Thoughts from a career coach…
Change doesn't have to happen in one fell swoop.
This time of year, we're bombarded with messages about dramatic transformation. Lose 20 pounds! Give up carbs! Quit your soul-sucking job!
On one level, birthdays are meaningless, right? It's just another day in our made-up human calendar, albeit with more cake and cards.
AND, these punctuation marks in our lives help us stop and take stock.
I heard this term from a guest on Simon Sinek’s podcast (performance coach Mike Gervais) and LOVE that there is a now a word to describe such a universal human experience.
We are conditioned to fear negative judgement from others and avoid rejection. For our hunter gatherer ancestors, it would have meant certain death to be side-lined by the tribe. The lamb on the outside of the flock is the one most likely to be devoured by a hungry wolf.
The rise of AI isn't the threat to your career – stagnation is.
I get it. The prospect of major changes and potential job losses can feel overwhelming and keep you feeling stuck in uncertainty. I find this stuff unsettling myself and have certainly, at times, had those “we’re all doomed” moments in the middle of the night.
Until recently, it tended to be the case that one informed the other. The more motivated I am in my work, the more I get done. Not so, now with AI, which can help us become FAR more productive, BUT at the cost of our overall motivation.
Where are you feeling your breath right now? The answer to this question is surprisingly illuminating and has implications for your wellbeing…
Things I’m learning about career change from our latest Launch Pad..
The shared experience is a huge accelerator. When people with similar challenges team up, they’re far greater than the sum of their parts.
My family and I went for a wander in this gorgeous bluebell wood at the weekend, and it struck me how they are the perfect metaphor for a successful career transition.
One of the phrases I hear most often in my conversations with budding career changers is “I just fell into this…” (their current line of work).
If you’re saying this to yourself now, I’ve got news for you. You didn’t “fall into” this. At some point down the line, you made a decision.
There has been much scaremongering in recent years about the threat of AI to our jobs and careers.
Earlier this year the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) warned of a “jobs apocalypse” with almost 8 million UK jobs at risk as companies take up generative AI technologies.
What, in your life and work, is it time to put to rest?
Death and decay are an integral part of the ecosystem, and without them, there can be no renewal or fresh life.
If we hold on to whatever’s no longer serving us, we don’t make space for those green shoots to poke out of the earth.
If you notice yourself…
Complaining about work every time you go out with friends…
Spending half the weekend dreading Monday morning…
Counting the days to the weekend, and the weeks to your next holiday…
… then now’s the time to take action and there’s no time to waste.
❓If we put up with a career that is making us miserable...
❓If we sacrifice our own dreams at the altar of parenthood...
❓If we spend all day complaining about our jobs in their presence, without taking action...
Here in the UK we’re in a crisis of career happiness, with a shocking 90% of employees reporting that they feel disengaged in their work, according to Gallup’s latest State of the Global Workforce report.
I used to feel like a caged animal on sunny Summer days like today.
Cooped up in an air-conditioned enclosure, I longed to prowl free in the fresh air.
A career change can feel like one hell of a mountain to climb. So many people barely make the first foothills.
So what can you do if it feels too daunting a prospect?
I’m pondering this question having spent the past hour doing last-minute planning for my son’s summer holiday childcare.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve joked with my fellow Reception parents – most of us new to this role – that I feel I’ve taken on a new job as Celebrity PA, negotiating the social calendar of my temperamental little VIP, liaising with his “people” and venues to ensure a full diary.
I have to admit, I was a bit unsure when my partner suggested digging up our little grassy garden and chucking down a load of wildflower seeds instead, but look at it now!
It got me thinking about our work and how, so often, we can be conditioned to think we need to do the sensible, conventional thing – to be a neat and controlled lawn – when actually there is so much colour and variety available if we let our wild selves go.
What do you do if you want to make a career change, but your current job sucks up all your energy? 😞
It’s a bind, right?
The reason you want to shift is also the reason you feel you can’t!
Either work is hijacking your time or is sapping any willpower you may have had, so you find it hard to take even small steps in a new direction.
In this situation, a “bridge job” can be a great strategy.