Try these 4 things to work out your next fulfilling career step

Try these 4 things to work out your next fulfilling career step

Try these 4 things to work out your next fulfilling career step

Many clients come to me saying that they’ve lost their passion for their work, or that they want to do something more meaningful, but are really feeling stuck about what career step to take next.

The questions “What do I do now?” and “Where do I go next?” can be start to be answered by practicing a little introspection. And evidence shows, that when we find meaning in our work, we can expect increases in happiness and engagement, improvement to our performance – and an overall positive impact on our wellbeing.

When I (after plenty of introspection and hours as a coaching client) defined my next fulfilling career step away from the world of corporate communications and into the role of a coach, it was like fireworks going off! I felt so excited that I’d found work that suited who I am and gave me purpose.

Even now, almost 5 years after I made my move, I still feel energised and fulfilled by my work – every day!

So, unless you’d like to get started with coaching support right away, here are 4 steps (based on my education, experience, and insightful inputs from my colleague Annabel Musson) you can start with to define your next fulfilling career step:

Step 1 – Find your inspiration

This first step is really important to help you really connect to your future work. Inspiration can come from many different areas of life, both from within and externally. In order for you to find your inspiration, have a think about the following questions:

  • What are your goals?
  • What do you want to stand for or live for?
  • What are your passions?

Use these techniques to help you find inspiration for your next career step:

  1. Reflect – Spend some time alone in a quiet place. Close your eyes and begin to quiet your mind. When you feel like your mind is not so busy, think deeply about your purpose in life, and what brings you meaning.
  2. Look at others whom you admire – Who do you look up to? Think about why you look up to them, and note this down. Do some research into successful people who are in the career field that sparks your interest, look into their journey and how they got to where they are today.
  3. Talk with friends and family – asking the people who know you best about what kind of career would suit you can open your mind up to things you may not have considered before. Also, if they are successful, and you look up to them, ask them for advice on how they got to where they are today. This can help you form your path to having the career you want.

Step 2 – Understand your preferences better 

You can understand your preferences better by learning more about yourself, for example, your strengths, interests and character traits. Below are some ways you could do so:

  1. Doing psychometric assessments, such as: aptitude tests, behavioural tests and assessment centres. I recommend 16 Personalities and VIA Character Strengths.
  2. Evaluate your strengths and identify which activities deplete you of energy.
  3. Examine your priorities –what is most important to you?
  4. Examine what you daydream about most – this can indicate us to what we really want.
  5. Work with a coach – a leadership, career and wellbeing coach, like myself, can help you identify what really matters to you and what kinds of roles would be best suited to you.

Step 3 – Talk to yourself like an interviewer

Think like interviewer – their purpose is to get to know you on a deeper level, and see how well you would be suited to a role. You can do this for yourself in order to help you work out your next step.

Ask yourself the following questions:

  • Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

This question allows you to genuinely consider what you want to be doing in 5 years. Perhaps you have worked in a multinational company for a while, and realised that in 5 years, you no longer want to feel like a small fish in a very big pond. Perhaps you want to be an entrepreneur and running your own company instead? Maybe you want to be making enough money to travel the world? Or have more kids? And a question I like to ask often is: in 5 year’s time, what would you regret not doing?

Once you have the answer to this question, you can start to work backwards, and work out the steps you need to take in order to get there.

  • What makes you want to leave your current employer?

This question gives you some insight into the challenges of your current employment and helps you to identify what you don’t want from a future work situation. If the reason you’re seeking other employment is to run away from current work stressors, consider the root cause of these stressors. Is it the environment? Personality clashes? If you’re running away from current turmoil at your job, you may not find greener grass without first considering your needs.

((If you do decide to stay put, there are plenty of evidence-based and effective techniques that we can work on together to help you cope better in challenging circumstances and ensure that you are taking care of your overall wellbeing.))

Step 4 – Start taking action

Before you can take your next career step, you need to plan for how you’re going to do so. Follow the below steps to help you get there and reach your ideal career:

  1. Brainstorm – Come up with a list of ideas about how you can advance your career or move up the ladder. Perhaps, doing a master’s degree is a good first step? Or, maybe taking up some additional training? Starting to take action – one small step at a time – to get you to where you want to be, will make your dream career move feel real – not just a dream anymore.
  2. Volunteer or do side work – Find an organisation that will allow you to volunteer for a few hours a week in your dream sector. By doing this, you’ll gain valuable experience and also be able to generate a list of your likes and dislikes for your next position.
  3. Start applying for jobs– Get your CV professionally reviewed and reconnect back to your accomplishments and transferable skills. Develop your elevator pitch or professional value proposition, so that in 2-3 concise sentences you can share your professional background, your strengths and what you are looking for. Start an authentic network strategy to meet people in the areas of work you are interested in, learn about employers you may like to work for – and ask trusted members of your network for introductions.

I hope that you find these four steps valuable in your journey towards your next fulfilling career move. If you’d like my support, then please don’t hesitate to get in touch! 

My Interview with Firework Coaching

My Interview with Firework Coaching

My Interview with Firework Coaching

Firework interview

Here’s an interview that I did with the lovely Kat from Firework. Click here to read about my journey into coaching, some of my clients’ results, and how I use the tools that I gained from my career coach training with Firework.

 

 

My interview on work-life balance with Balance the Grind

My interview on work-life balance with Balance the Grind

My interview on work-life balance with Balance the Grind

Balance the grind text

I’m delighted to have been interviewed by Balance the Grind about how I manage my work-life balance.

You can read my interview here.

Take some time to browse through the other interviews and resources that are featured – maybe you get some new ideas on how to optimise your own work-life balance!

5 easy ways to reduce overwhelm – in any situation

5 easy ways to reduce overwhelm – in any situation

5 easy ways to reduce overwhelm – in any situation

Do you experience moments at work, when deadlines are fast approaching, to-dos are piling up, you’re feeling overwhelmed with competing priorities; where you feel it’s difficult to concentrate or focus on one thing at a time, emotions are running high and perhaps you even feel a physical reaction?

I’ve put together a couple of strategies (a couple that may be surprising!), that are useful to reduce stress during your work day so that you can quickly get back ton track.

You can try these in different situations – whether in a meeting, on a crowded train, or when you are alone:

  1. Connect to your senses, slowly and one by one. What can you see? What can you hear? What can you smell? What can you taste? What can you feel (touch)?
  2. Put both feet on the ground and imagine strong, healthy tree roots growing from your soles, right down to the middle of the earth. Feel anchored, strong and supported.
  3. Connect to your breath. Notice your inhales and exhales and slow your breathing down. Count in for 4, hold for 4, out for 4. Try this for about a minute
  4. Literally slow down. Walk more slowly, speak slower, type slower. If it helps, pretend you are underwater and it’s simply not possible to do things quickly.
  5. Think of 3 things you’re grateful for.

Which of these tips do you think would be most useful for you?
And do you have any others to share that have worked well?

Useful Resources

Please get in touch if you’d like my support to manage your stress better!

20 ways to be happier at work in 2020

20 ways to be happier at work in 2020

20 ways to be happier at work in 2020

Try out these 20 small and easy actions to make your time at work much more fulfilling.

 

Define your why. Seek to explore who you are, your reason for being, the impact you have on our world – and why you do what you do.

 

Discover, understand and use your character strengths. Do the VIA Character Strengths survey to find out the ranking of your character strengths, and intelligently apply what you naturally have within you.

 

Ask for feedback. To enhance your performance, let your colleagues know that you value their views and ask them for their input on how you can improve.

 

Be generous. Do kind deeds without expecting anything in return.

 

Be thankful. Bring forward your character strength of gratitude and show others that you appreciate them by saying thank you.

 

Get the support that you need. Whether it’s a mentor, coach, therapist, trusted colleague –having the right kind of support can have a hugely positive impact on your happiness at work.

 

Learn continuously. Activate your character strength of love of learning and attend training sessions that are provided by your employer. Identify any gaps in your knowledge and research appropriate courses. Or simply commit to spending 10 minutes a day learning something new that’s related to your work.

 

Create moments of flow. Plan activities into your day that you are good at and enjoy, in which you are fully invested and where you lose all sense of time.

 

Think in terms of solutions rather than problems. Set a positive intent before starting a task. Focus your attention on the best possible outcome.

 

Set specific goals to strive for and review your successes regularly. Recognise, reward and feel proud of even the smallest of your successes.

 

Make your wellbeing a top priority. See which of your PERMA wellbeing pillars are in balance, and which need attention – and take action now.

 

Strengthen your private relationships. Prioritise time with loved ones who know you and care about you.

 

Strengthen your work relationships. Reconnect with old contacts and actively pursue new ones. Schedule at least one coffee meeting or lunch a week. Join professional associations, volunteer for committees and attend networking events.

 

Protect and maximise your time off. Set clear boundaries of when you finish work for the day, and use your time outside work wisely. Spend regular time doing activities that you really enjoy and that relax you. And make sure that holidays really are holidays.

 

Cultivate positive emotions. Deliberately plan daily activities that spark one of these 10 positive emotions: joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, hope, pride, amusement, inspiration, awe, love.

 

Integrate mindfulness. Consciously create moments where you focus on the present moment. Bring forward your character strength of curiosity and listen to others deeply and with interest; meditate; and eat, breathe and walk mindfully.

 

Work smarter. Plan your week’s activities on Sunday evening. Navigate distractions, even if you have to say no. Plan tasks that require deep concentration at times of day when your performance peaks.

 

Single-task. To avoid cognitive overload and increase your efficiency, stop multi-tasking and focus on one thing at a time. Turn off email and social media alerts and do what you can to reduce all other distractions.

 

Be more playful. Enjoy yourself and see the lighter side of work. Dial up your character strength of humour at work, and use it to encourage your colleagues through challenging situations.

 

Smile!

How to generate positive emotions to improve your wellbeing

How to generate positive emotions to improve your wellbeing

How to generate positive emotions to improve your wellbeing

Here are some simple things we can do to boost our own positive emotions, influence those of others and the many ways in which they can benefit us.

Positive emotions are one of the pillars of the PERMAH wellbeing framework that I utlise with my clients, along with Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, Accomplishment and Health, and can lead to many positive outcomes:

  • being more creative
  • better problem solving
  • being more open to learning
  • better cardiovascular health
  • better coordination
  • maintaining relationships
  • creating new relationships
  • develop higher levels of resilience
  • have a better sense of identity
  • living longer!

As we experience these outcomes, as in an upward spiral, our positive emotions continue to increase! And we can then essentially call on this ‘bank of stored positivity to support us to overcome challenging situations faster.

Have you noticed the positive impact when you’ve experienced positive emotions?

What are examples of positive emotions?

Here are 10 that have been found to be experienced often in our daily lives:

joy
gratitude
serenity
interest
hope
pride
amusement
inspiration
awe
love

When was the last time you felt one of these emotions?
What were you doing?
What else gives you this feeling?

How can you generate positive emotions?

Studies have shown that there are actions you can take that can reliably increase your positive mood for up to 15 minutes:

  • watching an exciting film
  • reading an exciting story
  • reading positive statements about yourself
  • recalling a positive event that you’ve experienced
  • listening to music
  • spending time with a cheerful friend

Do you experience a boost to your mood when you do the above?!
What else can you do to generate positive emotions?

How can you boost the positive emotions of others?

How good does it feel to make others happy, contented and joyful?!

Research shows that by:

  • surprising someone with an unexpected gift, like a coffee or bar of chocolate;
  • giving positive feedback, and;
  • simply by being cheerful and attentive with them…

… you can increase the positive mood of others.

So, what will you do today to help others feel great?!

 

(Reference: Hefferon & Boniwell, 2011)

Useful resources

Here you can read my blog to learn more about the PERMAH framework and how you can use it to improve your wellbeing

– or book a call with me for my support with your wellbeing – I’d love to help you!