Are you getting everything you can out of this life?
A self-less, feel-good blog about love, life, and work by career coach and existential adventurer, Cliff Flamer
Although I was hoping for it to happen all week, it sort of happened organically.
“Ow!” I heard Evaline say through the wall, which made me stop typing.
She came into my office.
“I stepped on a tack. Do you still have that cup of thumbtacks?”
I pointed to my c… Read more...
It’s hard to live.
Our brains are well-developed. We’re a thinking species; not always a good thing. We’re a long way from being content just sitting on a mossy rock. After 5 minutes of one thing, we feel an urge to move on, to find a reason to make us grow. And … Read more...
When I was in 5th grade, I wore my mom’s clip-on earrings to school.
Actually, they were my gramma’s earrings, that kind of old, decorative jewelry with the plastic jewels where the metal doesn’t really shine.
It wasn’t meant to be a statement. I just kinda … Read more...
Unilateral layoffs
Getting fired without a reason
Watching your colleagues get fired
Doing the firing
Dealing with a VP that yells, abuses, and harasses you daily
Getting a new supervisor that changes your daily life without your input
Watching your beloved company get acquired and slo… Read more...
I’ve been talking to teens and young adults about the state of our country and the world in general.
“Where do you find hope?” I ask them.
They’re always silent. No quick responses.
WTF. Aren’t the kids supposed to hold hope for the rest of us? Isn̵… Read more...
A boy and his elder were walking in the mountains and came across a lion. Before the elder could stop him, the boy poked the lion with his walking stick.
The lion sprung up and growled.
The boy raised his stick and got into a fighting stance. “Get back!” he yelled, but … Read more...
We’re often one question away from peace.
No matter how serious or stressful the situation may feel, if we can figure out the right question to ask (and answer), our suffering will begin to lessen
I ask questions all day long. In some ways I feel like a safe cracker with his … Read more...
Every morning, blanketed in the black before sunrise, I walk into my office, and I’m faced with the same decision:
Do I start digging into my work pile and get a jump on my to-do’s,
OR
Do I stop and do something that seems both self-indulgent and impractical? In other wo… Read more...
Things are tough out there.
I’m seeing a lot of pain in people, doing more therapy than career coaching.
People are having the rug pulled out from under them, people who never thought they’d be the ones getting hit.
Layoffs to fix balance sheets.
Strikes to balance paych… Read more...
Some days, I feel like I’ve cracked the code in making a living, that I’ve created a business where I draw people to me at the most pivotal times in their lives, a facilitator of change, a beacon of hope (and paid for it too!)
Unabashedly me. And the “me” p… Read more...