A Workover: A Young Adult Who Is Ready for a Real Career

On PsychologyToday.com, I've been posting edited transcripts of calls to my NPR-San Francisco radio program in which I help people solve their work problem. I call them Workovers. 

In today's offering, I demonstrate an approach to helping someone choose a career.

Out--Of-The-Box Ideas to Push You Off Autopilot

At some point in our lives, we're ready to take on something different.

I'm not talking about a career change  nor the usual projects: travel, home remodeling, or a new hobby.

In my PsychologyToday.com article today, I focus on the further-afield. Perhaps one of the article's ideas might intrigue you or trigger your own out-of-the-box projects.

Addressing Your "Laziness"

Laziness can devastate a career,  relationships, and the meaningful life.

Laziness can be caused by a number of things. In my PsychologyToday.com article today, I identify five and a way to address each.

Addressing the Fear of Becoming Irrelevant

Many older people worry that they're becoming irrelevant. That's especially true for people who have been a respected expert or leader.

How does one deal with the reality that even most eminent people slowly become less and less relevant, replaced by young 'uns?

I address that in my PsychologyToday.com article today: 

Stories of Seclusion: Afraid He'd Lose His Temper, He Hid

My PsychologyToday.com series, Stories of Seclusion, tells composite stories of people who have spent an unusual amount of time alone.  

Today's installment tells of Eto, a graphic designer at a large flower distribution company who felt he was lied about, and it could cost him his job.

Stories of Seclusion: After Winning the Lottery

My PsychologyToday.com series, Stories of Seclusion, tells composite stories of people who have spent much time alone.

Today's installment tells of Anne, 52, who won the 2nd prize, $1,000,000, in her state's lottery.

Stories of Seclusion: Embarassed into Isolation

Today's installment in my PsychologyToday.com series, Stories of Seclusion, tells of Wesley. He was a married minister in a small town and had an affair.

Is The World Getting Better?

UK-based Clive Smith, who conducts a series of interviews on The Big Issues, read my internal debate published on PsychologyToday.com "Is Our World Getting Better?"

He then invited me to be one of his interviewees. It ended up being very wide-reaching: violence, technology's effects, global warming, race, gender, regulation, political correctness, media bias, the debt crisis, capitalism, and redistribution. HERE is the link.

Stories of Seclusion: A Workplace Culture Drives Her Into Isolation

Today's installment in my PsychologyToday.com series, Stories of Seclusion, tells of Katarina, an immigrant who found working in a U.S. government agency less efficient than in her Russian one.

Stories of Seclusion: A Boy Who Couldn't Resist the Swamp

Today's installment in my PsychologyToday.com series, Stories of Seclusion, tells of a boy, Isaac, who was not your classic runaway. He liked his parents, no, he loved his parents. He loved his sister. He even loved school.

Stories of Seclusion: A Rejected Man

Today's installment in my PsychologyToday.com series, Stories of Seclusion, tells of Jerry who has spent most of his life getting rejected.

Stories of Seclusion: Obsessed Over Margaret Sanger

My PsychologyToday.com series, Stories of Seclusion, tells composite stories of people who have spent much time alone.

Today's installment tells of Julia, who soon after graduating college, unintentionally got pregnant.

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Should No Longer Be THE Therapy

Fueled by patients and insurers wanting faster results, cognitive-behavioral therapy has become the therapy of the last few decades.

My PsychologyToday.com article today argues that it's time to move CBT from the therapy to its proper role as a tool in the toolkit. The article mentions alternatives.

Career Advice for Geniuses

Standard career advice is to focus rather than dabble, to network your way into a good job, and to be a team player. 

Very smart people often require very different advice. I attempt to offer it in my PsychologyToday.com article today.

Stories of Seclusion: An Around-the-World Search for Meaning

My PsychologyToday.com series, Stories of Seclusion, tells composite stories of people who have spent much time alone.

Today's installment tells of a woman who failed to make partner at her law firm, which triggered a search for meaning with an around-the-world airline ticket.

Stories of Seclusion: "I'm Not of This Planet"

This series, Stories of Seclusion, tells composite stories of people who have been or feel alone.

Today's installment tells of a man who often feels so out-of-step with societal norms, he says, "I'm not of this planet." 

My PsychologyToday.com article today offers some of his thoughts.

A Debate: Is Our World Getting Better?

Some people are reluctant to have children because they worry about the world their kids will live in: war, terrorism, ever more fierce competition, the next generation of AIDS, etc. Is the world really going to be net worse or better?
Other people, in making their long-term investments and business decisions wonder whether to be optimsitic about our future.

All of us, if only for our psychological well-being, would like to be able to conclude that the world is getting better. But we don't want to delude ourselves.

So my PsychologyToday.com article today offers an internal debate on whether life will be getting better.

Is Marriage A Good Idea? An Debate

Among our biggest decisions is whether to marry.

Of course, such decisions are in part made emotionally--You meet Mr/Ms Right and your gut says "I want to spend the rest of my life with this person."

Conversely, if you've had a series of bad relationships, perhaps including a clawing divorce in which you were taken to the cleaners, you might think, "Never again!"

Perhaps as a supplement to your emotions, my Psychology Today.com article today attempts to provide a clear-eyed internal debate on the pros and cons of marriage. It may help you decide whether, at least at this point in your life, marrage is right for you.

Should You Be Optimistic or Pessimistic About Work in the U.S.?

In my PsychologyToday.com article today, I take both sides of a debate on whether one should be optimistic or pessimistic about the present and future of work in the U.S.

Stories of Seclusion: A Physician Who Has Seen Too Much

My PsychologyToday.com series, Stories of Seclusion, tells composite stories of people who have spent much time alone.

Today's installment tells of an oncologist who has seen too much.

A Workover: Sometimes Getting Fired Can Be For the Best

On PsychologyToday.com, I've been posting edited transcripts of calls to my NPR-San Francisco radio program in which I help people solve their work problem. I call them Workovers. 

In today's, a man, after 20 years of selling for a bank, got fired and can't find another job.

A Workover: A Nanny Wants to Make a Living from Dance

On PsychologyToday.com, I've been posted edited transcripts of Workovers: People call in with their work problem and I try to help.  

Today's offering is about a woman who wanted to make a living with "conscious dance.

Stories of Seclusion: A Woman's Best Friend

This series, Stories of Seclusion tells composite stories of people who have spent much time alone.
Today's installment tells of Melanie and her best friend Bruno, her dog.

Stories of Seclusion: A Woman Reconciles Her Life in Solitude

My PsychologyToday.com series, Stories of Seclusion (Scroll down that page to see the previous installments) tells composite stories of people who have spent much time alone.  

Today's installment tells of an older psychotherapist who worried she'd die without having really mattered.

Effective Altruism

William MacAskill is the author of new book, Doing Good Better: Effective Altruism and How You Can Make a Difference. 
My interview with him is my PsychologyToday.com article today.

Musings on a Pin Head

Imagine you had a lifetime to make the head of pin: You had to find the metals, alloy it into stainless steel, and form it into a pin head. 

Without a lot of help and machines, few of us could do it, as economist Adam Smith pointed out. Yet we can buy a whole stainless steel pin for a penny.

But where does the metal itself came from? The first atom? The first quark?

“God” strikes me as a lazy answer—shorthand for “We have no idea.”  Scientists’ answer, “The Big Bang,” is no more satisfying---It still begs the question, “What created the Big Bang?”

Thus begins my PsychologyToday.com article today, Musings on a Pin Head.

Job Hunting Reinvented

Job seekers nor employers trust the hiring process.

A good candidate may worry that unless s/he gift-wraps herself in infographic or video resumes, fully primped interview coaching, and a professionally massaged resume, s/he'll lose out to a less competent but more packaged candidate.

Employers worry that resumes, cover letters, and interview responses may more reflect the candidate's willingness to dissemble and/or spend money on a hired gun than on the candidate's competence to do the job. And everyone gets good references but in too many cases, the accolades are inflated.

Job seekers that truly would be competent at their target job can offer themselves up in a way that will be more compelling.  I describe that approach in my PsychologyToday.com article today.

The Unveiling: A Jewish Tradition With Lessons for Us All

American Jews have created a tradition of close family and friends gathering at the gravesite about a year after a loved one died.  

Today, I presided over my mom's unveiling. I describe that poignant and instructive experience in my PsychologyToday.com article today.

Psychotherapist and Counselor Training Reinvented

A large percentage of university-based training time for most professions, including psychotherapists and counselors is spent on theoretical and other academic learning that is far less value to a practitioner than what I propose in my PsychologyToday.com article today.

Declare Your Independence from That Which Shackles You

We may not be in chains but we're all shackled in one way or another. Might Independence Day be the time to shed one or more of your restraints?  I describe some of the the most common in my PsychologyToday.com article today.

The Most Beautiful Flowers on Earth: A Spiritual Experience for Atheists...and Everyone Else

A flower is among the most beautiful things on earth. And unlike, for example, the Taj Mahal or a secluded Kauai beach, it's easily accessible to all of us.

My PsychologyToday.com article today, has photos of what I believe to be the half-dozen most beautiful flowers. 

The Dejobbing of Society and What to Do About It

Over the past two years on my radio program , I've been talking to a range of experts on the future of work. Today, after reading a long cover story on the topic in The Atlantic, I decided to synthesize my thoughts in my PsychologyToday.com article today.

My New Video Course: Career Success, Step by Step

Today, my video course, Getting to Career Success, Step by Step, is available HERE.  I believe you'll find it very helpful while being at least moderately entertaining.  

Per a commenter below, while it was created for people wanting career help, it would also be very valuable for career coaches and counselors, especially those who have clients aren't just looking for help on their current job, but also those trying to choose a career or land a job.

In any event, I'm offering readers of my blog a 50% discount, which makes the course just $75.  To get the discount, use the coupon code FriendsofNemko.