Career Crisis?! It's not your fault

Many clients and people that I speak to about their careers, find it difficult to believe, deep down,  that they really do deserve to enjoy their work. They are often given 'helpful' comments and 'advice' by friends, family and colleagues, such as "Work is not meant to be enjoyed, no-one really enjoys their job" or "There's no such thing as your ideal work, just be grateful you have a job" or even "You'll never be able to make a living doing 'that', best stick with what you know". You know deep down that this is not the 'truth', but still ...................

I have found also that people feel guilty or give themselves a hard time because they don't know what direction to take or what their ideal job could be. It's really important to remember IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT!! Whatever help and advice you did or didn't get when you left school or college has taken you to where you are now - for better or worse and for richer or poorer - and this is where you are starting from right now. Whatever directions you have taken in the past will all serve you to some extent in creating your desired future. So, believe that you can and do deserve to do the work you love and set yourself a plan for how you will achieve it and who you will need to help you.

It can be tough and confusing to try to change career without professional help and support.

If you are looking for a career change and not sure which direction to take then come and  join us on this 2-day fun, creative and inspiring Career Transitions Workshop or weekend Career Transitions Retreat

Good luck and enjoy the journey.

Powerful Career Questions

Part of a coaches' role is to ask powerful questions. Often the reason people find themselves in that 'stuck' state is because they keep asking themselves the same, often unresourceful questions over and over. Usually the least resourceful questions are the 'WHY' questions. "Why do I hate my job", "Why can't I be happy in my job", "Why is finding my ideal work so hard" or even "Why doesn't my ideal job just miraculously appear!". The problem with these 'Why' questions is that they don't really help you move forward in any way and are note encouraging you to take responsibility and to take action.

It is always more powerful to ask yourself (or others) 'what' or 'how' question: "What options do I have?", "How can I make my current work more enjoyable?", "What do I need to do to get this promotion?" or "How would my coach/mentor/hero/idol approach this problem?". These type of questions will actually get you thinking more creatively and about how you can move forward in your career.

Make a list of all the 'what' and 'how' questions that you could think of that would help you get 'unstuck'.

To discover your ideal work, join us on this 2-day fun, creative and inspiring Career Transitions Workshop or weekend Career Transitions Retreat

What to do, when you don't know what to do!

Many people ask me, "but how can you help me if I don't know what I want to do". Well, the answers are in the questions! Somewhere deep inside you really do know what you want to do, but are help back by fears, limiting beliefs and 'conditioning' from your earlier years around what work you 'should' be doing or what work is considered safe and reliable or follows a specific career path. Through the process of listening and asking powerful questions I can help you to discover what it is you really want to, what resources you will need to do it and deal with what ever's holding you back from achieving it.

Also, many people say they would love to make a big career change, but are not prepared to make any sacrifices in their life in order to achieve it. Perhaps this may tell you just how much you really want it, or perhaps there is just some underlying fear that stops you believing you can have it and still be happy in fulfilled in other areas of your life. This is one area where a coach can help you elicit your values, help you discover what's really important to you and what your values are. Many people are worried about earning 'enough' money, but when you work with them on their values, very often money doesn't appear at all or it has a very low priority.

People often feel stuck because they continue to do the same things, adopt the same behaviour and ask themselves the exact same questions. What could you do differently today to help you move in your desired direction? What new questions could you ask yourself?

To discover your ideal work, join us on this 2-day fun, creative and inspiring Career Transitions Workshop or weekend Career Transitions Retreat

Why New Year resolutions don't work!

Did you set any 'resolutions' this year? Have you set them in previous years and found despite your initial resolve that within a few weeks or days or even hours, all good intentions have disappeared, you've labelled yourself a failure (again) and you're left wondering how you will ever lose that weight/get fit/change career/learn Spanish!

From my own personal and professional experience, here are some of the reasons that New Year resolutions don't work and some tips on making them more achievable:

1. Be clear and specific on what you want and why you want it (i.e. the value behind the goal). For example if you are looking to lose weight, then your goal might be to be 9.5 stone by 1st March 2007. It's really important to know what that goal will get for you - i.e. confidence, great health, more energy etc. Make a list of the things that your goal will get for you (really dig deep here) and then choose one thing from that list that really resonates with you, one thing that stands out above all others. This is what drives your goal, this is what will keep you motivated towards your goal.

2. Do you believe you can achieve it? Now it's time to be really honest, what do you believe about yourself in relation to your goal/resolution? It you are looking to retrain for a new career, you may hold beliefs such as:

• I'm not intelligent enough
  
  
• I'm too old/too young
  
  
• I can never make a living doing this
  
  
• My parents would disapprove
  
  If deep down you hold unresourceful beliefs about your goal, you will most certainly struggle to achieve it and will sabotage your own efforts to do so.

3. Resources. Be clear about what resources you need to achieve your goal, what support do you need and how will you get it. This could be in the form of money, training, people (coach/mentor/friend/family), books or personal skills and strengths.

4. Enjoy it. Finally it's important that we enjoy achieving it. If it's a constant struggle and we're not motivated towards doing it then it has little chance of success. Think about how you can make your goal fun, interesting, motivating and achievable.

So, now what do you want to achieve this year?

Have you met your New Year career resolutions yet?

Are you are still looking to change career and not sure which direction to take or lacking the courage to change?

To discover your ideal work, join us on this 2-day fun, creative and inspiring Career Transitions Workshop or weekend Career Transitions Retreat

Career Direction

I recently came across a survey from another site regarding people's careers, where they are currently and where they want to be. From this survey it seemed that most people ranked their career as important or very important and yet very few had actually set career goals or had a clear direction or vision for where they wanted their career to go. And of course, if you don't know where you're going then how will you know how to get there and if you've even arrived?! 

Research has shown that that one of the keys to success is having clear, positively stated goals and outcomes. This applies to anything from long-term career objectives through to a particular result that you want to achieve from a meeting. Before being coached and learning to coach, I had never written any specific goals for myself - around money, relationships, career etc, and it certainly wasn't something I learned at school or home. Working with a coach to actually define what my goals were and the resources I would need to achieve them has given me an enormous amount of clarity in all areas of life and a much greater confidence in actually achieving them. It also gives you a tool by which you can measure your progress, check whether you are still on track and make any adjustments necessary to remain focused and on-target.

There are lots of different resources available for goal-setting, but I find it really helps to work with someone else when you are doing, as they will probably ask you more challenging questions than you would ask yourself and it helps to keep you accountable. So maybe the first step to a fulfilling career to really define what you want; it's a good idea to look at all areas of your life to ensure they are congruent with each other. For example, does a goal of earning £1m in the next year fit in well with a goal of spending more time with your family or more time for recreation?

So, get goal setting - need any help then, drop me an email.

Looking to change career and not sure which direction to take?

To discover your ideal work, join us on this 2-day fun, creative and inspiring Career Transitions Workshop or weekend Career Transitions Retreat