Wandering Librarian: Howland Public Library

Before the winter cold weather set in, I hopped on the MetroNorth and spent a day in Beacon, NY. I first stumbled upon the Beacon.Reads.Bookstore – Friends of the Howland Public Library. During my bookstore visit, I wondered where the library was. Turns out the Howland Public Library (In my head, I’m still calling it the Beacon Public Library) was right next door.

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While a small library, it has many of the offerings that a larger library has including a library payment kiosk, a space for young adults, and a children’s area. I found my visit to the Howland Public Library to be pretty cozy and quiet.

Monthly Method Spotlight: We Want To Know

A few years ago, we started a new series Monthly Method Spotlight where each month we focused on one people-centered method that you may find helpful for your work. We use these methods for various projects to develop, implement, and/or evaluate.

As per our usual What, When/Why and How in our Monthly Method Spotlight series, we want to know –

• What methods have you used in your work?
• When/why did you use those methods?
• How did you use those methods?
• How did it go? Would you use those methods again?

 

Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life

2018 is the year that I’ll be designing my life. Last year I had posted about a Stanford course using design thinking towards career counseling. Since taking the course is out of the question, I decided to read the book written by the course instructors.

A thick read chock full of anecdotes, advice & exercises, this book separates itself from other self-help/career books in that I was left with tons of actionable steps I could take immediately. For example, I created a Good Time Journal to note activities in which I was energized, engaged and in flow. The results of this activity are then applied towards creating 3 different 5 year plans.

A great read that has inspired my 2018 New Year’s resolution; design my life.

Your Career Strategy: 2017 Career Goals

Happy 2017! It’s a new year and it’s a good time to revisit your career strategy.

In many of our leadership and career development presentations, we talk about self-assessment and career strategy.

Self-assessment:

• Do a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis.
• Set SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound) goals.

Career strategy:

• Keep in mind that people, professional brand, and online presence are three important aspects of your career strategy.

What are your 2017 career goals?