Crossing That Career Crossroad
A number of women I coach come to me because they're at a career crossroads. Should they stay in their job and go for a promotion? Should they shift sideways but to a different industry or company? Should they leave their job and go and start a business? WHAT should they actually do?
Knowing what you want to do, vocation wise, is probably one of the most difficult things you will face as 'what' you do is at the core of 'who' you are. There are a number of people who never find out what they're meant to do in this world (as hard as they try to figure it out). There are others who do know deep down, but daren't take the risk. There are some who do know and are living it, and then there are others who are happy to just earn a salary. In other words, they don't really mind what they do as long as they are earning.
All of these situations are ok. I am not judging you for what you decide. But what's not ok is when your career/job/vocation (call it what you will) makes you unhappy. Life is too damn short for unhappiness especially considering you spend the majority of your waking hours at work.
I know from experience when someone is happy in their career, they shine. They beam. They give off a great vibe. They're nice to be around. No one wants to hang around a Moaning Minnie...
I remember my Career's Advisor at school. OMG - her guidance was bad. Actually she probably had zero training, but she had plenty of phamphlets - all of which she thrust in my direction. Did she help me find out what I wanted to do with my life? No. I had to figure that one out myself. Luckily I found my career path in my 30's so it could have been worse - I could be still sitting here twiddling my thumbs wondering what I really should be doing. Finding my career path wasn't for the feint hearted. I had to let everything go - and I mean everything including a really well paid job, the city I was living in, my friends, my gorgeous apartment, my lifestyle.
My career path kindof came by accident. I moved to Queenstown in NZ which was tiny with NO TRAFFIC LIGHTS, and I was used to city living. I was way overqualified and jobs were sparse. The good marketing jobs that did come up were already destined for someone in-house so they were simply going through the motions. So I did jobs that I never thought I'd do just to earn an income. I worked as a legal secretary, I worked in a cafe, I worked as a PA for a Hotel GM, I worked in the film industry, I sold art, I sold furniture and then, someone asked me to mentor someone in business because I used to offer my services as a mentor during my free time in Sydney. And something just clicked. I loved it. They loved it. And at that moment I knew I wanted to do more.
That spark of finding something that I loved and which resonated (I love helping people), sparked something else. The desire to do more mentoring. And the more mentoring I did, the more I realised that actually, what I really wanted to do was coach people to find and live a life and vocation they truly loved. In essence, seeing people in their own power, feeling fulfilled, successful, super grounded (as in connected and in their body - not just their heads), and walking their own path makes me really happy. I love to see people follow their bliss, to see them lit up and shining bright! And you know, I had to walk that path first. I couldn't work with people in this capacity if I hadn't experienced this transformation myself.
With a bit of reorganisation I started to work for myself as a marketing consultant and as an intuitive coach (I'd been working on developing my intuition for many years) whilst investigating a professional coaching training course. And that's when my husband-to-be magically appeared.
So here I am today, living in London. Life had taken an unexpected, but completely amazing and heartfelt, turn.
That's the thing with life. When you start filling it with the things you love and which resonate at a deep level, other things happen too. It's like a frequency or a vibration is evoked that has your best interest at heart. But you have to make a start somewhere and that somewhere has to start with YOU.
- What do you love? (Crazy isn't it but I never used to ask myself what I loved)
- What lights you up?
- What comes naturally to you?
- Why do you do what you do right now? Is it the money? The convenience??
- What did you used to do as a child?
- What are you most afraid of when it comes to your career?
- What do you most dream of?
This is where you have to start. Ask yourself these kind of questions and be super honest with yourself when it comes to the answer.
Life ain't a dress rehearsal so don't wait for that day when you are forced to make a decision - because humans are great at that. Somehow we set things up for ourselves where we're forced into making a decision or the decision is taken out of our hands. For example, you're made redundant or you become ill. Don't let it come to that. Make some headway yourself and GO THERE. Make an intention that you are on the way to finding your vocation and spend some time on this. Don't put yourself down the bottom of the pecking order like lots of us women do! Make YOU and your career a priority.
If you’re at a career crossroads or if you want to explore your career options, a coaching session will really help reveal your natural ability and talent so that you’re able to make a transition easily and effortlessly to what you’d ultimately really love and comes naturally to you. Why wait?