personal development Archives - Sharon M Weinstein

September 6, 2020 By Sharon Weinstein

What’s in a credential?

You see lots of letters after someone’s name, and you wonder what they might stand for! Perhaps your search for those acronyms leads to a discovery that your new friend or peer is a highly credentialed professional. They are “Certified.” Certification is an earned recognition that demonstrates specific skills, knowledge, expertise in a given area. Usually aligned with a profession, technology, or industry, the credential is usually awarded by a professional organization or credentialing body.

A professional certificate, like many offered online, is not the same thing as professional certification. Certificates are not all equal…and those who have earned the highly regarded credential are honored to be recognized. According to the American Association for Legal Nurse Consultants, certificates and certification are very different.

Certification

Results from an assessment process that recognizes an individual’s knowledge, skills, and competency in a particular specialty

Typically requires professional experience

Awarded by a third-party, standard-setting organization, typically not for profit

Indicates mastery/competency as measured against a defensible set of standards, usually by application or exam

Standards set through a defensible, industry-wide process (job analysis/role delineation) that results in an outline of required knowledge and skills

Typically results in credentials to be listed after one’s name (LNCC, ONC, CCRN)

Has on-going requirements in order to maintain; holder must demonstrate he/she continues to meet requirements

Certificate

Results from an educational process

For newcomers and experienced professionals

Awarded by educational programs or institutions often for-profit

Indicates completion of a course or series of courses with a specific focus (different than a degree-granting program)

Course content determined by the specific provider or institution, not standardized

Usually listed on a resume detailing education

Demonstrates knowledge of course content at the end of a set period of time

Let me provide an example that is critically important to me. The Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) is an earned credential. The CSP credential offers skill validation from clients, peers, meeting professionals, and other CSPs. It adds opportunities to command greater fees and to develop new and sustainable connections. It also showcases the designees, allowing them to shine on paper as much as on the platform, in the training room, or in the virtual studio. The CSP designation is the speaking profession’s highest earned international measure of professional platform competence. Less than 17% of National Speakers Association members worldwide have achieved the CSP designation. With support from NSA’s CSP Committee, the CSP is conferred by the NSA Board of Directors upon qualifying members of NSA as well as upon qualifying members of the 16 Global Speakers Federation (GSF) associations. For me, earning the CSP credential was a milestone; it was not my first credential, nor will it be my last. As Chair of NSA’s CSP Committee, I’m pleased to announce that on September 4th, candidates for the CSP Class of 2021 were encouraged to begin the application process. https://www.nsaspeaker.org/csp/.

Certification is an earned recognition that demonstrates specific skills, knowledge, expertise in a given area. When you see lots of letters after someone’s name, take note of what each acronym stands for, and realize how hard they worked to earn that credential. What about you? If you are a speaking professional, are you prepared to apply for the highest earned international measure of professional platform competence – the CSP?

The application process begins now…for professional members of the National Speakers Association (NSA) or one of the Global Speakers Federation (GSF) member associations. Will you be certified?

December 14, 2019 By Sharon Weinstein

Is it the end of just the beginning?

With just two weeks remaining in 2019, the time has never been better than to address your stress-relief goals. You have the chance to finish this year and begin 2020 with a new mindset and new results.

What are your three greatest stress triggers? After a few relaxing days off, are you eager to get back to your job, or anxious because of that job? Think about it! You’ve had a great vacation, or even a great weekend. Now, it’s time to get back to reality—to whatever stressed you in the first place and necessitated that important respite. There is so much to do and no time to get it done. The first few days are hectic until you settle back into your routine. Emails and snail mail remain unanswered. Your voice-mailbox is full. What you thought would be an easy transition has become a life challenge, and you wonder how you will get through each day with your mind intact.

Life can be challenging and stressful. Creating work/life balance is critical to success and survival. Living the dream, and overcoming the pain is something else.

In today’s economy, stress may be attributed as much to having a job as to not having one. Layoffs around the country impact workers in all settings. If you fear the loss of your job—even a job you don’t like—you experience stress. How will you feed your family? How will you pay your bills? Will you have to think twice before making routine purchases? We all have different stress triggers, but work tops the list.

Causes of work-related stress include being unhappy in your job, a heavy workload, long hours, unclear expectations of your work, bullying and toxic work settings. Is that what you want to return to? Vacations and holidays come and go, but stress is ongoing. This is reality!

“Reality is the leading cause of stress among those in touch with it.”

– Lily Tomlin

How will you cope now and in 2020?

Apply these simple strategies for finding life balance, and begin to deal with the challenges you would otherwise face:

Create realistic goals.
Manage your time wisely.
Eat healthy.
Learn when to say no and when to let go!

Minimize the pain by choosing one to two strategies to tackle; this process will put you on-track—starting now! Enjoy the holiday season and say hello to being stress-free!

October 8, 2019 By Sharon Weinstein

Launching….what?

ARE YOU READY FOR A WOWTCOME™?

ARE YOU READY TO JOIN MY LAUNCH TEAM FOR…

The New Book?

If you answered “Yes” to any of those questions, launch with me! You might ask, “Launching, what does that mean, what are my responsibilities, how may I help, who shall I tell…”

My new book, Are You Ready to Recharge Your Battery? Secrets to work/life balance was just released. My marketing team created a launch strategy six weeks out that would propel my book to the top of the charts. Their efforts included social media advertising, promotional campaigns, promo videos, outreach, and so much more.

The field is crowded; many new releases fall into the same category, limiting the potential for exposure.

Each year a huge number of new book titles are written and published (https://www.theifod.com/how-many-new-books-are-published-each-year-and-other-related-books-facts/). According to Stephen Hawking in his recent book Brief Answers to the Big Questions, he states that “if you stacked the new books being published next to each other, at the present rate of production you would have to move at ninety miles an hour just to keep up with the end of the line.”

How, then, does a book “launch?” How do we spread the word, join the team, promote the efforts, disseminate the message, and create energy? I’ve launched, and multiple book signings are scheduled this month and next. Enjoy this video promo, and let’s get this launch going… https://www.dropbox.com/s/legooz8osegotz5/sharonweinstein%20_overwhelm%20book%20promo.mp4?dl=0

Tell me more…

If you are busy with a demanding job and family and friends who seek your time and attention, you are blessed, but only if you can handle it. Consider the stressors in your own life, including the things that deplete your energy and bring you down.

We need to recharge our batteries—so get set, get ready, and let’s go! We’ll explore the process of engaging in life and work, prepare for a change and a charge, manage time and resources, and reinvent ourselves. The process begins here and now, with content and action steps at the end of each section that empower you to act, recover, and restore a full charge!

Where will you be in six months if you don’t start now?

If overwhelm knows where to find you, including where you live, then Are You Ready is for you!

If Are You Ready describes you, I need you on my Launch Team!

What’s involved?

Get a free electronic copy of Are You Ready
Read some of it prior to October 30th to get my message
Add your sincere review on Amazon.com (directions provided)
Tell everyone you know with overwhelm at their doorstep to get a copy and recharge
Receive a free gift for your participation

Are You Ready and Are You In?

Join the launch by emailing me at sharon@sharonmweinstein.com

June 2, 2018 By Sharon Weinstein

What do you bring to the table?

A potluck? Not at all- just a simple question. What’s your value-add? What skills, attributes, talents, energy, and insight do you bring to the table?

Whether it is at work, at home, or within the community, you add an element of value? Have you thought about your own value-add, and how that benefits those with whom you work, live, and play?

I bring my nursing platform to the table; it has served me well and provided the basis for a journey that has taken me around the country and across the globe. Throughout my career, I have used the lessons learned from my initial educational program to grow personally and professionally. And, I have taken it to the next level- by being of service to others, by mentoring the next generation of leaders, and by giving back.

I have worked with unique populations and have created a model that can be used as a prototype for every educational program that has international as a part of its mission. I believe that we have much to offer and a lot to learn. The model that I have created can be used to foster additional professional partnerships among growth-minded leaders from multiple industries. I am committed to enhancing the business outcomes of my colleagues and helping these high-integrity leaders make great decisions that benefit their companies, organizations, families, and communities. What about you- what do you bring to the table? What value do you add?

January 1, 2018 By Sharon Weinstein

How do you spell success?

Success matters- let’s face it. As a child, I was told that I would never amount to a thing, and I believed those who offered this advice; they were my parents. I never planned for success! It seemed so beyond my reach. When I think about the word, and what it now means to me, I have a different perspective.

I consider the word and how it is spelled: S U C C E S S.

I assign a word or characteristic to each of those letters, as in:

S for strive, to be all that I can be
U for understand, that just because they are my parents does not mean that they are right
C for courage, to move up and out
C for commit, to do what it takes
E for education, knowing how essential a good education is
S for strength, to overcome obstacles
S for share, and the philosophy that sharing is caring

So, what does it mean to you? How do you measure success in your career and life? What matters most, and why? How do you define it in a resume or during an interview? https://www.theresumecenter.com/careers-advice/interview-preparation-help/what-exactly-does-the-word-success-mean-to-you

We all want success; we chase it, but what is it? Success is both a goal and a journey.

To me, success means that I broke the template that my parents had set; I have a loving, caring, brilliant family and they like to be with me as much as I like to be with them. I have a great public speaking career, and I’ve created a nursing legacy that has allowed me to affect lives across the globe. I have good health, a growing sense of humor, and an appreciation for the gifts that I have been given. I have an amazing life partner who means the world to me and who I appreciate more with each passing day. I have good friends, lifelong relationships, and a passion for life.

I broke the template, and I have achieved measures of success. But for me, like you-this is a goal and a journey. I can spell the word, and I can create the future. I can spell the word, and I am on the journey.

To start the process: