Have you fallen out of love with your job?
Maybe there wasn’t much of that to start with,
And now …
You’re stuck and wondering where to turn?
Well keep listening as I explain 5 steps to getting unstuck -
and getting clear on your career
Hello and a very warm welcome to Episode No 92 of ‘Your Bravo Career’
My name is Mark Crossfield, I’m a Professional Career Coach helping you to love your job and build a great career.
This podcast is about why your career matters
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, Episode 92, I’m going to be talking about
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 the first place, 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’ve even achieved a few promotions and there’s 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!
• unable to move or progress in your career
• You don’t know whether you should start looking for another job or career
• And, if you did look, you’re not sure what job or career would suit you anyway
• 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
We spend a long time at work don’t’ we.
And we know that,
• When you enjoy your job, you are much more likely to be successful
• You will have better health, including mental health
• And you’ll have a more positive impact on those around you, your family and friends for example
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 …
5 things you can do right now to help you find a job you’ll love.
So, let’s get straight into it ..
First things first,
it’s important to –
And this is the first step …
1. Get in the right mindset
And what is that right mindset?
Well, the career mindset is made up of 3 sub-mindsets which I will explain.
First up, the Responsibility Mindset:
This is all about owning your career path.
Taking charge of your career and not leaving what happens to you to other people or to chance.
If it’s going to be it’s up to me.
You are responsible for your career.
Next, the Possibility Mindset:
This mindset encourages you to stay open to the idea that positive change in your career is possible.
Change is not just possible it’s possible for you.
Being open to that idea is what I’m talking about here.
Lastly, the Growth Mindset.
What does a Growth Mindset look like? Well, with this mindset you embrace challenges, for example a career change, and view them as opportunities for growth.
You’re not afraid of setbacks, because you see the effort you are making as being a journey you are on.
That journey is not a straight-line but nor are the setbacks a reflection on who you are.
Because you have a growth rather than a fixed mindset you see career change as much more of an adventure rather than a hurdle.
So, bringing these mindsets together, into some sort of mindset cocktail,
We have a powerful, combined career mindset that is proactive, optimistic, and adaptive.
This gives you confidence, resilience, and a clear vision for success.
And
Challenges become stepping stones towards a much better place in your career.
OK, let’s get onto the next step in our 5 steps.
And the second step is to
2. Creating a mini project
When contemplating your next career move approach it as if you're starting a mini project.
By doing this you give yourself a structured framework allowing you to set aside regular time to focus on your career.
This focused time helps prevent daily distractions from getting in your way
Keep a journal or digital document where you can note down your thoughts, insights, and findings.
This will help you to track your progress and adjust your approach as needed.
You can also break your work into smaller, manageable tasks.
For instance, one session could be dedicated to identifying industries that interest you, another to researching companies in those industries, and another to networking with professionals in those fields.
So, creating a mini project keeps you consistent and on track,
It’s also how you can …
And this brings us on to the 3rd step, which is to …
3. Create some options
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,
When creating options, you are sitting down for an hour or so and writing down some job and career ideas that might appeal to you,
without thinking too much about the practicalities at this stage.
To get started,
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 for? 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, the 4th one, is to … 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 connections can help you to talk to people in roles, organisations and industries that you might be seeking to move into
Also, they 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.
And, finally, step 5 is …
5. Get out there!
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.
Get your CV and LinkedIn profile up to date.
Applying for jobs that closely match the options you identified, and
Prepare well for any interviews you get.
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 here the importance of that mindset we talked about earlier.
And, if you can view your career leap as a project, as I mentioned, 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 get unstuck and find a job you will love:
- Get in the right mindset
- Create a mini project
- Create some options for yourself
- Refresh your connections
- Get out there!
And, that just leaves the call to action for today.
Your call 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 thought about the content
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
If you have enjoyed the podcast, I would love for you to share the episode with a friend or share on your social media
I will speak to you all again in 2 week’s time
Bye for now.