Imagine Yourself Loving What You Do Every Day

Doing What You Love and Loving What You Do! With Guest Dr. Viva Braynen, Executive & Leadership Coach/Consultant

It takes courage and confidence, patience and perseverance to land the career of your dreams. Sometimes we just need good timing and a blessing from above. Here’s the thing: we might be just one footstep away from professional satisfaction. Are you ready to put your foot out there?

One thing we learned this week is that you might be able to make a few minor adjustments at your current job and make a few major adjustments to the way you envision your current job and VOILA, you might already possess the job that provides satisfaction and pays the bills. However, if you search deep and discover that this is never going to be the job for you, then it’s time to take the leap and either hunt for or create something that’s just right.

Dr. Viva Braynen, CEO Braynen Global

We’re not encouraging anyone to quit their current provider of bread and butter to go on a quest for an ideal job. We’re simply inviting you to take a few practical steps towards something that suits you best. We’ve even brought in a guest to highlight these steps for us. Just imagine yourself…doing what you love and loving what you do!

Take that first step by listening to some of the advice our expert, Dr. Viva, shares with us about how to use what you’ve got to get where you want to go!

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Sandy Kovach [00:00:01]:

Life can throw a lot at you, but imagine if your life were different, better, not because of what's coming at you, but because of what's coming from you. Let's get there together. Join us and imagine yourself.

Lanée Blaise [00:00:15]:

Great day today. I'm Lanee.

Sandy Kovach [00:00:17]:

And I'm Sandy. Lanae, I have to ask, what are we imagining today?

Lanée Blaise [00:00:22]:

Today, we're imagining some big things. We want to expand our minds and our opportunities, and we want to imagine ourselves with the career of our dreams, loving what we do.

Sandy Kovach [00:00:37]:

So not just working for the weekend,

Lanée Blaise [00:00:39]:

No. And not just for the paycheck. We want to love it. I'm wondering, do you ever sit and think intentionally about taking that big leap and actively pursuing your dream job, your career goals, or even just ways to be happy in your current job. Sometimes we feel that we're lacking, that we lack the skills, the confidence, the time, the energy to even pursue this.

Sandy Kovach [00:01:06]:

Yeah. Sometimes it's just way too overwhelming. I mean, even as you were sitting there saying all that stuff, it's like every time I think about something like that, I just kind of internally freak out a little bit.

Lanée Blaise [00:01:16]:

See, that's exactly where we want to change that. We wanna change it from freaking out about it to getting excited about it, and this entire episode is dedicated to an encouraging confidence builder. Whether you want to pursue a different and better job or simply be different and better in your current job, we wanna help that way, and we even have invited a guest to help us do this, to make the freak out part a little less freak out. We'd like to introduce doctor Viva Brannen, principal, consultant, and owner of BGI. She's an executive and leadership coach and consultant. She works with clients to develop strategies for change, but she also helps make sure they implement those changes in a practical real way. And she's our expert for the day, here to speak on the ways to find happiness and fulfillment in job and career. So, doctor Lanee, we wanna thank you for joining us.

Lanée Blaise [00:02:21]:

And I don't know if you want us to start off formal with doctor Brannen or if you are okay with us calling you Viva.

Dr. Viva Braynen [00:02:27]:

Viva's perfect. Alright.

Sandy Kovach [00:02:29]:

Doctor Viva.

Dr. Viva Braynen [00:02:30]:

Doctor Viva. There we go. Yes. That's wonderful.

Lanée Blaise [00:02:34]:

Yeah. So we have a few questions for you, but we also just wanna kinda get your perspective in general. The first question, I think, that most people wanna know is how does a person get from point a, which is right here where you're not in your ideal career or job situation, how do they get from point a to point b, where they attain the career of their dreams?

Dr. Viva Braynen [00:02:58]:

You know, I would think the first thing anyone should do is think about, like, what they're really good at and what they wanna do. Kinda looking at your current situation and wherever you are and determining what about this position is, like, sort of dissatisfying to you. And then think about where you wanna go and and kinda how far it is. And is this what you wanna do? Is this actually attainable?

Sandy Kovach [00:03:24]:

Okay. So first thinking about where you are is sort of important and taking apart what it is you don't like about where you are.

Dr. Viva Braynen [00:03:31]:

Right. And figuring out what you're good at. Like, what can I actually do? Like, I don't like this office job, but I am really good. I'm a great basketball Lanee, or I'm a great cook. I've always wanted to own my own bakery, and I'm I'm really good at it. People love my dessert, but here I am stuck in this office job. So you wanna think about it and make sure that it's something realistic that you can actually do.

Sandy Kovach [00:03:56]:

Okay. So a lot of people have these side hustles and things that they do. Let's say I'm in my office job, but I we'll use your cooking example. But I really love I make great sauces, and I'd like to jar sauces and sell them on Amazon or whatever. I can't just quit my job that pays the bills to do that. Right? I mean, do I start on the side, or how do I do that?

Dr. Viva Braynen [00:04:19]:

I would definitely say start on the side unless you have all the resources to be able to quit your job, which most of us don't. I would start on the side, and you continue to work that until you get to a place where it's big enough, it grows enough, and you actually realize because not all hobbies or things we do on the side are actually things that we wanna do, you know, full time. So it's a good idea to try it. Right.

Sandy Kovach [00:04:43]:

Do a lot of your clients come in with questions like that?

Dr. Viva Braynen [00:04:47]:

I actually have a client who has a dream. Her dream is really to be on television. And I've worked with her for a while now, and we started looking at that what she really, really liked to do is perform. And I've worked with her over time to kinda get her to see that what she's doing in her current position is performing. She does presentations in her job. She works with clients every day. People love her, and it was really just a matter of switching her mindset around to really be grateful for what she currently has. And what she really wants is looking for an opportunity, like, maybe a different platform to do her acting, but she's kinda kinda working on her skill right now.

Sandy Kovach [00:05:26]:

Advancing her career practicing on real people in real time. Right?

Dr. Viva Braynen [00:05:30]:

Exactly. So she's not as far away as she thinks. Like, her goal seems like they're like, it's like a dream. It's so far away. But, really, when you think about it, maybe you're not that far away from

Lanée Blaise [00:05:41]:

it. I love that. Yeah. I love that thought. And we must keep that in mind to use all of our skills, all of our gifts, all of our hobbies, and channel them into either our current job or a creation of it, a formation of it. I like that.

Dr. Viva Braynen [00:05:56]:

Now tell me this. Are you guys in your dream job? Hey.

Sandy Kovach [00:06:01]:

She's throwing it back at us.

Lanée Blaise [00:06:03]:

I love it. So we're gonna have a little session with doctor Veeb and Veeb.

Sandy Kovach [00:06:06]:

Yes. What would you say for Lanee and I as we proceed in our broadcasting quiz?

Lanée Blaise [00:06:12]:

I'm not all the way where I intend to be either, but I feel that I'm taking baby steps. So my dream job is to use whatever gifts I have in public speaking, in media, to bring light and positivity to the world, whether that be speaking at events, doing the podcast, I write for television. So I'm in the process of all of those, but I have not reached the summit yet.

Sandy Kovach [00:06:41]:

But is that okay, doctor Viva to because I have, like, a 100 things that I do too, and they're all very fulfilling. But it's not like one thing, and I'm kind of okay with that.

Dr. Viva Braynen [00:06:52]:

It's all okay. Because, like, for instance, I I never had a dream job, I don't think. I've always dreamed I know it sounds quirky, and maybe we really didn't believe it when we were younger, but I never had something that I I dreamed of being comfortable. I dreamed of having a life where I can do what I wanna do, but there wasn't one specific thing that I wanted to do. But for me, the fulfillment is doing what makes me happy and what I'm really good at. So it doesn't have to be this one thing or it can be several things as long as you're finding happiness in them.

Sandy Kovach [00:07:23]:

Do you find that in today's economy and with the flexibility of people being able to work at home, on the road, I mean, everything's in your phone, do you find more and more people are doing, like, multiple things and have multiple streams of income?

Dr. Viva Braynen [00:07:35]:

Yes. And I think it's necessary. Because sometimes what we dream of doing isn't necessarily gonna be the things to bring in the big, big money. And that's not what everybody's after, but we do still have to live.

Sandy Kovach [00:07:46]:

You're right. Correct.

Dr. Viva Braynen [00:07:48]:

Yeah. And that's

Lanée Blaise [00:07:49]:

a hard balance because, you know, we talk about hobbies and things like that, but some of those hobbies may not be lucrative. So

Dr. Viva Braynen [00:07:57]:

Exactly. And it could just be fun, and that's okay. Like, it could just be something that you wanna do on the side.

Lanée Blaise [00:08:04]:

Because you started your own business, and that would feel like that would have been your dream job right there, how do you encourage other people listening to be able to start take that leap? How did you take your leap?

Dr. Viva Braynen [00:08:18]:

I was sort of forced into my leap. Okay. One way to go.

Sandy Kovach [00:08:22]:

I pushed you.

Lanée Blaise [00:08:23]:

And that's it. I hope I think that helps. A lot of people can identify with that too. So let's I think you were forced into it. How?

Dr. Viva Braynen [00:08:30]:

I was forced I I was actually, a product of a reduction in force in my company that I've been to for many years. And, and I started thinking about kinda what I did at the company. And, thankfully, I was in a position where I could sit back and think about what it is that I wanted to do. And I knew even when I was working that there were other things that I wanted to do. And so having that time gave me the ability to really think about it and kinda work on it and develop it. So it was a little bit different. It wasn't as if I was still working. Because, actually, had I not been laid off of my position, I don't know that I would've had the I won't say the courage, but I was very comfortable.

Dr. Viva Braynen [00:09:13]:

Mhmm. And, as I mentioned before, I didn't really have a dream, like, a dream job. I just wanted to be happy and maybe make a certain amount of money and travel and do these things that I wanted to do, but that gave me the opportunity to really think about and kinda do what I re focus on what I really wanted to do.

Sandy Kovach [00:09:30]:

Yeah. You were pushed into it. I kinda similar thing. Got laid off back in the recession in of 09 and ended up doing a lot of freelance stuff. Yeah. I'm but I wouldn't have. I would have stayed right there.

Dr. Viva Braynen [00:09:43]:

Exactly. Me too. So some I think I would have too. The end of one

Lanée Blaise [00:09:48]:

job can be a blessing because it opens the doors to maybe what you really wanted to do and you wouldn't have taken the time, and you said even the courage in a way, to step out and do it.

Dr. Viva Braynen [00:09:59]:

Exactly. And it took me a little time. I had to think about it. I had to really imagine myself.

Lanée Blaise [00:10:05]:

Yes. Yes.

Dr. Viva Braynen [00:10:06]:

Okay. Doing what I really love, it didn't come right away. I knew what I was good at right away, but it took some time to kinda figure out this is something I can create as a business. So sometimes it's a little bit of a journey to get there, and that and that's okay as well. And there's again, like I mentioned, the client who's an active is a little bit more of a career that you can sort of put your hands on. Mine was more like, you're good at doing this. You're good at working with people. You're good at getting helping them get from one point to the next.

Sandy Kovach [00:10:35]:

Yeah. And so you never know what door is gonna open for you. When a client walks into your office, what is the most typical thing?

Dr. Viva Braynen [00:10:42]:

They are looking for a change. Usually, they're unhappy in their career, their current situation. They're not experiencing success maybe as they had previously defined it in their mind. And so we work on setting goals. We work on really, as I mentioned, looking at what you wanna do and kinda changing your mindset to determine, like, is the situation really horrible, or is there one little thing that's kinda throwing it all off? And then how can we change that? Or what do you really, really wanna do? But it's very often that they're just not happy or they're feeling unfulfilled in some way.

Lanée Blaise [00:11:20]:

So what you're saying is that when you have someone who comes in, you actually sit down and do the work and you write out their gifts and things like that because some people just say they're gonna sit back and just let God do all of the work. But there's a lot of things I guess you do have to do for yourselves, because even the Bible in James, it says faith by itself, if it's not accompanied by action, is dead. And that

Dr. Viva Braynen [00:11:43]:

to do the work.

Lanée Blaise [00:11:44]:

You have to do the work.

Dr. Viva Braynen [00:11:45]:

There's no way Action is a big piece of everything that we do. We have to do something, and it doesn't have to be big steps every day. It takes some time, but you have to be moving towards it in small ways. And I do say every day we work on it. In some minor way, it could just be contacting someone or researching it or figuring out what it is, figuring out if it's feasible. But you need to move consistently in the direction of where you wanna go in order to get that. You can't just sit there and pray, and praying is great. But we want you to pray, but we want you to actually move as well.

Sandy Kovach [00:12:21]:

So what would be the takeaway steps for us if we're in a job, even if we're happy, but we know there's something out there for us that maybe we feel God's calling us to. Maybe we feel like, we're not using our potential. But we're stuck in this thing where we're kind of afraid. Like, you were afraid and I was afraid and, like, probably a lot of people are afraid because you don't wanna be irresponsible and just quit your job and go off in a different direction. So what would be the action steps that you would take that you would tell your clients?

Dr. Viva Braynen [00:12:54]:

I would recommend they pray about it, for 1, definitely, and think about it very intently. Not just casually thinking about it. Thinking about, like, okay. Is this really what I wanna do? Write down some goals. If you can't get with a coach or someone, talk to some of your friends and kind of start thinking through it, what it is that you wanna do and how feasible it is. Kind of talk about when do you wanna do it. Do you wanna do it by this year? Are you hoping that maybe by next year? Because sometimes, depending on what's going on in our lives, maybe the next 6 months is not a really good time. There are things coming up.

Dr. Viva Braynen [00:13:28]:

There's your child graduating. You have some deadlines you've already set. Maybe you wanna wait till next year. But you wanna give yourself some sort of timeline, and then you wanna work on the way that you're thinking because you don't wanna get so tangled up into this new thing that we're moving into that you forget about your current job that's paying the bills. That's very important. You don't wanna start going too much out doing your side hustle, and you're not giving your job your full attention because you still do need that. And then I think you and there may be some things that you have to do. Like, I also went and took more classes.

Dr. Viva Braynen [00:14:02]:

I went and did a little bit more research. I learned a little bit more. Even though I have a PhD, and I've learned these things, but I felt it necessary to kinda go back and sharpen my skills a little bit in this area that I'm now gonna move into. And they need to start working towards it. Like, take some small steps.

Lanée Blaise [00:14:18]:

I like that you expand Mhmm. Upon what you do know and what you do have because we can constantly grow and develop our skill set and our go forward in our career path.

Dr. Viva Braynen [00:14:27]:

And imagine yourself in that position. Just start thinking about it. That's true. Yeah.

Sandy Kovach [00:14:32]:

That's where you start, and then you take action steps. And if you can call someone like doctor Viva, that helps. So doctor Viva, how would somebody get in touch with you if they wanted to really get going?

Dr. Viva Braynen [00:14:46]:

You can reach me at raydenglobal.com, and that is b r a y, n like Nancy, e n, global.com.

Lanée Blaise [00:14:55]:

I love it. And then, of course, it'll be on our website too to link over to to find more information to help also. Thank you so much.

Sandy Kovach [00:15:03]:

This has been great. I mean, I I feel like now I wanna go find, like, a 4th side hustle and,

Dr. Viva Braynen [00:15:12]:

A 4th way.

Sandy Kovach [00:15:13]:

No. Okay. Before we wrap up, is there too much? Can you spread yourself too thin if you got too much crap stuff going on?

Dr. Viva Braynen [00:15:19]:

You can. You absolutely can. So you have to prioritize and kinda figure out what's good. And sometimes people do need help in putting all these pieces together and figuring out what works and what doesn't work. It does help to talk to someone to sorta help you plan it all out.

Dr. Viva Braynen [00:15:37]:

think I think your show is doing a good job at helping people think about this and what they should do.

Sandy Kovach [00:15:43]:

They're a plug from doctor Viva.

Lanée Blaise [00:15:45]:

That's right.

Sandy Kovach [00:15:46]:

I'm I'm gold.

Sandy Kovach [00:15:48]:

How about you, Lanee?

Lanée Blaise [00:15:49]:

I love it. I agree.

Dr. Viva Braynen [00:15:50]:

You know, I also had a great idea. I was thinking about that maybe one day soon, we're gonna have a big imagine yourself conference somewhere. And we can bring people in, and we can sort of show them how they move towards these goals.

Sandy Kovach [00:16:04]:

You should've seen the look on Laniyah's face when you said that. Like

Lanée Blaise [00:16:08]:

I loved it. Then we're practicing what we're preaching.

Dr. Viva Braynen [00:16:11]:

Yeah. So we're yes. Yes.

Lanée Blaise [00:16:14]:

And maybe have you in also to to work with to work with people to craft their next steps, whether it be imagining themselves in their personal lives, in their career lives.

Dr. Viva Braynen [00:16:25]:

Oh. Yes. Imagine yourself conference. Yeah. The imagine yourself conference, and you 2 lead it. And I'll be there in the background.

Sandy Kovach [00:16:35]:

No. You need to be

Lanée Blaise [00:16:36]:

In the forefront.

Sandy Kovach [00:16:37]:

Doctor v is starring doctor Viva.

Lanée Blaise [00:16:40]:

This is why we needed this today. We needed to make sure that we, like you said, we pray, we identify our goals and our the things that we're good at, the things that we're not good at, what's not working for us. We might even just have to tweak things a little bit where we currently are to make it better. We might not have to change jobs completely. And Exactly. We need action, and we need to sharpen our skills.

Dr. Viva Braynen [00:17:04]:

Yeah. And we have to see ourselves in this position. We have to visualize it and imagine being there.

Sandy Kovach [00:17:09]:

So that's how we begin. As we begin with all of our changes by imagining ourselves. Yeah. Dun, ta, ta, ta.

Lanée Blaise [00:17:17]:

See, but then doctor Viva Braynen, we want to thank you so much for sharing your advice with us and helping us to actually imagine ourselves loving what we do as we find happiness and fulfillment in the career of our dreams.

Sandy Kovach [00:17:33]:

Thanks for listening. Now, we'd like to hear from you. Got an idea for the show? Wanna share your story or just say hello? Make sure you connect with us. You can do that at imagine yourself podcast.com, and we'll talk to you again next time when we have something new to imagine.

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