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Coach Yourself to a New Career: 7 Steps to Reinventing Your Professional Life

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Unhappy in your current job? Thinking about switching careers? Looking to start your own business? Before you make any move, pick up a copy of Coach Yourself to a New Career by Talane Miedaner.

Unfortunately far too many people fall into a career by luck or accident. And the problem is often compounded by jumping "from the frying pan into the fire." Others have this vague notion that having their own business is the ultimate dream.

No matter where you are in your quest for a new career, take the time to read this book, do the exercises and make some sound decisions that will lead you to the career that is right for you.

The book gives you a seven step system to "reinventing your professional life."

Step one is to "Perfect the Present" - master your current job. You should not undertake a new career unless and until you have mastered your current career. It is too easy to find problems with your current career and think that simply changing jobs will make life perfect. It will not.

Step two is to identify your personal requirements. Unless you know what you need to be fulfilled you are unlikely to stumble upon a career that satisfies your personal requirements. This is probably the most difficult step. It requires a lot of honest assessments and most people would rather skip this step. It is essential.

Step three is to design your ideal life. Step four is to identify your natural talents and abilities. Step five is to identify your passions and values. Step six pulls it all together and step seven is all about managing the transition.

Each step contains a detail narrative of the reasoning behind the step and exercises to help you find your answer. There are also plenty of examples from Miedaner's own life and the lives of some of her coaching clients.

The final chapter contains some bonus tips to help you put the seven steps to work. She actually gives a short cut for those who are looking for a quick start program. In this bonus section, she gives some very good coaching advice. "The danger in reading any self-help book is thinking you are actually doing something. This book is all about taking action." Your results will vary in direct relation to the time, energy and effort you put into taking action on the exercises she has provided.

Finally there is a resources section where she offers additional resources for those looking for more guidance. On her website she has lots of resources that compliment the exercises in the book.

The book is well written, reader friendly and easy to read. This is an extremely valuable resource, but only if you put forth the effort to do the exercises.

The economy's recent plunge scared up flocks of books about job-hunting, career-changing and employment skills. Their titles -- How to Make Job Loss Work for You, Surviving a Buyout -- reflect the gloom of the times.

Yet one freshly-released book -- "Coach Yourself to a New Career," by eminent personal coach Talane Miedaner-- takes a different approach, sidestepping dark job

loss statistics and despair and challenging the prevalent belief that the jobless should lunge at every opportunity. Miedaner, who in the past 14 years has coached thousands of people, from from budding entrepreneurs to multi-millionaires, instead spurs readers to seek their dream jobs.

She acknowledges that unemployment rates are higher than ever, but says that job-hunting is different for people going after exactly what they want.

"There is no point wasting your life doing something you don't like when there are so many opportunities around us," she says in the book's introduction. "Thanks to technology and the Internet, more than at any other point in the history of humanity, you now have the ability to design and create work that is perfectly suited to your natural talents, your personality, your inherent abilities, and your interests and passions."

That doesn't mean, she's quick to add, that the course ahead is easy. To find that dream job, a seeker must first do some serious self-exploration. They must understand their deepest needs -- or, as she calls them "requirements" -- as well as their strongest values, and most driving passions. In essence, they must decide what matters most to them in life.

The questions require hard thinking, but for those who do forge on, the results will be life-changing. Once readers truly understand what they want, they'll be free to leave drudgery and unemployment behind and move into exciting, ideal jobs. I whole-heartedly recommend this book -- Kate Taylor

Talane Miedaner is a gifted writer and coach, who gives clear, laser-like advice for figuring out who you are and what you really want to be "when you grow up", and then guides you on how to get there. Her examples are compelling, and inspiring, including her own personal story. She gives practical steps that help you get grounded, figure out what you really need, what things are most important to you, what you are really best at, and then how to close the gap between where you are now and where you want to be. Making a successful career change can be extremely challenging, but once you've done it and you can now wake up each morning excited about what you do, it is incredibly worth it! Talane was my personal coach when I made a major career transition. Her coaching was invaluable. Now she's put all that great coaching into a book for everyone. Anyone looking to improve their work and their life will benefit from this book. Her other two books, Coach Yourself to Success and The Secret Laws of Attraction are excellent, and well worth your time.

This book is so good! I told my wife about it and she downloaded it to her Kindle! I think we are both going to start new careers within the next 12 months!

I am a middle age executive that has had some health issues causing some modification and rethinking of my life's work and career. I have read Talane's other books and hired her as my personal coach. I must say that I have found this new book to be an incredible resource and guideline for anyone thinking or needed a new career......or reinventing their professional life. Talane teaches how to identify your true passions and values and create a practical plan to achieve your goals.

Coach Yourself to a new Career has several quizzes and worksheets that help define needs, boundaries and goals. Also in the book I found an annual life plan and career profile that was a great personal resource. I can't imagine considering a career change without this book as a guide.

I found Coach Yourself to a new Career not to be just about career change, but also a guide for making decisions and positive changes in both your personal and professional life. I have also joined Talane's [...] website, as it has many tools to help along one's journey in life.

I know Talane as a wonderful, caring, experienced coach, and those qualities really show in this book. I know it has helped me, and I am sure it will give you the coaching you need to help change your career, and your life.

Coach Yourself to a New Career is another great book by Talane Miedaner. She has a way of getting right to what you need to do. Her insight is astounding and this book provides direction and tools to accomplish goals. I can't wait for her next book!

FM

I found this book to be very helpful in learning about my personal needs and values, however, I didn't find it particularly helpful in directing me to specific career choices which is what I was looking for.

This book seems to have come to me at the most opportune time. I've always struggled with trying to figure out "what I want to be when I grow up". I've finally reached the point where I'm done feeling stuck on my current path and believe that I can set the direction for my own life. This book has proven to be tremendously helpful in that mission.

Talane knows exactly how to get her point across simply and effectively. I felt like she was speaking to me personally and knew exactly what I was thinking as I read along. I savored every word in this book. I found it to be practical, useful, inspiring, encouraging, and motivating. I have several friends and colleagues who are daring to do what they love, believing that they can be more content than they are now, and I've supplied them with the tool to build their new life -- this book.

Thank you Talane for your incredible talent. It's clear that you're doing what you're meant to be doing -- touching and affecting people's lives for the better.