Well now is the time to stop! I would like to introduce you to a book that I recently had the pleasure of reading. “Stop Peeing On Your Shoes: Avoiding the 7 Mistakes That Screw Up Your Job Search” is a book written by career consultant Julie Bauke.

There are two main reasons as to why I recommend you to buy this book (don’t worry, I am not trying to make you click an affilite link). The first reason is obviously content (after all Content Is King), every single word in the book is important. There is no “filler” content, the whole book is useful. Secondly, Julie has a writing style rarely seen in books… she is funny. Yep, a useful humourous book… impressive!

I was going to give you a massive review but why? Nope… better idea… lets interview the author!

Firstly, could you please tell us about yourself?

I am a Career Strategy Consultant and I live in Cincinnati, Ohio. I speak professionally, write and coach clients to live the career of their dreams. Most of my one-on-one work is with senior level professionals and professional athletes, but in my writing and speaking, the messages, and info are for everyone.

What did you want to be, during your childhood, when “you grow up”?

I always liked talking to and learning about people and I always loved to write. I got into Human Resources work for the first half of my career- it’s the most people oriented side of business. I found that no matter what job I was in HR, I was always drawn to career conversations. I made a decision to move in to the career field for the second half of my career and have been wildly happy ever since. What I do is what I was meant to do.

You have recently released your book “Stop Peeing on Your Shoes”. Why did you write it?

The book was the result of my 10+ years coaching really smart professionals and seeing them make the same mistakes, regardless of how successful they were in their careers. Career Management is something that no one teaches us- we typically stumble through it and hope to figure it out. The problem is that most don’t.  My book as meant to get people started on the right foot- and to prevent them from making those mistakes.

As I have mentioned earlier, you are a very clever yet humorous woman. Most people either write really intensely with amazing information or they are more casual but with less useful information. Yet you write in a funny AND amazingly informative way, how do you manage it?

Thanks. My writing style is exactly like my speaking style. In fact, one of my good friends read the book and said it was exactly like spending the day with me. There really isn’t much to laugh at in job search as it is very serious and fraught with all kinds of pitfalls. BUT, at the same time, it can be very funny in kind of a “ya gotta laugh, or you’d cry” way. I really tried to capture that in the book by filling it with 100% true client stories of the good, the bad and the hilarious, and the use of cartoons.  My style is very direct, so I wanted the book to be very direct and very helpful, while making you smile.

Who/what is your greatest inspiration?

I would say that every client who sat at my desk over the years so completely burnt out and feeling so hopeless inspired me to inspire others to be in control of their careers. Companies absolutely do not care about your career the way you should. You have to drive your own Career Bus instead of careening through it as a passenger.

What would you say is your greatest passion and how does this passion affect your work?

Because I am in a career I love, I want others to experience the joy that it can be to truly be excited on Monday morning and as I say “skip to the shower”.

How would you describe your lifestyle?

Filled with male creatures. I have a husband, two teenage sons and three dogs, so that is 6 males and me. I love it. My kids, husband and dogs are all great. I like to think that I have found my perfect balance as the kids know they are top priority but that Mom is a better Mom when she has a career. I’m not a domestic- cooking and all of the other stuff that goes with running a perfect house is not my strengths or interests. I admire people who do it well, but it’s not me. We can’t do it all, so I choose to focus on the stuff I love and know that my kids will not be in therapy some day because there was dog hair in the corner.

Have you ever had times where you thought yourself as a “failure”? If so how did you stop feeling like it? If not how do you keep yourself so optimistic?

Yes… When I was in a big job with a gorgeous office and looked around and felt empty. But I quickly got to “it’s not me, it’s that the job is wrong for me” and set about making a change.

Your book speaks a lot about common mistakes, rightly so as it is what makes the book so useful, yet what intrigues me is what would you say is the most unique situation/mistake you have come across whilst you have been coaching?

Definitely the guy who had toy safes delivered to his top companies of interest that had his resume locked inside. This was before 9/11. Needless to say, it fell flat.

What advice would you give somebody wanting to speak at an event, possibly even as the keynote speaker?

You have to have something to speak on that people want to hear. Start speaking for free at lunchtime professional events, church, etc. and get your message honed and your speaking skills polished.  Be ready for someone to come up to you and say “I’d love to have you come speak at an event I’m hosting. What is your fee?” You’re off and running!

If you could go back and change one thing in your past, what would it be?

Not a thing. I am so happy with where I am today, that I believe everything that has happened, good & bad, has brought me here.

How has the internet improved your business? If there was no internet how would your business differ from its current form?

It’s been transformational. People can find you, follow you, engage with you from anywhere in the world. Without it, I would be limited to handing out marketing materials in my own community and hoping for the best.

Could you please describe your personal definition of the word “Success”?

Using your natural skills and talents, and pursuing your interests (and getting paid for it!) while maintaining a healthy personal life.

Obviously you have written your own book but what other books would you recommend to somebody that is looking for a job, or to improve their career?

I like Career Distinction by William Arruda & Kirsten Dixson. It’s a great way to get in touch with your personal brand, i.e. how others see you and how you see yourself

What plans do you have the future?

Continue to grow my business to spread the word that we all need to find what makes us skip to the shower. Yes, it’s takes courage, answering hard questions, and some risk. But the result is more than worth it.

If there was just one thing that you would like people to remember about you, what would it be?

I genuinely care about others finding their own version of career success but believe it is something that cannot be delegated or outsourced. And that I love to laugh…!

Thank you Julie.

Well as you all know I am currently working on improving Success Circuit. I was not planning to change the colour scheme or anything however I would like your opinions. Also please share this through twitter, facebook.. whatever! I want Success Circuit to be at it’s maximum potential. So without any further ado, here is the choices (you can choose more than one if you would like to and please comment here saying why you chose what you did):

Thank you!
Shane

Today is a good day for the Internet. One of my favorite time wasting websites was upgraded yesterday. WasArrested.com is now even more believable that ever. Founded in March 2001, by John Meloche, WasArrested is the world’s largest fake news website focused exclusively on Viral Social Media news. With more than 350 thousand monthly page views, WasArrested is the most prolific fake news blog in existence.

According to the websites owner, the audience includes early adopters, social media enthusiasts, entrepreneurs, influencers, brands and corporations, marketing, PR and advertising agencies, Web 2.0 aficionados and technology journalists. WasArrested is also popular with bloggers, Twitter and Facebook users – an increasingly influential demographic.

Today I was tipped off to the new look and feel of the website and figured I would give it a try.

Some of the new features include a few new stories, believable videos pertaining to each article, a new popular section that displays the last 20 stories created on the website and the ability to leave comments on the articles posted.

One question I had about the new look was “What about the old stories that were created from people in the past, will they still work?” the quick answer was “Yes!”. It seems the new technology of the website still remembers all the stories that were made in the past. Sounds genius to me.

Anyway, I figured I would let you guys know about this exciting new launch as i found it very entertaining. Hopefully you do too. Feel free to post your stories here!

…not if you want to win. And I mean really WIN!

I’ve been a little “inactive” here because every now and then I run off into my metaphorical mountain to improve, hone and master my god given skills. This means writing “practice” articles and experimenting with techniques in my niche while doing a sh*t load of reading.

While I was in this “phase” of intense reading, I realized something crazy and had a huge mental shift. So here’s a little motivational post for you peeps.

It became VERY apparent to me…

► That no one… AND I MEAN NO-ONE stays top dawg forever. Especially in the whole “marketing advice” and “make money online” niche. The leaders in this space fluctuate more often than the stock market. It’s crazy.

This means that in YOUR niche, the top dawg will be de-throned and be replaced by someone else too. Call it the circle of life or whatever but the fact is that no matter how grounded, successful or popular this person is… they will get their a*s beat by someone better. Then THAT person will eventually get topped by someone else, and so on and so forth.

So if we know this will happen, why are people cool with being “ok”?

Too many bloggers and “online business owners” are shooting for mediocracy (or “good enough”) because they have been led to believe that there is “enough room” for anyone who gets their feet wet on the internet. There isn’t! If you want to be at the TOP, then you can’t think this way. There is only “enough room” for those who want to collect peanuts, not for those that want a T-Bone steak… you need to be at the top of the food chain to get that.

What’s really messed up is that from the surface, it SEEMS that there is enough room for everyone to co-exist peacefully because:

1. So many people are making some average income to get them by, but let’s face it, this business is pretty insignificant. You can’t survive off this forever.

2. The top dawg is surrounded by a “few smart ones” who maybe aren’t as rich but are close enough… so it seems very appealing to be in this position to a newbie or outsider. The truth is that these people were either top dawg in the past or are going to be the up-and-coming mofos who will knock the current champ off his podium. There is a reason they are “close enough”.

How many times have you heard “If I can only make a 1/3 of what he/she’s making… I will have made it“. Heh, so pathetic! What’s actually going on behind the curtains is that these “few smart peeps” are constantly trying to 1up each other. The fact that they are AIMING for the stars is what’s keeping them in the sky. They might not even admit it publicly, but comon… are you kidding me? Why is there a new marketing product, ebook or online course coming out every 2 months from these “gurus”?

Because competing and wanting more is HUMAN NATURE. The proof is right there. And don’t think, even for a moment, that the “gurus” are releasing their new products because they have something REVOLUTIONARY DIFFERENT to share. Flock no! It’s the same re-hashed BS they sold a few months back… they just re-packaged it with something shiny and threw in a few useless bonuses to sweeten the deal. (This is true 99% of the time, but just like any rule, exceptions do exist)

Now, I’m competitive by nature so a “go-get-er’!” type mindset comes very easily. I’ve got the hunger. I want to (respectfully) mop the floor with the faces of my competitors and make them cry. Repeatedly if possible. Constantly if sustainable.

(Anyone who happens to be in the fitness niche… be very afraid)

But the really worrying thing to me is that not all of you will want to aim so high. In fact, you’ll be happy if your blog starts to pull in 300 visitors a day and you end up selling some affiliate products here and there so you can quit your 9-5 job. Maybe you’ll write a small ebook one day too, but that’s as far as you’ll take it.

However, you need to remember, there will be someone out there who’ll be doing it better than you and will probably end up attracting half your business from right under your nose (notice I said attract, not steal). But he/she cannot sustain that position forever. They WILL be knocked off by someone at one point another… so my question is:

WHY THE FLOCK CAN’T THAT PERSON BE YOU?!

The answer is that it CAN. Ain’t that an empowering thought? So stop crying, start wanting more and aim as high as humanly possible.

I’ll see your a$$ at the top where we shall dine on a fancy T-bone steak.

Hell… I’ll even foot the bill.

© FitJerk

This is not quite a guest post. Infact FitJerk does not even know that this is on here! But not to worry, he posted it for the ProBlogger community and specifically stated “I wrote this for the community but it’s not bound to this place. If you wish to republish this on your blog or post it on a site… you are free to do so as long as: 1. You keep the title & content intact and un-edited, 2. Include one do_follow link back to my blog with my pen name as the anchor text.” So obviously I thought that this post would be an excellent post for you all to read. I think it is very interesting and you probably would not be suprised when I say it has created a lot of lively discussion on the forum! Check out FitJerk’s blog and also have a look at this amazing interview. What do you think of this post? Do you agree with him? If so why? If not, why?