Author Archives: Sarah Cooper

Time To Think: Bicycles, Baths and Beyond

By Sarah Cooper | Published January 25, 2010

At the end of last November I caught the flu. Knocked flat for about 4 weeks, my usual joie de vivre vanished and exhaustion descended. I belatedly realised just how manic 2009 had been.
My health and sense of humour eventually recovered, thanks to a restorative Christmas with my parents in the West [...]

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Google Bookmarks
  • email
  • Print
Posted in Achieving Balance | Tagged , | 2 Comments
If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to my blog

How To Be Brave When You’d Rather Hide Under the Duvet

By Sarah Cooper | Published January 18, 2010

“I’m very brave generally” he went on in a low voice,” only today I happen to have a headache.” So said Tweedledum in Alice Through a Looking Glass.
The key to successfully changing career isn’t understanding your values, identifying your favourite skills and passions, creating a killer action plan and gathering support and inspiration to keep [...]

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Google Bookmarks
  • email
  • Print
Posted in Building Self Belief, Managing The Transition, Reaching Your Potential | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment
If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to my blog

The best career-change present you could give yourself this Christmas

By Sarah Cooper | Published December 23, 2009

“We crucify ourselves between two thieves: regret for yesterday and fear of tomorrow.”
Fulton Oursler, American writer
One of the hardest things I’ve seen career-changers grapple with is making peace with yesterday so that they can move on in a new direction today.
It’s hardly surprising that this is difficult. My clients tend to [...]

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Google Bookmarks
  • email
  • Print
Posted in Managing The Transition | Tagged , | 4 Comments
If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to my blog

Who is the choreographer of your life?

By Sarah Cooper | Published November 10, 2009

A few days ago I downloaded a talk from the TED website that has been replaying itself in my mind ever since.
TED is a non profit organisation dedicated to spreading “ideas worth sharing.” TED believes that through powerful ideas we can change our lives, and ultimately the world.
In this particular talk, brain scientist Jill Bolte [...]

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Google Bookmarks
  • email
  • Print
Posted in Reaching Your Potential | Tagged , , | Leave a comment
If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to my blog

Why Getting Happy is the Best Career Change Strategy

By Sarah Cooper | Published October 6, 2009

What we do for a living is such a big part of our lives that if work isn’t going well, our career-related unhappiness often spills over into other parts of our lives.
Our relationships suffer because we moan all the time
Our finances suffer because we keep making extravagant purchases to cheer ourselves up.
And our life balance suffers [...]

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Google Bookmarks
  • email
  • Print
Posted in Achieving Balance, Reaching Your Potential | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments
If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to my blog

Are you accommodating or bulldozing your career obstacles?

By Sarah Cooper | Published October 1, 2009

When it comes to changing career, no-one can deny that you’re likely to meet a lot of obstacles. But are these barriers set in stone?
Early this morning I was struck by an apt analogy. I live, as many of you know, in a Chinese courtyard house, full of charm but somewhat tatty around the edges.
Half [...]

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Google Bookmarks
  • email
  • Print
Posted in Building Self Belief, Managing The Transition, Reaching Your Potential | Tagged , , | 1 Comment
If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to my blog

The benefits of making a non-obvious choice

By Sarah Cooper | Published September 11, 2009

It’s easy to get bogged down when making a big career or lifestyle change. Time and money pressures are very real.
Taking a radical, bold and unusual approach can sometimes be more effective than ploughing on in logical, incremental death-by-a-thousand-cuts steps.
I’ve certainly experienced this myself, so today I’d like to share with you “The China Cure”, [...]

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Google Bookmarks
  • email
  • Print
Posted in Managing The Transition | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment
If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to my blog

10 websites to speed up your career change

By Sarah Cooper | Published August 29, 2009

It wasn’t that long ago that I was in a job that made me miserable. But although I knew what I DIDN’T want, I wasn’t exactly sure what I DID.  I had some ideas but they were vague and unformed, and anyway I had no idea about how to go about achieving them.
Moreover I was plagued by [...]

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Google Bookmarks
  • email
  • Print
Posted in Great Resources, Managing The Transition | Tagged , | 2 Comments
If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to my blog

Are your small steps holding you back?

By Sarah Cooper | Published August 7, 2009

When it comes to making a career change, the commonly held view is that small steps are the best way forward.
Small steps are great because they reduce overwhelm and counteract that awful feeling of paralysis. It is true that tiny actions over time can add up to a big result.
Take learning a language for example. [...]

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Google Bookmarks
  • email
  • Print
Posted in Managing The Transition | Tagged , , | Leave a comment
If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to my blog

One of my favourite reads

By Sarah Cooper | Published July 31, 2009

This might sound a little implausible, but reading a 70 page e-book curled up on my sofa one morning last week was honestly one of my favourite experiences since starting my coaching practice two years ago. (Clearly I don’t get out much).
Some of you may know that I’m a coach, writer and workshop leader for [...]

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Google Bookmarks
  • email
  • Print
Posted in Defining Your Dream Work, Managing The Transition, Useful Tools and Techniques | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment
If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to my blog