You can’t move forwards when you are looking backwards,

Right?

Wrong!

 

In this episode,

 

What can we learn about ourselves and about the possibilities for our careers by taking time to look backwards? 

 

And the good news is, this is much easier than you might imagine ..

 

how you can enjoy what you are doing day each day at work

 

and how to build a great career along the way.

 

Hi again, and a very warm welcome. If you are a new listener, I hope you enjoy the show and find the content useful and if you are a returning listener welcome back.

 

Thanks also to the many positive responses I have had to the podcast and for the reviews and feedback. Thanks, in particular to those that have taken time to leave feedback for me on Apple podcasts.

 

So, in this episode, I’m going to be discussing why it’s a great idea to look back on your career and reflect on the milestones, significant events, the decisions you have taken and … what you’ve learned along the way. This can be very helpful for you in navigating the path towards an enjoyable, rewarding and satisfying career.

 

That’s because in our careers we are often focussed on the future, the next thing, the next opportunity, the next project… even the next appraisal with your boss. Perhaps the one time we do briefly look back is when we are preparing our CV.

 

And, to a certain extent, that’s great, having a future focus and career momentum is terrific for your career. And, also, it’s hard to move forward in your career when you are preoccupied with thinking about the past. And, yes, looking at your CV is good…. it’s a start, but this is the version of your career you want the world to see. What’s more helpful is the version of your career history that represents what is meaningful or …. is significant to you…including what you learned from what didn’t go so well.

 

So, today I’m talking about how you can reflect on your career journey and use this to enhance the possibilities for your career in the future.

 

And, I’m going to explain the benefits of looking into your career and a simple way that you can do this. This episode is very practical so I will have some key takeaways for you to look forward at the end.

 

So, first things first, why is looking back so important in your career?

Why not stay future-focused and trust yourself that you will make good career decisions? You’re doing pretty well to date, right?....

 

Well, firstly, it can be very helpful to see where you are in your career in the context of a wider span of time. We can often be very much in the here and now or future focussed, and we can easily forget the positive aspects of our history. Such as:

 

-       The challenges we have overcome

-       The success we have had in education, our career and in life

-       The good decisions we have made

-       The times when we have been happiest

 

In addition, we can also miss opportunities to reflect on when things didn’t go as well for us

 

-       The setbacks we have had

-       The decisions which on reflection we might not have taken

-       The times when we have been unhappy or less satisfied in our career/life

 

 

And perhaps the most important reason is that we don’t often take time to connect the dots in our careers and looking back can help us to do this. And I am going to show you a technique that will help you to do this.

 

So you can see ..

 

-       The themes you notice in your career

-       The major turning points

-       How have you coped with disappointment?

-       How do you characteristically manage change?

 

And finally. Looking back actually reminds us of what we’ve already done, what we have achieved, and this can be a massive boost to your confidence just when you are looking at your career options.

 

So, I have given you some benefits of looking back, and …

 

There are a number of different ways that you can undertake a career review and I’m going to suggest a simple one that works really well. What I’m suggesting you do is a Career Timeline exercise. 

 

So to make this easy you can pause the podcast while you download the exercise and the instructions for free from the show notes at https://www.bravocoaching.co.uk/podcast. 

 

So, you can work along with me now or think about the exercise for when you come to do it later or simply use this opportunity to reflect with me. Whatever works for you is perfect.

 

So, here are the instructions and I promise you they are simple and easy to follow.

 

First, on your notetaking device, pen and paper, app, whatever, make a note of the key milestones and significant events in your adult life so far.

 

Further education or Apprenticeship or University dates

First job

Next job

Periods of unemployment

If you have worked in one organisation for a while the roles you have had in that organisation

Record all the main milestones and significant events

 

Now I also want you to make a note of any significant events that have occurred in your career.

Projects that went well, or not so well

The arrival of a new boss

Teams where you’ve thrived or barely survived

Your first management or leadership role

Promotions, demotions and anything else that feels significant

 

Now go back over your list and consider each one. I’m going to give you a minute here! 

Put a + or – next to the milestone to signify satisfaction, positivity (+), or those times which were difficult or unpleasant (-)

 

Now, with a new blank page in landscape orientation, draw a straight line across the middle of the paper. 

Note down your current age at the right end of this horizontal line.

On the left-hand side of the line add a vertical (or y) axis for plus and minus.

 

Now, plot on the different milestones and events as either positive or negative against the appropriate time on your axis and connect up the points you have marked. 

Use the vertical axis to grade your positive and negative events. Now join up the events, or join the dots as I like to say.

 

You should now have a line that resembles a jagged mountain skyline with ups and downs, some milestones may be below the horizontal date axis and some above it. Some parts may be flatter.

 

OK, well done. Sit with that for a while and contemplate it while we take a quick break.

 

After the break, we’ll take look at how we can use the career timeline to help you move forward in your career.

 

 

Welcome back.

 

So, you have drawn your timeline and in this second half of the show, I’m going to help you to interpret your milestones. And use this information to make sure your career is pointing in the right direction.

 

First, I want you to annotate your timeline. I want you to add the following:

 

S = a point of stress

L is a point of learning 

C = a time of change 

GD = a good decision

? is a questionable decision

A is a satisfying achievement

 

I will repeat that again, and if you are using the free sheet at https://www.bravocoaching.co.uk/podcast you will see all this information is shown there.

 

Finally, make any adjustments to your timeline to make it feel right for you. Only you will see this so don’t worry about it looking pretty.

 

Now having done that we need to reflect on your timeline

 

Write down your thoughts about the following questions

 

Are there any themes you notice?

What have been the major turning points in your life and career?

How have you coped with disappointment?

How do you characteristically manage change?

In which direction is your career heading?

What have you learned about yourself by doing this exercise?

 

 

Now, let’s look at some practical takeaways from this exercise.

But first, well done if you are stayed with me and completed your timeline.

So, what are the practical takeaways? 

Well, first of all, looking at your high points, what was it about those milestones, events and periods that were positive for you? Was it that you were:

 

-       Working with some interesting people?

-       Was it the work itself that you enjoyed?

-       Was it how you were managed at work?

-       Or was it something else?

 

Now, I want you to reflect on those less enjoyable events or experiences. What was it about these parts of your timeline that you didn’t enjoy?

 

Sometimes it’s easier to see by looking back what, with the benefits of hindsight, what was going for us at the time.

 

Next, I want you to think about your response to things not going the way you would have wanted.

 

Most people have much more resilience than they think. So, recognise all the resilience where it shows up on your timeline and feel proud of how you have coped with what didn’t go so well as well as what did.

 

In my work as a career coach, I have noticed that we tend to think the worst when it comes to change situations in our career. For example, an organisational restructure, a reduction in income into the company or even when we think about changing our job. All these situations can prompt us catastrophise. 

 

Reflecting on your resilience where it shows up on your timeline, the times when you bounced back, turned something negative into a positive, how does this now make you feel about any challenges that may show in the future?

 

You see, the likelihood is that you have got all the resilience you need to be able to deal with whatever shows up in your career.

 

And finally, and perhaps most importantly, I want you to see that your timeline looking backwards is now written. But, you have the ability to shape your future timeline. You shape it by:

 

-       The mindset you adopt

-       The actions you take

-       The empowering interpretations you place on the things that happen to you in your career

 

It’s all to play for and writing an exciting and enjoyable future career timeline can start today.

 

What can you do today to make sure your future timeline reflects what you want from your job and career.

 

Could you make some work adjustments?

 

Do you need to speak to your boss about some changes you would make to your role?

Or do you want to look at some other options for your career?

 

Whatever you choose to do,  I would love to hear your story and your reflections on your own career journey and your timeline experience so please do contact me.

 

Also, please let me know is this work is inspiring you to make some changes to your career, whether they be big or small changes. I would love to hear about your story.

 

Please let me know what you thought about the content

In my career coaching, I ask my clients to produce a timeline. I will add the exercise in the show notes for you to do. I would encourage this.

 

As this is a new podcast, feedback really does help me to shape future episodes, and make the content as relevant and helpful as possible.

 

You can email me at mark@bravocoaching.co.uk and you can find the show notes at bravocoaching.co.uk/podcast 

 

 

If you are interested in working with me, you can book a free discovery call on my website, here: https://www.bravocoaching.co.uk/30-minute-coaching-discovery-call

 

And to remind you that you can download your free Should I stay or should I go guide at https://www.bravocoaching.co.uk/go

 

If you have enjoyed the podcast, I would love for you to share the episode with a friend or share on your social media. It would also really help me if you could leave me a review on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you download your episodes.

 

And if you haven’t already subscribed, why not do that now before you forget.

 

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Have a wonderful week and I will speak to you again in a couple of weeks time.

 

Bye for now.