5 New Skills Needed to be Employable Today! 3.7 Million Job Openings in America

According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in July of 2013 there were 3.7 Million Job Openings. There were 12.5 Million Unemployed. So where is the disconnect? I believe its because companies have a need for a new type of worker-skill set. No longer can you graduate from high school (and most non technical college degrees) and expect to get a high paying job where the employer trains you on the job, for instance manufacturing jobs. In order to get a higher paying job you need to have,  in addition to basic computer and Microsoft programs, these 5 Skills:

1. Web Programming/HTML
2. Mobile Apps Programming
3. Social Media Communication and Marketing
4. Interpersonal cCmmunications Skills 
5. Critical-Creative Thinking. 

You need to be able to walk in and learn quickly your job without much assistance from your employer-manager.

So here's the rub. Those over 45 who have been laid off during the recession - most don't have this new skill set because they didn't have to in the jobs of the past and being over 45 there is age discrimination - companies don't want to hire older people who will raise their insurance rates.

On the other end of the age spectrum - our education-public schools are not training people for this new skill set. They need to increase the education in Math & English including writing for the Internet (like Blogging& Tweeting) get rid of most History, Geography, Extra Curricular - and add in Web Programming, Internet-Cloud Technology, Social Media Communications, Mobile Apps Programming, Creativity and Thinking Outside the Box and Interpersonal Communications.

In the 1990's schools did add into their curriculum Basic Keyboarding and  Microsoft Programs - Word, Excel & PowerPoint. Most Generation Y know these programs - many Baby Boomers do not. But that's not enough now. They need all the other technology communication tools needed as mentioned above.

But don't wait for our Government Sponsored Education system to do this for you or your children. The good news is that there are so many free programs online to learn all these skills - just takes a plan and discipline to do the independent study. If I had a child in High School, I would HomeSchool! My child would know by the time they graduated at 17 or 18 how to program a mobile app, run all Social Media Communications & Marketing, know HTML+, put up a fairly sophisticated web site, run a solid SEO (Search Engine Optimization), conduct high level internet research, write a blog, score high marks in interpersonal communications and critical-creative thinking skills. I would also take him or her to museums and teach art, culture, history, geography and government.

The good news is that anybody reading this has the capability to become the New Worker that employers are looking for to fulfill a lot of these 3.7 million unfilled jobs.

Internet Careers Boot Camp Begins January 2014

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Patience! How Long Do You Wait On Your Dream to Appear?

I have been working on manifesting my Dream Career for 17 years now, since I was 28 years old and read: "Do What You Love The Money Will Follow" and "Creating Money" and "Think and Grow Rich". My biggest challenge is patience and knowing when its time to give up and get another dream or keep waiting. An equal challenge, having a desire for more than one dream.  So let's look at my timeline and dream seeking and see if you can help me out as to what to do. I will do the same for you if you post here or email me your story.

1. 1993-1996: after soul searching and reading the above books, and asking the question over and over again: "If I could have anything I wanted, do anything, live anywhere, be successful what would it be?" I decided I wanted to teach and travel. So I applied to Ph.D. programs (had always wanted to get my Ph.D. and become a professor, my Masters in Psychology was just a pit stop.) Very quickly I got accepted at California Institute of Integral Studies in SF in Women Spirituality: WSD/Ph.D. Perfect.

I began the external degree program (I went to SF once a month for a weekend class) and loved it initially. But I was also supporting myself with my contract work as a Vocational Rehabilitation Consultant for Worker Compensation Claimants and Insurance Companies (this was what I was doing before and really had grown to dislike the work). I also moved to KC from Wichita.  Within a year, I realized I couldn't manage everything: the study load was enormous because I was deficient in lots of areas, costly to fly back and forth and pay for it all and having a hard time keeping enough business coming in to support myself. Something had to go. It was the Ph.D. program. Very sad but didn't know what else to do.

2. 1996-1998: I still knew I wanted to teach and help people and wanted to help with others with Following Their Dreams so I started my business Knight Vision Career Counseling and Follow Your Dream Workshops. I still was supporting myself with the Voc. Rehab Contract Work. I then moved back to Wichita for  personal reasons. After trying to do Knight Vision and work part time jobs (Kinkos, Harry's Bar & Grill), I had to make a change I just  wasn't making enough money to support myself. I was crushed! It is so hard to believe in "Do What You Love the Money Will Follow" and be teaching it, but not be able to make it happen in your own life...yawzaa! So I got a full time job at New Horizon's Computer Learning Center as an Account Executive (paid the most $ with the most interesting service for company and a job).

3. 1998-2000: I thought I was going to do the New Horizons job and keep doing my Follow Your Dreams workshops and counseling, but I found I was too tired from the day job to keep that going, plus I felt like a fraud in the Follow Your Dreams genre. After a year or so, even though I was doing very well at New Horizons, I couldn't stand working in a cubicle and making calls all day and a friend of mine wanted to move to KC and so did I. Not knowing what I was going to do to support myself next, I took a leap quit the NH job and moved to KC and started looking for work. I got brought on with National Seminars as a Contract Trainer and Professional Speaker.

4. 2000-2008: I was an immediate success and a natural at this position. I was delivering programs on Creativity: Creative Leadership, Creative Marketing, Creative Training, Business Speaking Skills, Layout and Design Skills (while I was at Kinkos and New Horizons, I learned all the Adobe Graphics Programs) I loved the training and entertaining and the traveling. I got to go everywhere in the US. I have been to every state in the US at least once. I was also encouraged at that time by friends and colleagues to market and book my own speaking & training business - Shenanigans: Conform to Creativity: Play at Work was born. I was getting booked once a month which was great, but not good enough to just do that. Even though I loved training and traveling with National Seminars, I didn't like the high pressure selling of books/audio at the back of the room (we had to sell a certain amount or we would not be booked) and the travel after 5 years, a different city and hotel room every night, got tiring - I was wearing down. I spent a lot of money and time trying to market Shenanigans then Franny Knight, Inc. so I could travel less and not do the pressure book sales, but I just couldn't get it off the ground (I hear this a lot from other speaker-trainer colleagues of mine).

5. 2008-2010: I got married to my husband in 2009, was burned out on the travel and not sure how to make my own business go and I wanted to get a dog and be at home with my husband, maybe grow a garden, reduce my carbon footprint. My husband suggested I become a Realtor - he was doing this part-time as a retirement vehicle for himself and thought it was a perfect career for me with my personality, sales skills, desire for freedom and flexibility and to make good money. At first I was resistant (I had never ever thought about being a Realtor. Not on my radar at all!) I became interested in it when I learned about Eco Realtors - Green & Sustainability Homes. Now, that, I could sink my teeth into, but still not the same passion and dream of being a Teacher, Trainer, Speaker, Counselor. But I just was too burned out on the travel, and the trying to market my speaking-training business so I took the leap and got my Realtor license.

For two years I have been slowly building as a Realtor specializing in Eco Realtor activities, but am no where near being able to support myself and realize some of the physical things I would like as well as the travel I would like to go on. And its not feeding my soul, passion, purpose, dream. But two years of quite a bit of $ spent and time is hard to let go of, so I just keep plugging away. I do enjoy helping people find homes they love and purchase them. I love looking at cool houses and learning about Kansas City neighborhoods. But I don't enjoy having to list homes for sale that the sellers have to have a certain amount and the market won't support it. Its a tough market for sellers. The way to grow business more quickly in Real Estate is to go after expired listings and for sale by owner listings. These are typically homes and people that cannot sell at market price because of their mortgage or need for enough money for down payment on next house or something else.

Present Day: so I continued to ask myself, "if I could do anything I wanted and be successful at it, what would I do?" And I keep coming back to teaching, counseling, consulting, speaking - I love to do these activities. I also would still love to get my Ph.D. So 2 weeks ago, I made a commitment and an posted an Event on Facebook: 30 Days to Follow My Dream Commitment so I could have a public commitment and support. My commitment was to state every day and do something everyday towards my Dream - programming my subconscious mind for 30 days, consistently. My Dream Right Now: I am a successful Human Potential & Capital Consultant, Trainer, Speaker, Counselor for Organizations, Leaders and Individuals. As soon as I made that public commitment, a friend of mine from Wichita arrived in KC and over a night of catching up and discussing my past training and her past management experience and a week later, we decided that she could really help me re-launch this consulting and training business - that was quite synchronistic.


I was going along fine with my new goal-commitment, until my husband said that he didn't think I could do both things successfully: Realtor & Consulting-Training Business. That both would suffer and that I needed to make a decision. So that is where I am at today - trying to make this decision. And not sure that I need to make the decision. I would love to take a leap and go full 100% into my Consulting Training Business, but am fearful that it won't work, again. That I don't know how to market and get business. That I don't have the ability to do good follow up and manage the business side of it. I know my friend is there to help, but I have fears that she may not stick with it. And then I am alone doing it and am not sure I can do it alone. I am also having a hard time letting go of the parts of being a  Realtor I love - helping people find their Dream Homes and Green-Sustainability Home Education.

So what do you think? What's your opinion? Intuition? I would love to hear from others.

What is your story, dilemma, challenge, dream commitment, patience?

Books are my LifeBlood for Following My Dream

I would not be where I am today if I didn't have a ferocious appetite for reading. Books have inspired me past my own limited beliefs, others limited beliefs and given me the courage and inspiration to make a creative and inspired life for myself. What am I reading now you ask? That is such a funny question because I am always reading 4 or 5 books at a time. So here is what I am reading right now that I love!

Crush It! Gary Vaynerchuck (A short read on following your passion no matter what, then taking it and turning it into millions with social media tools - a very getter done book!!!) I am incorporating many of his ideas. Gary turned his father's discount liquor store in New Jersey from a $3 million to a $10 million business using the suggested techniques. What I love the most is his belief that you can be passionate about the most obscure, strange thing and still make money if you are passionate about it.

Keys to Yourself, Venice Bloodworth This book was written in 1952 long before the popular Secret and Law of Attraction books of today. She believes in training your subconscious mind to deliver all that is already yours. She has some very powerful affirmations and ideas that really take me to another level in my belief system and the possibility of making it all happen for myself.

The other 3 books that are not related to passion, living your dreams, training your mind to get what you want that I am reading right now.

Grown Up Digital, Don Tapscott a book about the Net Generation (30 and under) and their positive attributes that are contributing to a massive shift in how we work among other shifts.

Social Media Bible, everything you ever wanted to know on Social Media & Marketing.

The Four Day Win: End Your Diet War and Achieve Thinner Peace, Martha Beck, PhD I'm really fascinated right now with our problem with obesity and being overweight even though we all know what we should be doing - masses of people are unable to win this battle. I believe it is all a subconscious mind problem and so does Martha.

Managing Innovation: Integrating Technological, Market and Organizational Change: Joe Tidd and John Bessant I'm wanting to provide Human Capital Consulting Services to organizations and this book is the perfect book for getting my skill set sharpened. Unfortunately its a textbook so very difficult to read.

Following is a list of most of the books I have read that have helped me to stay on the path to Follow My Dream.  Let me know if you would like a recommendation for you with where you are in your life right now.

Your Heart’s Desire, Sonia Choquette

Think and Grow Rich, Napolean Hill

Building Your Field of Dreams, Mary Manin Morrisey

Creating Money, Sanaya Roman

Psychic Pathway, Sonia Choquette

Return to Love, Marianne Williamson:

Alchemist, Coehlo

A Whack on the Side of the Head , Roger von Oech  

Wishcraft, Barbara Sher

Reinvention of Work, Matthew Fox

Recovery of Your Inner Child, Lucia Capacchione

Finding Your Perfect Work, Paul and Sarah Edwards

Creating Prosperity, Shakti Gawain

Find Your Calling, Love Your Life, Marth Finney

Do What You Love the Money Will Follow, Marsha Sinetar:

Hope for the Flowers, Trina Paulus 

Emperors New Clothes

The Lemonade Stand, Emanuel Modu: 

Creating a Life Worth Living, Carol Lloyd

True Work, Justine Willis Toms and Michael Toms:

Crush It, Gary Vaynerchuk

Keys to Your Success, Venice Bloodworth

Law of Attraction,  Hicks-Abraham

Orbiting the Giant Hairball, Gordon MacKenzie

Why Ctrl/Alt/Del?

I originally came up with this as a blog after deciding to write a Keynote with the same title. Basically there are times in our lives that we need to hit the Ctrl/Alt/Del Button. I do believe in the theory from the book "Do What You Love and the Money Will Follow" by Marsha Sinetar. But I am beginning to see it a little differently than I did about 15 years ago when I first read it. So here are my latest thoughts on living a life with the most joy and meaning.

1. Touch in with yourself mentally every morning - to get your attitude right for the day.
2. It is most important to live as much in the Now with joy as you can. The more you can do that the more positive energy you give off and the more positive things will come your way.
3. Decide what you really want in your life from job, place to live/work, relationships, stuff - write it down somewhere you will see it again and again. Don't cheat or compromise. Don't write down what you think is possible, truly write down what you would love to have in your life. Don't worry about the how.
4. How? Have faith that it will eventually come to you. Repeat #2. Don't worry about it, have anxiety, let it go.
5. Do what you can everyday to make it happen, but let go of the expectations of when it will happen specifically.
6. What if you are in a job or situation right now that is really making you unhappy - 2 possible solutions: a) hit the ctrl/alt/del button and get out of there b) try to find things that you can enjoy and have positive feelings every day and plan your exit strategy.
7. Expect the Unexpected - Serendipty. We can't understand and explain everything in this world we live. Mysteries, surprises, miracles do happen that we can not explain with rational explanations. Look for these to happen and they will. You never know what might happen to you today that leaps you to your next level towards your dreams and goals.
8. Move away from negative people: at lunch, at meetings, friends, family....it will drag you down and delay your dreams.
9. Catch yourself saying, "I can't" or "It's not possible" and replace it with, I don't know how right now but there's got to be a way.
10. Learn to meditate or some other mind discipline practice. We allow are mind to run wild with thoughts that are damaging to our happiness such as negativity.

I believe that values and belief systems that are given to us from our family and culture cause us to have thoughts that are many times negative in turn these thought cause negative emotions which in turn causes negative energy or vibrations being sent out to the universe and we get what we put out.

If you are unhappy with your current life and situation, you can change it. We do create our lives and therefore we can recreate our lives. You must be willing to hit the Ctrl/Alt/Del button either daily to reset your mental attitudes, thoughts, emotions and energy and often as necessary hit it to change the path we are on in career/job/relationship/living, etc....

Write a comment or your own ctrl/alt/del/ story. Also, take the poll and let us know how many times you have intentionally hit the ctrl/alt/del/ button in major areas of your life.