As a career coach, I get a lot of questions this time of year from people looking to change their careers in the year to come. If you are thinking the same thing, I’ll give you a simple, yet powerful tool here to get started today.
Most people think you have to start big with a career change, but ironically a small practice of checking in with yourself often will help you get more than you realise. How you ask? It’s easier than you think!
I’ve personally never been very into mediation (if you already practise and love it, keep doing it!), but I’ve discovered another helpful practice that works well for me and many of my clients.
- Think of a time of day/week when you tend to have 2-5 minutes to yourself. It does not have to be the same time every day or week, but it has to be a few minutes that are just yours. It could be on your morning/evening commute, right before you go to bed, waiting in line at the grocery store or anywhere else.
- Set an alarm for ‘career check in’ on your phone for the next 3 occasions. It takes reminders to form a new habit and by setting an alarm you won’t miss it! For example: if you normally take the 7:30 train to work, set the alarm for 7:35 for the next few days to do your basic career check in.
- Ask yourself 3 key questions. Work takes up a big part of our time and energy, but change (both positive and negative) can be very gradual. By asking simple questions to check in with yourself, you can get a better feel for what’s actually going on and subtle changes day by day.
- On a scale from 1 – 10, how am I feeling about my work today? (10=happy and contributing, 1=deeply unhappy)
- Did the tasks and people I come across today align with my values? If you have not yet outlined your personal values, you can register and do a simple exercise for free here to find out what they are.
- If you had something particularly challenging happen during your work day you might also want to ask yourself: What learning am I taking with me from that?
The self check in is a very simple way to monitor what is happening in your work life. You can take notes of your answers if you want, but you don’t have to. It can be helpful to write your answers down in the notes section of your phone or record a simple voice memo, so that you can go back in time later and compare where you were at and what’s happened since.
I’ve found these simple questions very helpful in staying connected to not only what’s happening in your world right now, but also to help you navigate where you are heading. If you feel ready to have a chat about what comes next, make sure to get in touch with me!