Saturday, February 12, 2011

Regret or Passion? Which Will Be Yours?

I once attended a retreat on how to live with passion and fulfill one’s life’s work. The facilitator posed the question, "If money was not an issue, yet you had to work full-time, what would you do?" Answering this question was a turning point for me. Now - years later - I am doing much of what came up in my answer.

How would you answer this question? Ask yourself, "What am I good at? What do my friends say I am good at? What do I enjoy and feel passionate about? What do I think is important?" The key to your happiness may well be held in the answers.

The answers may not provide you with something you would do on a full-time basis, but it is a wonderful way to discover what will make your life more complete. The willingness to acknowledge and act on the answers may well create the opportunity to live with more passion and joy than you ever thought possible.

In the answers lie your dreams. They will provide you with a road map of where you can put your energy in order to move closer to a more fulfilling and balanced life. Perhaps for you the answers will be an indication of where you can volunteer your time. Living with passion and joy means we don’t have to have a monetary gain for everything we do. Many a career has been launched through the experiences gained from volunteer efforts.

Far too many people have dreams they have given up on. We often blame others or outside circumstances for the fact we are not accomplishing all we desire. Granted, there may be some outside circumstances that create real limitations. However, in many cases we may be using imagined limitations as an excuse to not move forward. It can be easier to blame other people and situations as the reason we have not achieved our potential than to walk through the fear of the unknown.

Limitations appear in many ways. Experience. Money. Time. Education. You name it, it is bound to be there. One of the greatest limitations is that of the mind. Determine which obstacles are real and which ones are imagined. Which excuses have been used over and over so that you will not have to face the fear of the unknown? Once you identify your real and imagined limitations, you will be able to work with them and move forward.

Granted, there is a lot that can dampen our spirits if we allow it. However, there are many opportunities to achieve your dreams if you are willing to step outside of your comfort zone, put effort into your vision and move forward little by little.

In order to break through your boundaries you must first realize what they are. Knowing what they are allows you to take action. Look for others who may have had similar roadblocks. Find out what they did to move forward. In their strategy may be your formula for success.

Are you secretly wishing you would do something with your life other than what you are doing, but fear holds you back? If you ask most people what their greatest regret is, more times than not they will say it is what they didn’t do rather than what they did.

One of the greatest gifts we can give to others and ourselves is to unlock the talents we have been blessed with and to have the courage to use them. Ask yourself, "How well do I use my gifts to contribute to the well-being of myself and others?"

Vault's Top Consulting Firms

It should come as no surprise that the top ten consulting firms in the US contain significant Big Four representation. Of the top ten, four of the firms are Big Four companies (or have their roots in Big Four companies), and three of them are in the top five.

Deloitte Consulting clearly is realizing its goals to transform itself into a world-class consulting organization. Less recognized than its audit and tax counterpart, Deloitte & Touche, Deloitte Consulting makes up for its lack of brand recognition with powerful consulting services and significant industry expertise.

Also represented in the top ten are Accenture, BearingPoint, and CapGemini. Accenture and BearingPoint continue to be powerhouses in the technology consulting space, and Accenture has made significant strides in the outsourcing market.

Vault.com, an employment and recruiting website that analyzes hiring trends, announced the top consulting firms in the US.

The top firms include:

1. Booz Allen Hamilton - McLean, VA

2. Deloitte Consulting LLP - New York, NY

3. IBM Global Services - Armonk, NY

4. Accenture - New York, NY

5. BearingPoint - McLean, VA

6. Cap Gemini - New York, NY

7. HP Technology Solutions - Palo Alto, CA

8. DiamondCluster International, Inc. - Chicago, IL

9. Telcordia Technologies - Piscataway, NJ

10. Keane - Boston, MA

Consultants Offer the Perfect Gift for Would Be Entrepreneurs

A consultant led team of business owners has created the perfect gift for entrepreneurs; a new website for those seeking to start their own part-time or full-time business. Starting a business is difficult. According to the U.S Bureau of labor 34% of startups fail within the first two years. To help assist entrepreneurs and potential small business owners a new member's only website has been developed. www.givenewyearsuccess.com is unique because it will assist those that want to start a business by targeting a new opportunity each month in 2006.

We chose business opportunities that are accessible to anyone that wants to start a business to generate part-time or full-time income" stated Troy Miller, a business owner and President of Crescendo Consulting, who helped design the website and screen the opportunities. "The opportunities outlined are suitable not only for existing and aspiring business owners but also for college students, retirees and stay at home parents because they are flexible. They are as close to a 'business in a box' as you can get."

"We wanted to create a gift that a small business owner or an entrepreneur like us would want to get" said Steve Yost, one of the site's contributors and a small business owner himself. "I only wish that I had this information available to me 5 years ago. I would have saved thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours of work." The creators of the site have utilized their extensive knowledge to choose business opportunities with low start-up costs and easy business models. This makes the opportunities suitable for nearly everyone.

Visitors to www.givenewyearsuccess.com are encouraged to give access to the site as a gift this Holiday Season. One year gift access can be purchased for $79 a savings of $869 off of the regular price. Each month in 2006 a business of the month will be highlighted and members will be able to join conference calls with actual business owners to learn the pros and cons of the business of the month. In addition, starting January 1st, the site will be stocked with business resources and other valuable information for entrepreneur's and business owners.