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To see
how we can speed up your career development (and
life satisfaction), take a look at a few success stories, or some
recent breakthrough
coaching
conversations. From cv advice and coaching on
improving work relationships to help with a new job or
new career search, coaching is the single best vehicle
for developing your career -- and encouraging a happier
and more balanced lifestyle.
STUCK
MID-CAREER?
You've got only yourself to hold
responsible, you know. If you're stuck in a job and its
related circumstances, it's because you ignored earlier
signs that were saying, "No, not this, try something
else!" You missed the alert, the first symptoms, that
what you were doing was not right for you, and now it's
a full-blown life dis-ease. (How's your
health, for that
matter?) You may have a long list of all the
circumstances that stand in your way (we all do), and
another list of all the people who are at fault, but if
your name is on that list at all, is it only penciled
in?
So we've got to remove the clutter and
baggage in your life and add life and vibrancy back
in. You may need less generic help or advice than
some simple butt-kicking to be who you know you can
be.
Baggage Obliterator
All that
baggage and clutter in your life is just weight,
heaviness, and stickiness -- it holds your feet fast when
they need to be able to lift up and walk into a higher
level in your current career or into your next
career. It weighs your career aspirations down
when you really need to be able to fly. You need to get
rid of it -- the unresolved past; the budgetary problems
or irresponsibility; the
personality conflicts at work;
the golden handcuffs that are the high-paying, but
self-costing job; the self-limiting thinking; the
fear and naysaying. Let's go. This is where
career coaching
merges into life coaching.
Take out a sheet of
paper, or open a file on your computer (but be sure to
print it out, because crossing off items on a list feels
better when done by hand). Make two lists. Below you'll
see the list titles, and some samples of the types of
entries that might go in each. Put 10 items on each
list. For example:
Things That Hold Me Up at
Work
Things That Hold Me Up at Home
Messy
desk
Unsupportive spouse
Resentment and
judgment
TV habit
Your ideas are
dismissed
Lack of confidence
Others take credit for your
ideas
Guilt
People infringe on your
time
Poor health
You are buried under
disorganization
Messy desk
Lack of respect from
subordinates
Lack of authority with kids
With
a coach's guidance and advice, one of your first tasks
may be to systematically demolish each hurdle until
they're all gone. If you're going to make important
changes and develop as a professional and a person, you
need a clean slate even in areas that may not initially
seem to you directly related. But they're all sapping
your energy, and often your time and even money.
Every new success will make you feel more
confident and lighter. You'll feel a sense of momentum. And you'll clear some headspace, or unclog certain
emotional energies, that you'll need to make any kind of
change. Some issues will look tougher than others. With
those, you'll have to really make some choices. Just ask
yourself what you really need to do to get where you
want to be, and then your choices will become
undeniable, inevitable. Remember that denial is what got
you stuck in the first place.
Tolerate nothing! Can you live by that? You're so used to making
compromises. I'm not suggesting you become a sociopath,
who has no concern for the feelings of others. Just that
you start to give some consideration, some compassion,
for your own concerns. You may need to start by
extending boundaries at home or work.
Example:
Boundary Setting
1. Just
as someone is doing something that crosses one of your
reasonable boundaries, stop them
2. Politely, without
passive-aggression or self-pity, tell them what they are
doing
3. Ask that they not do it any more
4. Ask
for a specific and realistic change in their
behavior
5. If they counter-offer, address their
offer in good faith. If they deny, tell them that won't
work and you can no longer respond to behavior such as
what they have just done.
6. Thank them for their
efforts
If they refuse:
7. Demand that
they stop, or
8. Walk away
Honor your
Personhood
You're not an employee who also
happens to live. You are first a person who happens to
work for a living. Dare to do what you love most. Dare
to be creative and happy. Show yourself that you're
capable of honoring yourself and, in mysterious ways,
you'll see your self responding with gusto.
Get
back to hobbies and fitness
Pick up that guitar or
pen or brush
Clean up your house
Let go of old
relationships and grudges
You may need to sell
some of the emotional stock you own. Have you invested
emotions in certain relationships? Are you financing
negativity with your own inner resources, mental
well-being, and physical health? Become a venture
capitalist of the business of you. Sell off
non-performing divisions, fire recalcitrant inner
employees. Stop financing unprofitable parts of the
business -- those that cost you more than they bring you
in return. If people can't change their behavior (as
opposed to who they are, which is not your concern),
then you may need to remove yourself from their lives or
them from yours, either literally and in their entirety
or in terms of the emotional investment you are willing
to make.
If you
want a career counselor who will talk about nothing but
jobs rather than career development, by all means, find one. A
coach is going to
work with you as a whole person. Are you up for
it? In addition to the coaching, we have the
expertise to guide you through powerful career
assessment tools.
Related Pages for Career Development:
Life Coaching
Career Coach
Attorney Coaching
Career Change Coach
Individual Coaching - Career Resources
Recommended Books: Career Resources
Free Career Test
Washington DC
Career Coach
Career Life Coach:
Rev Up Your Energy Level
Career Aptitude Test?
Skills Testing, Schmills Testing!
Our Career Coaches
Career Help -- Get off the
Treadmill
Life and Career Coach
Career Coaching: 14 Early
Warning Signs of Career Trouble
Career Coaching on Cover Letters and Resumes
Learn more about career development
coaching or contact
us now.
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