The Happy Introvert: Napoleon Dynamite

“Just listen to your heart – that’s what I do.”

I used the title character of the movie, Napoleon Dynamite (2004), as an example of an introvert in the appendix of “The Happy Introvert.” He knows who he is and he’s comfortable with himself. Napoleon marches to his own drummer rather than following the collective. His life isn’t about being beautiful or popular, but about doing his own thing. He’s sweet, strong, loyal, virtuous, and grumpy (not all introverts are grumpy, however). And he becomes a hero.

Napoleon has the ability to focus on a video for weeks and weeks in order to learn how to dance. Wow, does he ever learn how to dance! And he does it for only one reason: he wants to. There’s no need to tell anyone else about it. Having learned this skill happens to lead to a heroic act later in the film. When he falls in love, he catches his girlfriend a delicious fish—it’s not the usual way to express love, but it’s his way and it’s touching because it comes from his heart.

Napoleon’s style of being in the world is understated. He’s true to himself and his friends and he’s inspiring. I like hearing him ask kids at school in a monotone voice, “You having a killer time?”

If you want to learn more about the personalities of Napoleon, his friend Pedro, his brother Kip, his girlfriend Deb, his uncle Rico, and the kids in his high school you can find out in:

The Happy Introvert, a Wild and Crazy Guide to Your True Self. By Elizabeth Wagele, published by Ulysses Press, Berkeley CA

http://www.wagele.com/introvert.html

Buy here: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound

“9 Ways to Save the World” on Psychology Today blog 2-2-10

Please go to http://bit.ly/dzQSKe to see the blog I uploaded on the Psychology Today website today.

- Elizabeth

“I Hate My Job” – Guest Blog by Elizabeth Hui

What strengths do I bring to the workplace?

Awwww, this question again.

It’s often tempting to just roll your eyes and rattle off the typical list of strong points: punctual, hard-working, outgoing, etc., etc.

And yet, we’ve all met or heard of individuals who fail to challenge themselves in this way.

The middle-aged architect who drags himself to work, distances himself from colleagues, and tallies the days until retirement.  The educated homemaker who sends her children off to college then wonders, Okay, what now? The college senior overly-anxious about what career path to pursue and how to make the best impression on an employer.

Maybe any one of these people is you.

And if so, what are you going to do about it?

The Career Within You is a simple guide to matching your personality traits, perceived strengths, and fields of interest with specific careers. It also provides important tips on job-hunting, resume-writing, networking, and interviewing.

So whether you are dissatisfied with a job that’s become mundane or unbearable, unemployed, not sure how to sell yourself during job interviews, or even enamored with your current career, it’s always essential to recognize who you are as both a worker and a person.  Let The Career Within You help you do that!

Purchase it today!

Amazon.com: http://bit.ly/8YTdOs

Indie-bound: http://bit.ly/71vdqn

Barnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/4H9im2

Today I Posted Another “Psychology Today” Blog

So I’ll do an original blog in this space next week. Ingrid Stabb and I are busy with our new book this month and next. It’s going well. Some events coming up are February 8 on TV (“View From the Bay”), February 9 at Kepler’s Books in Menlo Park, Feb. 21 at the CA Writer’s Club in the Oakland Library, a pod cast or two, and lots of reviews – and they’re all good. So we’re happy.

I just put up two videos of me and my cartoons on You Tube: “The Happy Introvert” is http://bit.ly/HapInt/  “The Creative Enneagram” is http://bit.ly/cre9gm/ There’s also another very short one there and on the HarperCollins website.

See the reviews of THE CAREER WITHIN YOU and other info at http://www.careerwithinyou/ You can download material to use from this site and upload my cartoons to share on your computer or website at http://www.wagele.com/

My most popular page on wagele.com these days is the Famous People page, followed by the introvert pages and Beethoven pages. You can hear a chapter (the 7-Adventurer) right on the site, too. You can also hear my Enneagram piano variations. All this exposure of myself is beginning to make me nervous. Eek. My Psychology Today blog is about the subtlety of telling two Enneagram points apart that are hard to tell apart, the Adventurer and the Achiever.

Here’s one of my favorite cartoons from the chapter on Perfectionists in THE CAREER WITHIN YOU. It doesn’t fit this blog particularly. I just like it. Hey! That’s the best reason to use it of all!

A Greeting Card for You to Share

I’m working so hard on marketing with our new book, The Career Within You, two weeks old! And I’m working on a new blog for Psychology Today. But here’s a cartoon you can use for a greeting card to send to anyone who is under the weather. You can retrieve it from my website along with lots of other cartoons: http://www.wagele.com and put it/them on your own website or mail them to someone. You can say, “this is me” or “is this you?” or anything you want. Maybe some character will remind you of your first grade teacher…. or something. You never know.

Today the “Career Within You” is Available!

Today my new post on Psychology Today: http://bit.ly/62HlJC begins.

This is also the day of publication of “The Career Within You.” Ingrid gave a successful talk in Kansas City tonight and there was a wonderful review by an Achiever career type in the “Seattle Interview Coach” blog this morning. Friends and colleagues are giving it high marks and asking how they can help promote it. It’s web site is up and running at http://www.careerwithinyou.com

What’s Virtuous about Fighting for Kitties?

Long before I heard about the Enneagram personality system, I knew I needed to model myself more after the personality type I was later to learn is called the “Asserter,” as seen in the example above with the tattoo on his arm. He tells it like it is and is more than willing to fight over his truth. He loves kittens. Unlike his co-worker, he doesn’t consider this affection an affliction. It doesn’t lessen his manhood one iota. So there! Good for him. I admire a person who honors truth! This decisive, confident archetype of the Asserter was well known to me for most of my life without having to be taught about it. So the Enneagram made sense: it imparted truths of human nature. The nine types were there to see and to check out. They weren’t arbitrary. I saw them in the people I came in touch with every day.

Being an Observer with a strong Romantic wing, I’m fond of authenticity. I’m an INFP in the MBTI system, which means I’m a soul-searcher, an artistic type. I’ve been writing books and drawing cartoons for 15 years and I play the piano. I love the arts. But for the past few months I’ve been doing little but marketing my newest book, “The Career Within You.” The Observer in me is curious and enjoys new areas of learning. I’ve learned about Twitter, Facebook, blogging, Flickr, You Tube, and a few other marketing tools. I spend hours each day on these things and some of it is fun. My dreams at night seem to be telling me I’m clogging up my creative side, though. It’s true–I’ll have ideas about future projects and start on them only to abandon them for some deadline having to do with marketing.

I’m like the guy in the cartoon. He probably wants to go home and play with his kitten. He’s not a wimp and neither am I. We just know what we like. He’s telling the world about his passion and I’m telling the world about mine right now: the Enneagram. There are many reasons I love it, too many to lay out here. But two big reasons are: •1)  the Enneagram pinpointed my type for me, the Observer, so that instead of feeling on the outside, I was comforted to know that my “group” was seen. • 2) the Enneagram has possibilities for great good in the world as a tool for healing racial, cultural, and religious divides. It is already saving and healing individuals and groups and I want to see its usefulness expand. I think my books are good for that. http://www.wagele.com If you’re one of my fans, you can help with my social marketing project in many ways. A fun way is to go to my CARTOON SHARING PROJECT on my home page, lift the html of some of your favorite cartoons, and put them on your own web site or other forums and help spread the word that way or in emails.

When Children Are Pressured to be Who They Are Not

Jung believed the psyche is as physically based as our physical properties, but in his time most people believed children were blank slates to be filled in by their parents. “The Career Within You” supports Jung’s beliefs. It helps career-searchers get underneath to who they really are in order to approach their life’s work from an integrated place. It helps you match up your career and your true self. If this doesn’t occur, look at the cartoon of what might happen! Oh no!

Too many times people are pressured to follow a career the family or a teacher chose for them that was not based on their real desires and gifts. Too often in these difficult financial times people grab a job that has nothing to do with their lives, when taking a little more time to investigate themselves could lead to a much more fulfilling career. Please take that extra time to get to know who you are and what you want.

My blog is short today because I’m getting ready for “The Career Within You” to come out in two weeks (December 29, 2009) and my new blog on Psychology Today (Personality section) starting next month. In a couple of days, I’ll have 48 cartoons on my website that you can upload to your website or Facebook. We’re also arranging reviews, book talks, the book’s website, and more. Visit my website http://www.wagele.com and go to CARTOONS. If they aren’t ready on the 16th, Beethoven’s birthday, they should be ready by the 17th.

Hope to see you next week.

Intention to ‘Break Enemy’s Will’ Can Produce Unwanted Results

Senator McCain said the purpose of war is to break the enemy’s will. This in opposition to President Obama’s decision to have a short military involvement in Afghanistan. My mind jumped to the ways in which I’ve witnessed less overtly violent will-breaking in other situations, namely in families and in the workplace.

Okay, here’s my point. If you have two armies going at it on an isolated military field that’s one thing. It’s horrible enough, and maybe war should never happen in a world as civilized as we could be in almost 2010. But fighting a war against a few among a civilian population means we can lose their good will from fallout from the drones, errant bombs, etc.  The same thing happens in families where there’s a bully. Even if only one person is singled out to be bullied, the others witnessing the bullying are being abused too. Now we get to the workplace. “Break the enemy’s will” becomes “carry out strict rules” or “run a tight ship.”  These expressions aren’t necessarily abusive but when overdone they can be. When applied to one or more employees unfairly they can have a demoralizing effect on the others. Collateral damage, whether it’s rage, bullets, or second-hand smoke, can occur in many situations.

When my first child went to kindergarten many children hadn’t had preschool and didn’t behave well. The teacher reacted by screaming at the whole class for most of the day, at least that’s how it seemed to me. I felt my son was being abused having to listen to this. He must have wondered what was wrong with him that he should be screamed at this way.

Writing “The Career Within You,” http://www.wagele.com, we interviewed a few people who had bosses who seemed to  regard their employees as enemies. I’ve known professors and teachers with this attitude toward one or more students, too. I’ve also seen a completely broken will. After I gave my highly spirited dog to a relative who lived in another town, unknown to me he beat it into submission. The dog’s personality was unrecognizable the next time I saw him.

In this blog, I’ve talked about physical will-breaking and emotional abuse as it occurs in jobs and at home and how it impinges on those not directly involved in the conflict. This has implications for all nine career types. For example, some types have thicker skin than others and aren’t bothered much by criticism, but a sensitive type who is caught in the middle can be shattered by it. In another example, some types are extremely generous and expansive. The more uptight types in their presence can feel uncomfortable by comparison.

In conclusion, in Senator McCain’s experience in the Viet Nam war,  North Viet Nam itself was considered a vile enemy.  Except for the fact that he was being held there as a prisoner, would he have been happy obliterating the country? One would think he knows that maintaining a sincerely friendly relationship with the Afghan people is to our advantage.

Guest Blog: “Winning My Career-Jackpot as My Peers are Retiring”

This week I am honored to have a guest blogger from the California Writer’s Club. JoAnn Smith Ainsworth is an example of someone who had a successful first career. With the help of a career book available several decades ago, she realized there was something else she would love to do which her first career was helping her with. See how she realized her second career after she retired. – Elizabeth Wagele (http://www.wagele.com) P.S. JoAnn has typed herself as a Perfectionist career type.

Winning My Career-Jackpot as My Peers are Retiring by JoAnn Smith Ainsworth

Elizabeth, thank you for this opportunity to share my writing experiences with your readers.

I’m an example that “It’s never too late to follow your dream.” It takes focus, hard work and not giving up. If your readers hold tight to their passion and stay focused, they’ll eventually create their dream.

As you know, I started writing a dozen years ago as a way to supplement my social security. I sold at age 68, e-published at 69 and released in paperback at age 70.

You asked some interesting questions. Let me see what I can do about answering them.

1. Would you have chosen writing as a career earlier in your life if you had known yourself better or had different guidance?

I’m a late boomer. I didn’t think to use my B.A. and M.A.T. in English and my MBA studies to become a published author until nearing retirement. Then I needed a way to make money where age didn’t matter and I wouldn’t have to commute. In publishing, all that matters is the quality of the book.

I had exciting careers before becoming an author. Early on, I was Chief Clerk of a U.S. Senate Subcommittee in Washington, DC. At the end of my corporate career, I was database administrator for one of the top 10 U.S. law firms. I also was on its team to develop its first website.

My corporate work experiences all added to my ability to create a business as an author. My database experience (where I organized vast amounts of data) made it easier for me to manipulate 80,000+ words in the novel. I prepared for this new career by taking several years of craft classes. Your readers may find that they need to re-train to follow their dream — especially in this rapidly changing world of technology.

2. Would a book on careers have possibly helped to change your life?

In the 1980s, during a recession, I was out of work for some time. I did turn to a popular book at that time for guidance: What Color is your Parachute?

At the same time, I joined an Employment Development Department self-help group. By following the suggestions in the book, we were able to analyze each other’s work skills. I valued that experience. Fortunately, I spent the last 20 years of my corporate work experience at the law firm and did not need to search for a job.

Working with lawyers was a good choice. In law, the precise word is needed to convey the thought. That work helped mold my discipline as a writer. I hope by sharing these experiences that I’ve helped you and your readers understand the importance of analyzing skills and weaknesses and staying focused on your goal. By adding knowledge to personal passion, you can create the career of your dreams. I did. I love writing novels.

I invite you to visit my website (http://www.JoAnnSmithAinsworth.com). Join me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter.

My very best for success to you all.

JoAnn