How’s the job going? Not feeling the love anymore?

 

Stuck and wondering where to turn?

 

Well, keep listening as I explain 5 steps to getting unstuck -

 

and getting clear on your career

 

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

 

and how to build a great career along the way.

 

Hello again everybody

 

Thanks for joining me again on the podcast

 

In this episode I’m going to be talking about career clarity

 

What it means to be stuck

 

Why we get stuck in our careers

 

What’s at stake if we remain stuck, and

 

How to get unstuck and moving towards work and a career you’ll love!

 

And, since you’re here, I’m guessing that you’ve either experienced being stuck in your career or maybe you are feeling stuck right now.

 

If that’s the case,

 

Don’t panic, help is at hand.

 

Noticing you’re stuck and wanting to do something about it is the first step.

 

So, how do we get stuck – in either our job or our career?

 

Well, in my experience, getting stuck sort of creeps up on you …

 

Last time you checked your career had been taking care of itself.

 

Maybe you left college and started a job, 

 

that job may or may not have been a logical step from your chosen college degree, but once you had secured the job,

 

Your career has moved along, and all seemed good and dandy,

 

and you didn’t really need to give your career much thought. 

 

Maybe you’ve even achieved a few promotions and there are things you’re proud of.

 

But, to be honest, recently, you’ve been too focused on other things in your life to pay much attention to your job or career.

 

Sure, there’ve been times when you’ve not enjoyed your job, but this is work right, so you’re not expected to enjoy it all the time. Right?

 

More time passes, and at some point, maybe on holiday, at Christmas or around the time of a significant birthday,

 

You start to feel that you no longer enjoy your job and, worse than that, you haven’t got the faintest idea what you should do about it!

 

Alas

 

You’re feeling stuck!

 

More specifically …

 

 

•       You feel unable to move or progress in your career

 

•       You don’t know whether you should look for another job or career

 

•       And, if you did look, you’re not sure what job or career would suit you

 

•       It doesn’t feel like there are any options

 

•       Maybe you’re wondering whether it’s normal to feel this way, and thinking you should just get on with it

 

 

•       Being stuck can feel frustrating and to be honest a bit depressing

 

 

So, this might be you right now, or maybe you felt this way in the past.

 

Or this could happen to you in the future, 

 

so, it’s an important subject for us all

 

•       Because enjoying your job is important, you are going to be spending a long time at work

 

•       When you enjoy your job you are much more likely to be more successful

 

•       You will have better health, including mental health

 

•       And you will have a more positive impact on those around you, your family and friends for example

 

So, career clarity, options for what’s next, and a career plan or strategy for your job and career are vitally important.

 

 

So in today’s podcast, I’m going to give you 5 steps that will help you to get unstuck and get career clarity ….

 

Come on, let’s be ambitious …

 

So

1.      Get in the right mindset

 

You deserve to be in a job you love, and one that will love you back. Why put up with a job you hate or even, for that matter, one that’s mediocre? Life’s too short to compromise on your job choice. This mindset is where it all starts.

 

Being stuck is temporary!

 

Therefore, believing that a better, more enjoyable opportunity is possible for you is essential. 

 

If that’s tough for you at first, consider that your beliefs about what you can and can’t do in your career are simply a collection of thoughts you have accumulated over the years. 

 

Changing your thinking is the first step to changing your beliefs and your mindset. 

 

It’s also important to embrace change. When we are younger, we are much happier with change and when things change around us. As we get older, we typically like change much less.

 

But guess what? Change is all around us. We can’t escape change and if we not actively managing our lives and careers

 

Eventually, change will happen anyway, and, of course, some of this may be unwanted.

 

Therefore, it’s much better to be the author of your own change.

 

And, remember, I’ve said this before. Most of the things we worry about when it comes to career change, the scenarios we can get anxious about – most of these things never show up anyway.

 

By the way Podcasts episodes 17 (5 Career secrets you need to know) and episode 35 (How to overcome fear and take action in your career) are 2 of my podcast episodes I can recommend to help you to deal with you career change mindset.

 

Now with the mindset dealt with ... 

 

Let’s get some movement and create a vehicle for that positive mindset to manifest. We can create movement by,

 

And this is the next second step …

2.      Creating a mini project

 

It’s essential when looking at your career options to give yourself enough time to plan out what’s next. 

 

Most people are passive when it comes to their next job. You do this when you wait for somebody to mention a job you might like or waiting for an email from your favourite job site. 

 

This passive approach drastically reduces your odds of finding a great job.

 

The main reason for this is that is that you’re only passively reacting to what the market has to offer

 

You’re not thinking about what job or career is right for you

 

Without this knowledge, you are reacting blindly to opportunities that you just so happen to notice.

 

I can’t help thinking of the person playing darts,

 

Standing much further away from the dartboard

 

Wearing a blindfold.

 

Imagine trying to hit the wall from that distance and with a blindfold – never mind the dartboard!

 

By creating a mini project, you are taking off your blindfold and moving much nearer to the dartboard.

 

This means creating focussed time to work on your career,

 

Keeping notes of your thoughts and ideas

 

Breaking the steps down into small steps and

 

Consistently taking action towards a better career or job

 

So, create a mini project, set time aside time to research and find a job that will suit you and apply some strategic thinking. This, together with consistent action and a dash of persistence, is your ticket to success. It’s also how you can …

 

And this brings us on to the 3rd step, which is to …

 

The reason why a passive approach to job search is not advised is that you’re not in control of your options, you are simply reacting to what shows up. 

 

Also, part of being stuck is feeling like you don’t have any options, 

 

or the fleeting options you might briefly consider, are dismissed without giving them some thought.

 

A thought comes into your mind that you would love a particular job or career, but no sooner do you have the idea, thab it’s dismissed as unrealistic for some reason and quickly forgotten about.

 

When creating options, you sit down for an hour or so and write down some job and career ideas that might appeal to you without thinking too much about the practicalities at this stage.

 

How do you do this?

 

You’re going to research the type of work you would love to do and the companies you would love to work for.

 

Start to create some options around.

 

-       What roles are you interested in? Describe them and record them in a journal or career planner

 

-       Which organisations do you want to work in? and even,

 

-       What industries are attracting you right now?

 

Once you have started to do this, you will see that ideas and options start to manifest themselves. 

 

Contemplate these, rank them, rate them and 

 

Begin to get excited about what could be next for you.

 

You might also want to listen back to Podcast Episode No 45 - Creating job options outside your current industry/field, how to do it and why it can be liberating.

 

Ok, the next step is to …4.      Refresh your connections

Once you have some options, it’s a good time to start talking to people about what you’re interested in doing next. 

 

Your network can help you to identify opportunities beyond your horizons. Talk to them about your aspirations and what you want next in your career.

 

This is useful for several reasons but principally:

-       Sharing your options with close connections allows you to think through your options. Some options will seem more attractive as you describe them to others and some - less so.

-       Your network can help you to talk to people in roles, organisations and industries that you might be seeking to move into

-       With such a wide reach, your network can more easily spot opportunities that will suit your options

 

We often think that exploring career ideas is a solo mission, but, it’s not. You need to talk to people about what you’re interested in.

Getting out of your comfort zone is a must. You can’t move forward in your career when you’re standing still. 

 

So, create some positive movement in your career by:

 

·      Connecting with people that can help you – you network is the place to start and remember you have to ask for help. 

·      Getting your CV and LinkedIn profile up to date

·      Applying for jobs that closely match the options you identified

·      Preparing like a pro for your interview, and

·      Showing up and impressing at those interviews

 

Just a word of caution.

 

There will be times when your forward momentum takes a knock, a rejection for a job you wanted or when an important connection ‘ghosts’ you. 

 

Instead of feeling dejected, remember why you are seeking a new job and think about the excitement and sense of freedom you will have when you find that job you are seeking. That’s why you need to keep going.

 

Remember, if you can view your career leap as a project, as I mentioned earlier, and keep it from being too personal, it will be easier to deflect any knocks to your confidence as you take the steps to a more satisfying career.

 

You just have to keep going in the direction of a job you will love and a great career.

 

So, there you have it, the 5 things you need to know about a career change. I hope you have found these words helpful. 

 

 

 To recap, to find your next job:

 

-       Get in the right mindset

-       Create a mini project

-       Create some options

-       Refresh your connections

-       Get out there!

Your call to action today is to:

 

Review these 5 steps and make a plan to get started today to find a job that you will love!

 

The key thing is to make a plan and take action to make that plan work.

So, I hope that all makes sense.

 

Please let me know what you think about the content

 

Feedback 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:

 

And to remind you that you can download your free Should I stay or should I go guide at

 

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 I will speak to you all again in 2 week’s time

 

Bye for now.