New opportunities and possibilities will open up and many people will have the chance to grow further or even change directions to pursue what makes them truly happy. Even if you’re on a downward swing now, look for where you want to be, plan for it and set your plans in motion!

Have a restful and safe holiday, and I’ll be back next week with ideas for New Year’s Career Resolutions!

Peter Fitzgerald is the founder of CareerSherpas.com and is currently working on his first book, conducting high-level business analysis, connecting individuals with ideas and opportunities, and attempting to learn the bagpipes.

It’s always hard to pass up a book by someone with Gladwell’s credentials as the author of “The Tipping Point” and “Blink”, however more fundamental is the message that success is a measure defined by the sum of all of our advantages. In my experience it’s very clear that where individuals are successful a number of factors all come together to build both the foundation of and open the opportunities for that success.

While Gladwell sites a number of individuals who were poised to take advantage of the computer revolution, twenty years later it’s clear that the internet revolution produced a large number of similar success stories such as Pierre Omidyar with eBay and Jeff Bezos with Amazon. If one looks at the ages and stages at which these individuals appeared, it certainly adds further credence to Gladwell’s theory.

Perhaps more important for me are the points eloquently gleaned from the book by Ellen Pearlman of CIOZone. Not least among these are the point that the benefits of IQ scores are limited after the 120 mark and that being successful involves having assistance. The trouble that we all have in recognizing that the advantages we are given and the success we achieve are not necessarily bound up in what we do for ourselves has always intrigued me, but to have it spelled out in such a stark manner is a little disconcerting.

The questions I’m left to ponder after starting the book however are a fair bit more personal. What advantages have I received which can be applied now or which I can see applications coming? What advantages can I offer my children as they develop their own wonderful collection of skills?

Peter Fitzgerald is the founder of CareerSherpas.com and is currently working on his first book, conducting high-level business analysis, connecting individuals with ideas and opportunities, and attempting to learn the bagpipes.

When you hear dire news that the economy is in trouble what is your first reaction? Does your blood pressure rise as anxiety about the future builds? Okay so maybe that’s a bad example to start with, let’s try again…

When a farmer in Kansas hears news about terrorist attacks in Mumbai, terrible as they are, should a they worry about their safety in Kansas? When a sale is on for shoes you just have to have, do you need to run out to the store right then? When you’re asked to produce extra documentation on work that’s already “done”, is the extra documentation really the issue?

The short answer is probably not.

This overloading of less-than-immediate news happens all the time and for many reasons, but it’s important to keep it in perspective. Unless the farmer has family in India, the Mumbai attacks don’t represent a need to worry about safety. The shoes, wonderful as they are, will probably be out of fashion in a few months.

There might be a message hidden in the request for extra documentation though, and if you miss it all the documentation in the world won’t solve the problem. The request itself might be noise, but the underlying problem might be something you really have to address.

Engineers have a nice term for this confusion of meaning and information, the signal to noise ratio. What this means is that in order to get a clear message through (the signal), it has to be able to get through a bunch of background interference (noise) which clouds the transmission. In order to understand the message coming through, you have to have a certain signal-to-noise ratio which matches the content you’re trying to receive.

So the question here is, to get back to the slow economy example, what is the message you actually need to pay attention to in all the hype and worry-making? Look closer to home and ask yourself what changes you need to be aware of in your company, your clients, your retirement and your situation. Is your company in trouble or making changes? Does it need to? If when it all boils down, your job is reasonably secure and you can make plans from where you are do you really need to worry?

Being able to filter out the meaning in the information you’re presented isn’t always easy, but knowing that there’s a lot of noise out there it helps to take a moment to ask if you’re getting the signal.

Peter Fitzgerald is the founder of CareerSherpas.com and is currently working on his first book, conducting high-level business analysis, connecting individuals with ideas and opportunities, and attempting to learn the bagpipes.

Having finished it, I was struck by the comparison with “The Definitive Book of Body Language” by Alan Pease and how much of Pentland’s work supports many of the points Pease has been making for more than three decades. Certainly I have a soft spot for my countryman’s work, but my sense has always been that Pease provides practical tools and understanding on how to interact with people that are lacking elsewhere.

Where Pentland provides a frame of reference for the problems and opportunities available in measuring and understanding body language, Pease gives a practical, step-by-step approach to using body language. Both works have a great deal going for them, but if I were to choose one as the more approachable and immediately useful, I have to recommend “Body Language”.

Want to know how to connect, communicate with and influence someone say in an interview? You’ll learn a thing or two from “Body Language”.

Peter Fitzgerald is the founder of CareerSherpas.com and is currently working on his first book, conducting high-level business analysis, connecting individuals with ideas and opportunities, and attempting to learn the bagpipes.

This got me thinking about how this might be applied to making positive experiences more satisfying and long-lived, and how we might be able to recall lessons from mistakes easier as well. Since a big part of how we want to live includes inproving our experiences, I wanted to find out if there was a way to use this means of enhancing the mental search engine to that end.

So for the past week, with the assistance of my ubiquitous camera phone, quick sketches and powerpoint diagrams, I’ve been capturing moments of success and educational opportunities as they arose. As I started down this path, I noticed a change in the way I recalled the last day with my wife, the way I looked back over the week when writing a status report and the way I anticipated upcoming activities.

I’m not sure when the change occurred, but suddenly I had extra vivid details of discussions walking skyways, my daughters laughing on theme park rides and my saint bernard running with dogs half her size. Added to my task lists managed over at Remember the Milk, I’m finding myself almost automatically solving situations which might have stymied me a year ago.

The extra nudge of being able to check on an image from an event or attached to a reminder suddenly seems worth the strange looks received from co-workers when I whip out my cell phone to snap a pic.

What gains could you make from a visual reminder? Do you use them already? Let us know in the comments.

Peter Fitzgerald is the founder of CareerSherpas.com and is currently working on his first book, conducting high-level business analysis, connecting individuals with ideas and opportunities, and attempting to learn the bagpipes.

The conclusion I came to a while ago was to look at how each project was paced and make sure that the ebbs and flows of each tie in with my energy available in that area. Once I realized this, it was a small step to expand into finding ways to remind myself of all the next steps on all of my outstanding goals. I spent some time figuring out a productivity model that works for me, and nowadays my efforts are all blending into a nice activity level. I’ll be the first to admit it’s a hodge-podge of more than a couple of approaches.

Now, this might seem like a bit of a diversion in some ways when looking at managing your career but the reality is that managing your time is a foundation for planning. If you don’t know what you’re spending your time doing, or you do know but don’t feel like you have any control over it, you can’t plan for the future.

 At all. On any time scale.

Does that seem ridiculous? Think about it. If I don’t have a picture of what’s hanging out there to be done, then I can’t figure out the best time to do it or possibly even what I need to be able to accomplish the tasks at hand.

Being able to plan your career, your life, even your week, relies on you being able to manage your time. It’s almost as important as having a picture of what you want, and it lets you get a clearer picture of the paths to your goals.

Naturally, I’ve got a couple of recommendations on places to start looking at your productivity and managing your time. The two sites that I consistently find the best information on personal productivity are www.lifehacker.com and www.lifehack.org. Both offer great information and great links out to other articles across the blogosphere and the larger web.

So go on, get productive!

Peter Fitzgerald is the founder of CareerSherpas.com and is currently working on his first book, conducting high-level business analysis, connecting individuals with ideas and opportunities, and attempting to learn the bagpipes.

Sometimes it’s not a question of can we make a decision now, but rather have we got the right basis for making a decision. To try to figure out if this is the case for you, try asking yourself the following questions:

• Are your goals too far out to make a real plan?
• Are your goals too short term to make decisions?
• Does either choice prevent the other alternatives from being possible?

Clearing the fog to see a bright day ahead can be difficult, but if you can frame your decision in terms of what your ideal future looks like, you can make wise decisions and move forward without second-guessing your choice.

Peter Fitzgerald is the founder of CareerSherpas.com and is currently working on his first book, conducting high-level business analysis, connecting individuals with ideas and opportunities, and attempting to learn the bagpipes.

It’s important to remember that layoffs happen even in good economies, and many of the practices of making yourself appealing as an employee are important whether or not the storms are brewing or the waves crashing over your company. As Salary.com’s Ruth Morss lays out in her article “Guide to Surviving a Layoff”, there are many opportunities to shore up your position, whether the options make sense for you or not, investing the time to try to avoid the layoff list is well worth your time if you want to stay in your current job.Take Fortune’s “Ask Annie” as Anne Fisher lays out again in “8 ways to recession-proof your job”, your visibility, contributions, cost saving ideas, your network and maintaining a positive attitude (or as she puts it “no whining allowed”)all play a part in making your position more stable.

For a more visually cheery approach, you might want to try Forbes’ article “How to Recession-Proof Your Job” which shares much the same ideas, but with an “in pictures” twist for fun.

Whoever makes the most compelling case, or offers the ideas that fit your situation best, look realistically at where you are, what turn your company’s fortunes are taking and how you can best weather the storm. It may be that your position is already much more secure than you think, and if not, maybe it’s worth showing that you’re engaged, delivering and ready for the challenges ahead.

Got your own suggestions for protecting your job? Share them in the comments.

Peter Fitzgerald is the founder of CareerSherpas.com and is currently working on his first book, managing a team of project managers, and attempting to learn the bagpipes.

In many cases there seems to be an amount of sheep-like activity driving many organizations as those who are looked to for direction mill around, failing to give real direction. This sense of ambiguity really causes a great deal of anxiety through organizations as individuals attempt to rise to the occasion in addressing issues and opportunities, but don’t have a clear path to give them focus. The end result leaves the unit, department or entire organization in a state of disarray and frustration.

A lack of clear, shared direction, strategy and, in some cases, communication channels delivers the perception that the leaders are not making decisions and not in touch with the reality of the business they are supporting. In some cases I have seen this drive managers to hyper-active micro-management as they pursue less specific goals. Undirected fear and anxiety are then often allowed to derail any and all progress toward improving the fortunes of the organization.

So is there a solution? Definitely.

Individuals in leadership positions need to get a handle on the fundamental problems and requirements of leading. Leaders need to understand what it means to lead, what their followers need from them and how to make sure everyone marches along together. Recently I’ve been reading Bob Lewis’ very slender but highly accurate portrayal of leadership in “Leading IT: The Toughest Job in the World”. While it was originally intended for IT leaders, as the title suggests, the points in it are equally applicable to anybody trying to lead a group of people.

In any case, let’s all work to exercise leadership and not be “Leadersheep”.

Peter Fitzgerald is the founder of CareerSherpas.com and is currently working on his first book, managing a team of project managers, and attempting to learn the bagpipes.

So what can either group do to balance the disruption?

Reach out!

If you’re on the receiving end of a pink slip, your former co-workers can help you make new contacts that you might not be able to make on your own. Reaching out to them can help you get a start on the job search, get pointers on new directions, and help you find other connections. In many cases the larger the community you live in, the more chances you have to connect with a chance of a lifetime contact just by asking at the right time or when you need it.

On the other side of the fence, if your co-workers have been laid off, offer to help. Ask them how they’re doing, what they’re planning to do now, and if they’d like to go for coffee or lunch. The simple act of offering comfort will help you both deal with the situation. Share contacts that you think might be able to help the person bridge the gap to what they want to do next and, if you’re able to follow through, offer to make the connection for them. Aside from feeling good about helping someone, you will strengthen your own network by helping to connect different needs. You’ll also increase the chance that, if and when the time comes that you need help bridging a gap or recovering from a layoff, someone might be able to help you.

Reaching out to people you know costs you little or nothing and helps form stronger relationships. Either way, you haven’t lost anything by talking to someone.

Peter Fitzgerald is the founder of CareerSherpas.com and is currently working on his first book, managing a team of project managers, and attempting to learn the bagpipes.