How To Gain Career Clarity

I’m in a quandary. I have a simple yet difficult question I’ve been asking myself.

Do I recruit AND coach OR do I let go of recruiting and just coach? Recruiting has been a part of who I am, my identity, for a long time. And I don’t hate it. In fact, there is much of it that still gets me excited. Yet, when I am doing one-on-one coaching or group programs and events, I feel like this is exactly where I want to be all the time.

Perhaps, you have a similar quandary.

Do I stay in my current company or switch to a different company?

Do I stay on my current career path or find a whole new one?

Do I stay in my comfortable corporate job or launch my own thing?

Do I retire or keep working?

These can be difficult questions to ask because it’s not necessarily all bad where you’re at and change is scary.

Will I move from the frying pan to the fire?

Will the new career fulfill me?

Will I be able to have a livable income doing my own thing?

Would I regret retiring now and not sticking away a bit more money in my 401k and using my company’s benefits?

Clear as Mud

I get it because I’m there right now. No clear insights yet. No clear signs have come. You feel unsettled but are not sure what to do about it.

Know that this is OK. When you feel unsettled it just means that things are not fully clear yet. Now is not the time for making big decisions or taking big action steps. Now is the time for the inner moves.

And I have just the exercise that can help clear away the mud.

Try This:

Have Pen and Paper Handy

Part I: Your Current Career

Step 1. Close your eyes and take 3 deep breaths.

Step 2. Imagine that you’re doing what you’re doing right now. You wake up and follow your daily routine. You work where you work. You do the work you’ve been doing with the people you’ve been doing it with. You earn what you’ve been earning. Take time off like you’ve been doing. . Wear what you normally wear. You are following the path that naturally comes with staying where you are now.

Once you feel complete move to Step 3.

Step 3. Check-in with your body gauge and notice what is happening. What does it feel like? Do you feel energized or drained? What other thoughts came up? Did you see areas that that with some adjustments things could be really good? Or was it clear that you can’t keep doing what you are doing?

Once you have felt all the feels move to Step 4.

Step 4. Grab your pen and paper and journal about this experience. Capture your current work routine. Write about your feelings. Write about the thoughts that came up, the ideas that may have been generated, the fears that surfaced.

Write until you’re complete and then move to Step 5.

Step 5. Stand up and move your body. We want to switch gears. We’re going to go into a different sort of imagining. Stretch your body. Shake out your body. Walk. Clench and unclench your muscles. Move that experience out of your body and mind.

Once you feel empty of Part 1 of this exercise move on to Part II.

Part II: Your New Career

Step 1. Again, close your eyes and breathe in deeply three times.

Step 2. This time imagine that you are in a new company or in your own company or in a new role or retired. What is your new routine? What are you wearing? Where are you sitting? Who are you with? What do you see around you? What are you doing? What are you earning?

Step 3. Check-in with your body gauge. What does it feel like? Do you feel energized or drained? What other thoughts came up? Did you see areas that that with small adjustments might be improved? Or was it clear that you can’t keep doing what you are doing? Brainstorm everything you can possibly think of in your new situation. Think Big. Go crazy!

Once you feel complete move to Step 3.

Step 4. Grab your pen and paper and journal about that experience. Write about your feelings. Write about the thoughts that came up, the ideas that may have been generated, the fears that surfaced. Write until you’re complete and then set the pen and paper aside.

Part III:

Step 1. Pull back out your pen and paper and, having just “lived” both experiences what do you feel now? What is clear? What does this mean knowing what you know now? What changes might be required?

Step 2. Write down 1 thing you know you must do to have either Experience 1 or Experience 2 at the 10 you imagined.

Getting clear makes everything feel like a 10!

If, through this exercise, you realized that where you are at is where you want to be for now. Fantastic! I hope you feel reignited!

If, through this exercise, you gained clarity that it is the right time for a change. Fantastic! Now let’s figure out how you are going to get there.

Option 1: Did you discover you are ready to switch jobs or companies? Then sign up for Take Charge One-on-One Coaching.

Option 2: Did you discover that it’s time for a new career, to start your own business or make a plan for retirement? Then sign up for True Nature One-On-One Coaching.