Don’t eat cornflakes every day!

How often do you think about what kind of ruts you are stuck in and what being in a rut is doing to your overall perspective?

This is Teddy. For any of you who are new to this blog or are just getting to know me, Teddy is part of our family and part of my office. Teddy, our German Shepherd, is 6 now.

Teddy has had his share of health issues starting with ear infections before he was a year old. We worked on a number of ways to get and keep him healthy.

We switched vets, following the directions of one of my clients (a dog trainer) who recommended a particular clinic and told me exactly what to say when I called for the appointment. In addition to the actual treatments they gave him (flushing his ears, cleaning them out, oral and topical antibiotics), the vet recommended a change in diet.

We switched him to California Naturals because it was a food highly recommended to be so pure that it was unlikely to cause food allergies. We buy his food from Katzenbarkers, a natural pet food and supply store, run by another client of mine, Lois. Lois lets pets on on leash come into her store and Saturday we stopped by to investigate some alternatives. I told Lois that Teddy was starting to eat the visiting puppies’ food and I wondered if he was wishing he had something besides California Naturals.

It was then that she said, “Well, of course, would you like to eat Cornflakes every day for the rest of your life?” and promptly took me on a tour of options for other food. I selected multiple varieties that she recommended in smaller bags so Teddy could let me know his favorites.

Sure, enough, Teddy loved his new food choices and I have since gone back for larger bags of two varieties.Teddy’s California Naturals was the perfect solution when we first started him on it. But it wasn’t the forever solution.

Are you are stuck on some form of “cornflakes”?

• Perhaps you only use the same old online job boards for looking for new jobs and when you don’t find them, you think there are no jobs.  → Try networking, LinkedIn, job clubs, Twitter, HireFriday, or other new strategies.
• Perhaps you learned your resume format when you were in college – 15 years ago. → Check out the samples of the professional resume writers you meet on Twitter or LinkedIn or check out the members of organizations like Career Directors International, Career Management Alliance, Professional Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches or other professional organizations.
• Perhaps you only fill out paper applications because that was the way your dad always did it. None of this online stuff or emailing your resume or even using a resume at all → create a value-infused resume demonstrating your accomplishments, create a compelling cover letter, and find a new networking connection to help you move it into the hands of the right hiring manager.

Teddy’s doing well on his new food. So give some new cornflakes a try!