Everything I do that is about job-search coaching is really about something much bigger… your life. And my goal is to inspire you to have the most kick-ass life possible.

Of course, what that looks like for you is going to be entirely different than it is for me. But it occurred to me that it might help to share a bit about how I’ve carved my current life out and the kinds of things on my personal checklist that give me that woo-hoo feeling just about all the time.

My kick-ass life includes:

– work that suits me and where what I do actually makes a real difference in someone else’s life.

When I’m doing executive search or recruiting for a client, I know that my ability to understand the nuances and the unspoken criteria from both sides makes for much better matches. And when someone gets a new job through my efforts that wouldn’t happen otherwise, a job that suits them and enhances their life, then I have that remarkable and rewarding feeling of having been a catalyst for that. The same thing goes for the companies I work for… when a hot new startup gets mentioned in the New York Times and their sales take off, knowing that I found them the key member of their team, without whom that might not have happened, then I feel validated. It rocks.

And when I’m in The Job Search Guru mode, and writing a book or updating my blog or exchanging emails with people who are working through Be Yourself & Get the Job (and Life) of Your Dreams!, then I am about as happy as I can be… because I know that what they’ll learn from my book will open up doors and create new ideas for them that will serve them for the rest of their days. Getting an email from someone I worked with years ago, telling me of their incredible new job in the field that we targeted in our session is like winning the lottery to me.

– control over my time and my schedule.

Now, some folks might call me lazy. In fact, I’ve often called myself lazy. But I’m not, really. I work hard at times, and try to work as smart as possible. But I am leisurely. I used to live the 60-hour-work-week, long-commute, my-job-is-my-life way, but I got over that. A year or so on a tropical island will slow down your clock in a way that feels so delicious that I’m making sure to keep that feeling no matter how much there is to do. So I’ve created my schedule so I can sleep in. I have a no-alarm-clocks rule (unless I have a plane to catch or some other unchangeable appointment), and I work odd hours that fit my night-owl body clock. It took a little juggling, but it was actually much easier than I thought it would be to carve out my schedule to work for me.

And I try not to make too many appointments. If it can be done on email, that’s the first choice. By phone is the second choice, and face-to-face meetings are reserved for times when that is simply the only way to get something done effectively. Less rushing, less pressure. That leaves me a much easier pace in my daily life, and for me, that kicks ass.

I also like a lot of time off. My best hours are spent in a hammock on the porch of a bungalow in Thailand. So I make sure to have at least a few weeks a year doing that, and my plan is to continue to add to that time until I’m spending a couple of months a year just chilling. And a couple of months traveling to see new places. Knowing that I’m aiming for this helps me make better decisions in how to structure my business so it can continue to thrive even if I’m on the other side of the world for a few weeks.

– getting to be my real self all the time.

I used to struggle with this one. I’m a pretty nontraditional person in some ways, but I have worked in the conservative fields of business for most of my career. When I was younger, I would go incognito, dressing down and looking mainstream so I’d fit in. There was a point when I wanted to put my hair into dreadlocks, but I waited because at the time, I was a spokesperson for an activist group, and I worried that if I had dreadlocks, there would be people who would make negative assumptions about me, and then they wouldn’t really hear what I had to say.

So I waited until I was going to be living on that tropical island, and then I dreadlocked my hair. After a couple of years, I returned to the states, and was a little worried that my hair might keep me from getting back to work at the level I’d been working. Guess what? I was wrong.

The reality is that my hair is unusual, and it actually invites people to talk to me more than they might have otherwise! It’s a conversation starter, and it’s also a reminder to others that it’s perfectly possible to look like your real self, and still have the credibility and respect that lets you do meaningful work. It’s one way I inspire people to really let themselves be who they are.

And that’s my message, of course… Be Yourself… so for me, continuing to look like myself is practically a requirement. ;^)

There are a lot of other things on my checklist for a kick-ass life, like friends I trust and who bring out the best in me, and romantic connections with people who add to my life without drama or complications, and enough money to share and to have the standard of living that makes me comfortable. And dancing, lots and lots of dancing.

So what’s on your list? Do you know what the ingredients of your kick-ass life are? If not, check out my book (available at www.TheJobSearchGuru.com) which will help you get a handle on it, so you can get started on making it happen right now. Even if you’re not changing jobs, you will find things out about yourself that will let you make changes in other parts of your life that will bring you more fun and satisfaction faster than you can imagine.

Really, when it comes down to it, a kick-ass life is the only kind to have… and yours will be custom-designed for you.