Insights
Sharing inspiration, insight and interesting ideas
Are you thinking about the next step in your career but finding it tricky? Feeling Stuck? Uncertain?
As a career and leadership coach, I understand just how challenging these transitions can be. Barriers can feel deeply personal and internal (indecision, mindset, confidence, fear & anxiety) or seem more external (you were perfectly happy but are now facing redundancy, being overlooked for promotion, have been interviewing but not getting offers).
Career change can feel challenging, but it’s also an opportunity to pause, reflect, and reset.
It can be an exciting, enlivening, and life-affirming time.
Whether you are at a career crossroads right now, have a softer focus on the next step in your career, or feel content for now but enjoy reflection. I hope you find this blog useful.
The best questions are often short, simple, and powerful. If you are at a career crossroads right now, this little question might prompt a physical reaction. Fidgeting - a physical outlet for the discomfort of uncertainty, tightness in your throat, or a drop in your stomach. It’s not just emotional, your nervous system is essentially saying, “We don’t have a map right now, and someone’s asking for directions.”
Even if your next step is obvious or not a priority right now, this question will always bring something to the surface.
Before you begin trawling through job ads, take a pause and think about where you’re headed and what you really want. What do I want in my career? What do I want in my life?
Our value systems change over time; what felt important 10 years ago, 5 years ago, 6 months ago... might not feel so important now. As we have new experiences, evolve, and choose to use our energy in different ways, our value system reconfigures itself.
Sometimes we feel a lack of congruence in our lives and careers because we haven’t noticed this.
I often describe core values as a ‘helpful compass’ which can guide you towards or away from fulfilment. What matters most?
In times of change, rising demands, and mounting pressures - whether from within or without - our confidence can falter. Career transitions are a time of uncertainty, and our central nervous system tends to react to that. Our brains want to figure things out quickly so we can feel certain and safe again.
This is also a time in our lives that requires us to venture outside our comfort zone and step up. It can be a time of significant inner tension and turmoil. And an incredibly exciting and buzzy time. Am I growing or shrinking through this experience? Am I fully owning my strengths and abilities? What do I need so I can be my best self?
Your body is talking to you all the time, but in a different language from your mind. If you listen closely, your body is guiding you, answering the questions that have been keeping you up at night, making requests of you, sending you signals, and offering you a truckload of intelligence that we can harness as we navigate a career transition.
How we interpret the signals and work with the body is an often underrated key to success. Listening for resonance and dissonance within the body can be a great way to build more self-awareness and keep us on the track to fulfilment.
What is my body communicating to me? How am I taking care of my body? How am I responding to the sensations and physical reactions?
Am I stuck or taking action? It seems like a simple question, but often the answer isn’t clear. We might be avoiding action altogether. Thinking about the problem but not moving forward. Doing stuff - but not doing the right things at the right time. Feeling too scared to make a move in case it’s the wrong one.
When we wind up stuck, for whatever reason, we will often make up a story to justify not making a move or decision. Avoiding action doesn’t keep you neutral; it actively shapes the outcome, usually by default or through letting circumstances decide for you. What am I avoiding?
You don’t have to figure out your next career step on your own. Book your free discovery call to explore how we could work together and whether coaching is right for you.
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If you'd like to find out about 1-to-1 career change & development programmes, or coaching for your team/organisation get in touch bev@aumida.com or click here to book a call.
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