Trying to change career by yourself can be frustrating and confusing to say the least. When I was in a similar position I went on a coaching retreat in which I made some fantastic insights and over came some major fears that had been holding me back.
Knowing how powerful this was for me, I have created an inspirational career transitions retreat especially designed for people who want to change career and are feeling stuck, confused, at a crossroads or held back by fear of taking a leap into the unknown.
Click here to find out more about this upcoming career transitions retreat
I look forward to seeing you there!
People often find it difficult to define their ideal work because they can’t imagine the big picture or easily define all the elements that make up the grand vision.
I often liken finding your ideal work to creating a jigsaw without initially having the box with the whole picture on it. Because you don’t have the complete picture to work with you have to become more creative and use different rules, and in the beginning you have to let go of the question “what exactly is this a picture of”? If you think of the finished picture as the overall job title then you can see why people are held back in their discovery process because they try to define their job title first without having all the the pieces that make up the big picture.
Just forget for a moment, the need to know the specific job title on your business card or position in a company and imagine you are in a really fulfilling job. What are all the elements that make up that job? When you build your big picture up from the outside in, you can begin to gradually piece together the different elements that make up your ideal work. These will include:
What does your ideal career jigsaw look like?
To discover your ideal work, join us on this 2-day fun, creative and inspiring Career Transitions Workshop
]]>If you are looking for a high-value, low-cost solution to get you unstuck, highly motivated, confident and moving forward with your career change with a clear purpose and direction, then look no further!
By coming on this two-day Career Transitions workshop you will :
To discover your ideal work, join us on this 2-day fun, creative and inspiring Career Transitions Workshop
I look forward to seeing you there.
Are you good at identifying all of the potential drawbacks of a plan or do you dive in and find out about the problems later?
The direction of your motivation is simply - do you move Towards good things or Away From bad things?
It's important to remember that your motivation may change in different contexts, for example you may have an Away From pattern at work and a Toward pattern in your relationships.
Understanding this about yourself and your team members at work is critical to great communication and team work. People with an Away From motivation can often be seen as overly critical and negative whilst those with a strong Toward motivation can seen as naive by others because they don't consider potential problems with a project or a plan. In any project or team both types have an important role to play in the overall success of a project and the business as a whole.
If you have a toward pattern in a given context, you are focused on your goals and think in terms of goals to be achieved. You are motivated to have, get, achieve and attain and you get excited by your goals. If you have a toward pattern you may have trouble identifying problems with a goal and not take potential obstacles into account.
If you have a away-from pattern your motivation is triggered by solving problems and you will notice what needs to be avoided and got rid of. If you have this pattern you are likely to be energised by deadlines and threats (i.e. the stick as opposed to the carrot). You will be good at troubleshooting, solving problems and pinpointing possible obstacles during planning. Away from people have some difficulties managing priorities because whatever is wrong will attract much of their attention
Think about how you can use this information to understand yourself and your team better.
To discover your true motivations and your ideal work, join us on this 2-day fun,creative and inspiring Career Transitions Workshop
]]>When I'm planning my business strategy or have a new idea for a product or service then It's really important for me to have an objective sounding board for my thoughts and ideas and someone who will gently challenge me to do and be more than I would on my own. It's also a huge motivator to take action on things that you may have been procrastinating on or things that you don't enjoy quite as much as others. It can often be difficult to see beyond our own self-imposed boundaries and a good coach can help you broaden your vision in addition to motivating you to 'just do it' rather than wondering 'what if' and doing nothing about it.
When I first experienced coaching, I found it difficult to see what it was the coach had actually done - one moment I felt confused and lost and the next day I felt that anything was possible, and it was only later when training as a coach myself that understood the HOW and the magic behind the 'conversations'.
Clients say that although friends and family want to help, it's hard for them to be objective and they are often 'advising' from their own personal perspective and values, and can find it difficult to really step into your shoes and ask the right questions. People often say that the same thoughts seem to go round and round in their heads without them ever reaching a conclusion or being able to decide what action to take. Sometimes it can be virtually impossible to find clarity and direction by yourself, you need someone to ask you the questions you haven't asked yourself, help you understand what may be holding you back and motivate you to take action and break through any fears.
So, whatever your profession, experience, skill or business a coach can help to move your forward in the way that's exactly right for you.
If you are looking for a career change and to discover your ideal work, join us on this 2-day fun,creative and inspiring Career Transitions Workshop
For me the word crisis is also quite an emotional word and one that implies some level of urgency about the situation. When we find ourselves in highly (negative) emotional states it can be hard to think clearly and objectively about the choices we have available to us and some often simple, but effective and positive action we could take to move us forward.
Sometimes it can even be difficult to define what we actually mean by a career crisis and personally I find writing down my thoughts and questions and ideas is a great way to determine where the problem actually lies. Why not try writing down what it is that's causing this pain or crisis and what options have that will enable you to change your situation for the better or at least takes positive steps towards it. Who or what can help you?
Ask yourself what does career success really mean for you personally and how could you achieve it? Success is very personal, and we often feel trapped or perhaps fearful by what we imagine to be the global meaning for success - i.e. material wealth, status, moving up the corporate ladder etc. For some people success just means enjoying what they do and looking forward to going to work each day, for others is may mean being home by 6pm everyday to have dinner with their family. Define success on your terms, what does it mean for you?
If you are looking to get out of your career crisis by changing career, join us on this 2-day fun,creative and inspiring Career Transitions Workshop to move you away from crisis and towards clarity and fulfilment.
The films she created were documentary styled interviews of people who were coming to the end of their lives.
One of the interesting things she discovered through conducting these interviews was the fact that most people died with regrets. But oddly enough, these regrets were very rarely about wealth or status.
Their regrets she said, centered around not pursuing a life path that they were truly inspired about. Whether it meant taking better care of their health, devoting more time to their relationships or choosing a more fulfilling career path, most wished that they had trusted their inner urges to live life on their own terms.
In today's fast paced and often stressed-out society it is very easy to lose sight of what's really important. We spend too much of our time striving for greater material gain or status and forget to take time out to reflect on what is really important to us and what makes us happy and fulfilled - very often it's the simple things that bring us the most joy and contentment.
What we often forget is that we do have a choice - we can choose how we spend our leisure time and who we spend it with and we can choose to trust and listen to that small inner voice that guides us so wisely.
What small steps will you take today to move you towards happiness and fulfilment?
Enjoy this moment
To discover your ideal work, join us on this 2-day fun, creative and inspiring Career Transitions Workshop
]]>Career coaching takes into account not just your values, strengths and passions, but also your beliefs and fears around whats possible for you. It also takes into account your current situation and how your career goals fit into other areas of your life too.
When it comes to career advice, I may have some specific industry or professional knowledge that is relevant to your search and discovery and I may have some ideas which I will throw into the mix when you are brainstorming your options, but ultimately my job is help you find your own answers and come to your own conclusions, help you gain confidence, overcome any fears and keep motivated and track with your search. My job is to ask you the powerful questions that you haven't asked yourself, challenge you to move beyond your own self-imposed boundaries and find the work that really will make you leap out of bed each day!
Career advice or career coaching - you decide!!
To discover your ideal work, join us on this 2-day fun,creative and inspiring Career Transitions Workshop
]]>We often use the term 'stuck' as a metaphor to describe how we feel when we are not sure what direction to take. Of course you are not really stuck, you are not a tree rooted to the ground, you are a fully functioning human being, with the ability to think, see, read, write and take action. If you think you have lost your direction you will not find it between EastEnders and Coronation Street or on the beer mat at your local bar! You must take action, and you must make time and space for discovery, awareness and planning your future career. Whatever action you take, it will get you moving in some direction. Often people are afraid of making the wrong decisions and taking the wrong action; how can you know it’s the ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ action until you take it? How can you know that the one tiny step you are resisting taking, will not lead you along the path to a purposeful and fulfilling career?
Imagine yourself on a country walk, or even a mountain one, and you come to a section with 4 or 5 different pathways, you don’t have a map so you have to make a decision based on what you can see, sense and feel and any knowledge you may already have. How will you decide which path to take? If you feel stuck, directionless and refuse to make a decision then you’ll likely still be there when the winter snow falls and buries you under 6 feet of the icy cold stuff – and then you really will be stuck!
If you hate your job, your boss, the company or the responsibilities you have, you are the only person that can do anything about it. Your boss will continue to behave in the same way and your job will likely remain the same unless you take action to change it. I worked with someone at the beginning of the year who had been ‘waiting’ for redundancy. The redundancy had not come and so she had taken some action towards looking for a new job. She came to me again seven months later, feeling ‘stuck’ and I discovered, still ‘waiting’ for redundancy! I asked her how long she was going to wait – 6 months, 6 years or maybe 20?! So then she said, “Well, what if I find another job and then a few months later I find out that my old colleagues have been offered the redundancy I had been waiting for”? Yes, what if? What if they do and what if they don’t? What if your new job potentially offers you a greater package in the next five years than the whole redundancy package AND what if you are also doing work that fulfils you in and environment that you love, that energises you and utilises your skills and talents?
Hmmmmmmm What if? There are no guarantees in life and you can only move forward by taking action, exploring, researching, asking helpful questions and being willing to make changes in your life and in your own behaviour. Of course it's not necessarily easy but from personal experience, I would say it's definitely worth it!
To discover your ideal work, join us on this 2-day fun,creative and inspiring Career Transitions Workshop
]]>1:1 coaching is great at providing this and many people find being held accountable and having the next session booked is a great motivator in itself. I do recognised however that for some people the cost may be prohibitive and you may prefer to work with small groups of people rather than 1:1. For this reason I have created a new 3-month Career Transitions Program as a cost-effective way to receive ongoing career coaching and mentoring. The program consists of 3 half-day workshops, a career transitions workbook and an online forum for support, encouragement and motivation between the workshops. It's a great way to develop yourself and your career and meet others who are on a similar journey.
To discover your ideal work, join us on this 2-day fun,creative and inspiring Career Transitions Workshop