. Everything I had picked out and managed to remember
came up totally naturally. The interview went so well that we ran out of time before the next candidate arrived. Following my interview I was shown the office and taken to meet the design director who spent 45 minutes telling me all the benefits of working for them. The original advertisement was for a 12 month contract but the discussions with the design director soon meant that we were discussing a permanent position with benefits. There are a lot... its a truly excellent package, more than I ever imagined.

3) Acting as though I have already received it
I told everyone about the interview.
I told everyone about all the positive feedback that the fantastic recruitment consultant gave me.
I told everyone I was going to get the interview, the job and a massive pay rise (which made some people recoil, but luckily no one that mattered).
Following the interview I told everyone (including the recruitment consultant) how well I did and that 'unless the candidate after me was exceptional then the job was mine’. 
When I got home I drafted my resignation letter and wrote my name, new title and address out until I felt it was my new place of work.

4) Feeling gratitude
I said thank you for my new job all the way home last night, before I went to sleep and when I woke up this morning.

Then Today...
The consultant called me and told me that the feedback from my interview was excellent and I should expect a job offer in the next few days...

Now I am just focusing on the salary I want :o)

I'll keep you posted

From Career Crisis to Confidence

Preparing for my interview got me thinking about the changes in my career over the last 18 months and how grateful I am for them. I went from someone who felt trapped by 'lack' to someone who attracted more development opportunities in 18 months that the entire 5 years previous. I am convinced it's because The Secret taught me that a positive attitude attracts opportunity.

This is my story...

For many years I have worried about which direction to progress my career to gain success. Every time I thought about persuing my education in Architecture I felt sick and anxious but I couldn’t see a way to develop my preferred career in interior design. The indecision made me feel awful and like a failure. I worried constantly because I didn’t know what to do for the best and my employer was pressuring me.

I was having a total confidence crises and couldn’t see how to make my career suit my personality. I began to try and be what I thought others wanted which made me depressed and insecure because I felt dishonest.

After reading The Secret I realised that I had allowed other people to undermine the confidence I had when I left uni. I had let my colleagues short sighted criticism put doubt into my mind that I even belonged in the creative world.

I made a decision to stop worrying and started looking for inspiration of how to make my career work for me. I feel a renewed sense of confidence and ambition because I have found examples of people who have enjoyed massive success by not conforming.

Meet my celebrity muses:

 Zara Hadid; Not only is she a female architect, but she is a female British-Iraqi architect who has overcome many obstacles. My favourite Zara quote is:

‘Men don’t listen to me, so I have to give them hell’

Working in a male dominated profession can be intimidating sometimes especially when you turn up on site to tell burly builders twice your age what they’ve done wrong. Next time one of them gives me grief I am going to channel Zara!

Vivienne Westwood; who doesn’t love Viv? 70 years old and still kicking arse in the design world. Not only is she an amazing designer she often writes though provoking pieces on human rights, ethics and philosophy [her blog is a must read]. On top of all this she has an incredible sense of fun and doesn’t take herself too seriously which I’m pretty sure is unique in the fashion world. I would love to take her to dinner to discuss her ethics followed by skanking at a punk gig!

 Lady Gaga; I didn’t used to rate Lady Gaga. I thought she was an intriguing gimmick who produced good songs but nothing to obsess over.

How my opinions have changed!

I watched Gaga on the TV at the Radio 1 gig and she blew me away. She is packed with talent and her ‘eccentrically artistic bit’ is just the sideline.

From there I went on to Watch the Monsterball tour and fell in love with her. I have never seen another artist give back so much encouragement and love back to her fans... I am now a proper Little Monster and if I need a confidence boost my medicine is dancing like a loony in my pants to Gaga!

Meet My Muses in the Family...

I am lucky to be surrounded and encouraged by three of the most inspiring artistic and creative ladies I could wish to have by my side. It definitely runs in the family... 

 

[Left to Right] My Nana, my Mum with baby me and Lizzy-Bet with crazy custom made moustache



Not to mention Papa Bear, a home builder and master craftsman. Our Dad learned to carve so he could make us a rocking horse, made us countless pieces of custom furniture and worked constantly with my Mum to build a family home and a happy childhood for both my sister and I.

Thank you. Thank You. Thank you. Thank you.



Papa Bear [aka Dad]

Thanks to these inspiring people and a little help from the secret I managed to work out [at the ripe old age of 27] that it was OK to be myself, that I had a right to make my life and my career work for me rather than squeezing myself into a pre-formed mould.

They gave me the confidence to stand up for myself and take positive action to push for the things I wanted.

They gave me the self worth to value my opinion and my work as highly as the next designer and to not care if it wasn’t to everyone’s taste.

Now I am focused on finding the positive and inspiring I absolutely adore reading the interviews with eccentric characters in design [BD Magazine]. In this weeks BD an architect called Piers Taylor resigned from his practice, via email, after a holiday in Australia to escape the confines of the studio and set up a new venture called 'Invisible Studio' to work collaboratively with magicians and mathematicians.

There is too much criticism and negativity in the world and if you let it surround you, you can drown in it. I am now entirely focused on seeking out inspiring characters and designers and focusing on what I can be, rather than what I can’t.

It Works...

I decided about a year ago to just focus on the fact that I wanted a career in Interior design, rather than all the possible obstacles. Very quickly the office began to get more and more Interior Design commissions, which were all offered to me and in September last year my boss agreed to change my job description to Interior Designer.

Now I have an interior design career I am determined to focus on greater success in this or another creative industry and I will let the universe decide how that success comes to me.

I'll keep you posted.

In the interest of...

In the interest of getting more of what you are grateful for, I would like to say

Thank you to Davey for...

Cooking me dinner
Washing up
AND doing the recycling

[without even being asked]

Love you

xxx

Little Secret Update [Wealth]

As you know one of things I am using The Secret to attract this year is wealth.

Over the last couple of weeks I have really be focusing my mind on only thinking about money with positivity and joy. I am looking at everything I want and thinking to myself 'I can afford that'... even when it’s the new Audi R8 Davey wants so much.

Anyway I was standing in the co-op queue visualising how our lives would be in the dream house with all the wealth we've attracted and feeling joy and gratitude as if we already had it [The Secret says this is key to attracting what you want] and my focus shifted to one particular scratch card with a top prize of £5,000. Because I was feeling so happy and joyful and I had been attracted to the particular scratch card I bought it [I never buy them usually].

That was last Friday night... I decided to save it until I felt really happy and really grateful, which happened to be tonight and I spent all the way home from work visualising what Dave and I could do with the money

... It was a winner!

The prize was £5 but I am so grateful and joyful about that £5 because I see it as sign that The Secret is starting to take effect. That £5 is going straight into my savings to contribute towards the £300,000 I expect by 2012.

I would also like to use the £5 to create a technique that Rhonda used to get herself back on her feet financially and imagine another three zero's on the end there, so...

I am so happy and grateful now that I have received £5000

I'll keep you posted xxx

2 [and a bit] week update...

So what have I been up to in the two [and a bit] weeks since my last post?


Well let me tell you...

I have been listening to The Secret Audio book every day; on the way to work, at work and at home. I have listened to it in the background, I have concentrated on it and I have let it sink into my subconscious.

It’s working.

I have been listening to all the advice given and sought out podcasts from other 'teachers' [as they call themselves]. Turns out most life coaches, Feng Shui gurus and other 'sorts' that the rich and famous can afford to hire, are all advocates of The Secret.

Now some of the Americanisms and the over the top dramatics are a bit much for my slightly cynical British reserve [thank god for Rhonda Byrne, who reads the majority of the book, in her soft Australian accent] but they have a point and as a result of really absorbing the concept of The Secret I have taken 3 steps:

1) Saying thank you for all the brilliant things I have to be grateful for every morning

There are a lot! When you stop and think about it you will be shocked about how much you have to be grateful for (including things that we maybe we all take for granted). Whether it’s your family, your friends, your colleagues, that man that held the door open for you, that woman who stopped you to tell you that you had dropped your favourite scarf, the fact that you have food to eat, that we have access to clean water, that we can see a doctor when we need to, our health, our ability to exercise, your family pet...

The list goes on and on and the more you think about it the more you will remember to be grateful for.

2) I have focused on what I want and asked for it

Following on from my last post I have been thinking in more detail about what I really want. Thinking about this can be a scary process, as you can discover that a lot of what you thought you wanted is actually what you thought you should want... like world peace  
None the less I let my mind have free rein to establish what I would dare to dream for if I truly believed there were no limits to what I could achieve... I realised I left a few things of my list:

My dream home
The image below was designed by, Interior Designer, Kathryn Tyler who I absolutely idolise. I first saw her on Grand Designs and totally fell in love with her style, green design principles and her courage to grab success.

Her practice is Linea Studio which she established, in 2004, very soon after leaving university. She is an inspiration to me because she showed me that you need to have courage and commitment to your own style, the confidence to risk going it alone and the balls to ignore the critics.
When Dave and I build our own house this will be the precedent.

£300,000.00 In the savings account
Don’t know how I expect it to get there but I want it.

3) Finally I have taken action to achieve ‘Great Success and Wealth in my Perfect Career’...

Over the last few years I have spent a lot of time working on various portfolios, but I never really found a layout and style that represented me or gave me confidence in my work.

I spent a lot of time worrying about if it gave the right message and if people would like my style or toss all my dreams and hopes into the shredder, as such I hadn't sent out an application for a new job in 7 years!

Since I have started focusing on being positive I found it incredibly easy to design a portfolio layout and content that I love. I have updated my CV and confidently sung my own praises. I have also applied for my first job in 7 years. And guess what I already have an interview...

So thank you Rhonda Byrne.

So what am I up to?

About a 18 months ago a good friend of mine, Victoria Hale aka Sugar Plum Slipper, introduced me to The Secret by Rhonda Byrne.

No I don't usually go in for hippy nonsense (it makes me cringe) however her enthusiasm lead me to try it out. I devoured the book in one sitting (its not very long) but also available in DVD and audiobook depending on your favoured medium.

The most basic premise of The Secret is that you can attract the life that you want... including the perfect career, the perfect partner, health, wealth, success etc. by being positive and grateful for the things that you have. The idea is that to attract something in your life you should send positive and grateful vibes out and you will attract it to you. The book gives numerous examples and encourages you to test the principle out with something small in the first instance. So I decided to challenge the universe...


 The Challenge...

Whilst shopping with boyf I fell in love with a pair of blue and orange Rayban Wayfarers. So I decided my challenge to the universe/ The Secret was that I wanted the sunglasses for free. I asked, I felt gratitude and then I waited. Payday came and I decided I would buy the sunglasses and trust that The Secret would see me right. It did. A week later i received and unexpected cheque from the Inland Revenue for just £3 and a few pence less than the value of the sunglasses... now you may say its coincidence but based on this event I am a believer in The Secret.

So now what...

Well I have a bigger challenge for The Secret which I intend to document with absolute honesty on this blog. I am setting myself the challenge that in 365 days from today I will have achieved:

1) Great Success and Wealth in my Perfect Career (to be dog friendly)-

I am an interior designer and generally creative sort. Aside from my professional career I have many ideas for home products, children’s book characters, fashion accessories, events packages, interior packages, graphic design and this year will be the year I persue them all hopefully to result in my own business. All my creative designs etc will be documented on my 'other blog' which can be seen here

On the career front I have already achieved more in the year and a half since I discovered the Secret than I did in the five and a half years previous but now my focus is on great success and wealth whether that is in my perfect role in my perfect company or my own business.

2) My perfect weight
Fairly standard but I would like to be one and a half stone lighter, fit, healthy and ready for the challenges my perfect career will bring. I'm not too fussy something along the lines of the picture below will suffice ;o)

The reason I am able have these two focal points for this year is because I'm very lucky and happy in all other areas of my life... for which i would like to say thank you, thank you, thank you.

Further gratitude to follow in my next post.