Have you ever noticed how easy it is to give advice about other people’s careers… and how much harder it can be to figure out your own?
Many mid-career professionals reach a point where their thinking becomes crowded with competing voices. You may feel pulled in several directions at once:
Should I change industry?
Should I aim for promotion?
Should I start something of my own?
Or should I simply stay where I am?
When all of these thoughts start competing for attention, it’s very easy to become stuck.
In this episode, I introduce a simple technique that can help cut through that noise: timed writing.
Timed writing is a short, structured writing exercise where you set a timer and respond to a single prompt. By keeping your pen moving and suspending judgement for a few minutes, you can bypass your inner critic and allow deeper insights to surface.
To illustrate how powerful this can be, I share the story of Sarah, a project manager who had been in the same organisation for more than a decade. Feeling unsure about her future direction, she tried a six-minute timed writing exercise using the prompt:
“If I could do anything for work, without fear of failure, what would I choose?”
What appeared on the page surprised her. It pointed towards a direction she had quietly dismissed for years — coaching and mentoring others.
This insight didn’t lead to an overnight career change. Instead, it helped her take small, practical steps to explore the idea further. Within a year, she had reshaped her role to include coaching and development work.
The lesson is simple: sometimes clarity doesn’t come from thinking harder. It comes from creating a little space for new ideas to emerge.
You’ll learn:
• Why capable professionals often feel stuck when thinking about their own careers
• How competing “internal voices” can create confusion and overthinking
• What timed writing is and why it works
• A simple six-minute exercise you can try yourself
• How to turn insights into small, practical next steps
Grab a pen and paper.
Set a timer for six minutes.
Write continuously in response to this prompt:
“If I could do anything for work, without fear of failure, what would I choose?”
Keep writing until the timer ends. If you get stuck, simply write:
“I don’t know what to write…”
Then ask yourself one final question:
What is one small step I could take to explore this idea further?
Clarity often grows once you start moving.
📘 Write Your Career – Think differently. Write freely. Create meaningful work
Explore how writing can become a practical tool for career clarity, reflection, and decision-making.
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Free first chapter download:
https://www.bravocoaching.co.uk/books
If this exercise sparks an idea or insight for you, I’d love to hear about it.
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Website:
https://www.bravocoaching.co.uk
If you’re feeling stuck in your career right now, it doesn’t mean you’re incapable of making a change.
It often just means your thinking has become crowded.
Sometimes six minutes with a pen and a thoughtful question is enough to reveal the first thread worth pulling.