Finding Yourself in a New Place

One day you're at work and everything's familiar.

The next day you're somewhere new and everything has changed.

Somewhere new can be a variety of places...

It might be a new company,

it could be sitting at home needing to start a new job search,

just as it can be anywhere else in-between.

Wherever or whatever the new place for you,

you'll probably be facing plenty of change.

I found myself in another new place recently too.

Can you guess where?

The new place I had to adjust to recently was a new blog.

I knew from the beginning it was going to be different but it took a little longer (plus a little help from a friend) to realise this new place also demanded something different from me.

At first I just carried on as before, writing what I write here in a very similar way. But by staying the same I was missing the point. I was also missing the opportunities a new place always has the potential to create.

Yes they are different, maybe even a little scary at first but new places can also be encouraging, inspiring even, as we learn more about them and what they ask us to change.

Although everyone's situation will be different, the shared experience of finding ourselves in new places is just one more thing that brings us together.

One more thing that invites us to explore our careers.

Best Regards for now,

Paul

* * * * *

Would you like to share a 'new place' career experience?

Who or what helped you deal with the change?

How did you adjust to the new place you found yourself in?

What would you say to someone going through change like this right now?

Take Courage

We might have our doubts...

We don't really know what's going to happen

We're not sure what will work out for the best

We never know if time will prove us right or wrong

It must be a sign!

[Image courtesy of geese on Flickr]

But we can always be certain that

No one knows what's going to happen

No one knows what will work out for the best

No one knows if time will prove them right or wrong

You can also be sure that no one else is even half as motivated as you are,

to make the best choice possible and make your choices work

* * * * *

Experience versus Opinion

Experiences stand where opinions fall

"Opinions are like small intestines: every body has one." Anon.

Ask these questions and you'll get an opinion...

What are my options?

Where should I go from here?

What would you do in my place?

Why am I in this position?

Ask questions like these and you'll get much more...

How have you made difficult decisions in the past?

What makes you confident about the future?

What got you through your last job search?

What tough times have you lived through?

The difference is all down to experience...

Nobody ever photographed an opinion

[Image courtesy of EBONY~CAT on flickr]

Opinions that read perfectly on paper or sound just right in conversation don't always work in the real world. When you are job searching or deciding where you want your career to go, opinions can be confusing and that gets in the way.

True experience is always grounded in fact. Good, bad or indifferent, an experience can teach you something. Someone else's experience can be just as valuable to you as it was to them. What you have learned through experience can always be relied upon, it happened to you after all.

Instead of asking someone's opinion, ask what they have done, find out what they lived through, what they rely upon and the lessons they have learned. Find out from them what has worked.

When an opinion just doesn't feel right, seize the opportunity to ask for an experience or share one of your own.

Discover for yourself why it makes all the difference.

Along the Way

Careers aren't like train journeys

We spend more time on the way instead of at our destination

There are no return tickets

There's no tea trolley either

The middle of nowhere or right where you want to be?

[Image courtesy of ecstaticist on Flickr]

Careers are like train journeys

They're best when we know where we're going

Even better when we know we're getting there

There's a strong case for self-catering too

On a train, On your career or both

Take a moment to stop and think...

How beautiful it can be sometimes, along the way.

All the best for now,

Paul

Cumulation

You aren't what you do

But what you do can make you happy

I reckon this is especially true of work and careers

Do you see a cloud, a collection of water droplets or an accumulation?

[Image courtesy of d-wade on Flickr.com]

Why leave it to the end of your career to explore...

What I have done

What it adds up to

Cumulative ideas

How what I do makes me feel

It's never too late to look at your experiences but imagine just for a moment...

What if I started right now...?

All the best,

Paul

Moral Support for Your Career

Where does moral support come from?

Morals? Supporters? Both?

Wherever it comes from, moral support makes a big difference.

It gives you a boost

Makes you feel more confident

Lets you know when you’re on the right track

But can we find moral support by ourselves?

Know the way even when you feel like you're out there on your own

[Image courtesy of Ken Lund on Flickr]

Moral support is out there and you can find it in many places.

The people you trust are an excellent external source.

But moral support is also something we can discover for ourselves and our careers.

Exploring what’s important to you, what you are good at and what keeps you going is a source with great potential for moral support.

And you don't have to look too far.

What would you say about moral support?

Where have you found it the past?
Can you live without it?
What difference has it made to your work/life when you’ve had it?
Could you get into the habit of finding it for yourself?

Happy New Year and all the very best for 2010!

Paul

Can you think of a virtuous circle?

Something that goes around, comes around and is good?

A virtuous circle is opposite and entirely preferable to a vicious circle.

Here’s one example: When we make better career decisions, our experience of work improves. When our experience of work improves, we have more positive influences for our career decisions.

OK, it sounds a bit simplistic but there is evidence to support each step.

For instance, a better understanding in key areas like your VTGs (Values: What’s important to you, Talents: What you’re good at, Goals: What keeps you going) can help you make better career decisions.

And better career decisions are a great way for a virtuous circle to start.

It looks even prettier when you take a take a step back

[Photo courtesy of Swamibu on Flickr]

Big decisions about work and careers can make you feel dizzy.

Your VTGs can slow the whirling carousel and give you more confidence when you have a choice to make.

You start the virtuous circle when you’re ready and on your terms.

Think of a career cycle you’d like to break or any circle you'd like to be less vicious and more virtuous.

There’s plenty of evidence to show it can be done.

All the best for now,

Paul

Where you want to be in 5 years time

The last post on this blog proved nothing.

Not as bad as it sounds because the intention wasn't to prove anything, the intention was to find out what's possible. To ask if there might be a better way to answer this career question: "Where do you want to be in 5 years time?"

Proving and disproving should start with questions worth investigating. Questions that offer knowledge worth gaining. Questions that are worthwhile exploring.

It might seem like an unusual way to try and answer career questions but a mathematical approach does offer certainty. And if I'm not mistaken, mathematical certainties often begin with doubt too.

Maths has this much in common with career decision-making at least!

A worthy exploration or a waste of time?

Your opinion has the same value as anyone else's.

Maybe maths isn't the right discipline to help us as individuals answer this question. If that is ultimately proven (here or elsewhere) then we've all learned something worthwhile.

You don't have to be a maths professor for your opinion to count.

As an outsider to the language of maths, there are some things I am envious of. The importance of what you say, not who you are is one. Pierre de Fermat was a career lawyer not a mathematician after all.

Here's an excerpt from an email I received last week:

There are only two types of question:

1) Questions mathematics has answered

2) Questions mathematics has yet to answer

I took that as encouragement to keep exploring this question.

Special thanks to Steve and Kyle for commenting last week and moving this question forward.

All the best for now,

Paul

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Discover a new way to answer this question for yourself at exploreyourcareer.com

Where do you want to be in 5 years time?

Who is That Guy?

You know the guy I'm talking about. He's usually on the cover of a book with a smile on his face and a gleam in his eye.

He's got neat hair and white teeth too. And he really, really wants you to be successful. But how important is your personal success to that guy?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying he wants you to do badly. I actually believe he wants you to do well. That guy knows what's best for you but there's one thing he can't know, and that's what you want.

That guy will probably sue me*

Figuring out what you want is a big part of career success. That guy did it his way but success at work might mean something different for you. You might value things differently. You might enjoy different things. You may have different priorities when it comes to grooming.

That guy won't ask what you want and really listen to the answer. But he's not all bad. It's not his fault. He is trying to help after all. And there's a great deal we can learn from him about figuring out what we want and getting motivated. He did that successfully after all.

We know his individual story but what of our own?

Maybe it's not up to that guy to ask us this question. Maybe it's up to us to find out more for ourselves.

Why not make it your business to find out what you want. Ask questions and explore your career for yourself. Find individual answers and make important discoveries based on your experience.

Questions like:

What's important to me?

What am I good at?

What keeps me going?

When did work last give me a good feeling?

Where should my career go in the future?

Share your career answers, ideas and questions below if you want to. Jump to That Guy's defence if he has helped your career move forward.

I want to hear what you have to say. That Guy doesn't have a monopoly any more.

All the best for now,

Paul

[*Disclaimer: Any resemblance between the above photograph of my Uncle Brian and any persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.]

A Good Career Feeling

When things go well at work, you get a good feeling.

We all know the feeling and there are plenty of ways to describe it: satisfaction, fulfilment, self-worth, happiness, success.

But what actually gives us this feeling?

Where does it come from?

When have you had it in the past?

What can give it to you again in the future?

Nothing like a load of questions to kill a good feeling...

You don't have to be an explorer to explore

[Rough Waters=Beautiful Skies: see more at Saundra's Flickr Photostream here]

...Unless they are questions that help you explore your career for satisfaction and success.

Questions like the ones above are worth asking because they have the power to turn a good career feeling into something a little more substantial. Something you can begin to understand, find evidence for, even seek as your answers become more familiar to you.

If you know the feeling I'm talking about, if you have experienced it briefly or even only once in your career before now, you have some real evidence to focus your questions on.

What work were you doing at the time?

Who were you doing it with?

What could have made that feeling last longer?

What would have killed it stone dead?

I hope you do choose to think about the good feelings your career has given you. And how your career always has the potential to give them to you again in the future. Only one person will benefit if you do.

All my best to you for now,

Paul

work/life fusion FAQ

After some of the recent Q&As on this blog I thought an FAQ might be a good idea. So here goes...

What's this blog all about?

work/life fusion is about making decisions that can lead to career and job satisfaction.

Why focus on career decision making?

It's rarely a simple choice like sweet or savoury, strawberry or banana when it comes to our careers. We all face key moments in our working lives and we're under pressure to get our decisions right. There are so many influencing factors, so much opinion and advice to make sense of. Why not explore career decision making in a blog?

Did anyone else hear a tree falling?

[Roots Remain - courtesy of Rosa Say on Flickr]

What are the toughest times for career decision making?

I could say it's always tough but that's an easy answer and you'd never forgive me for it! It's tough when you're on a job search. Knowing what to do for the best has unique challenges when you're facing redundancy or if you have already been laid-off. It's tough when we face any kind of career change at any time in our working lives. Times can get tough but it's still possible to make good career choices.

What separates good and bad career choices?

Career and job satisfaction is the measure that lasts longest. I wouldn't argue if you said success, promotion, financial stability, or anything else you feel passionately about. But I would argue that your personal feelings of satisfaction and fulfilment can outlast anything else you could aim your career at.

Can anyone make better career choices?

Yes! Choices that can lead to career satisfaction have a lot to do with the way you experience change, opportunity and even the odd failure and setback. Positivity is important as it helps us overcome obstacles. Looking inwardly as well as outwardly helps us find a deeper resolve. This in turn gives us more trust and assurance in our own ability to lead our careers forward.

What's the best place to start if I wanted to make better career decisions and aim for job and career satisfaction?

The best place to start is wherever you are right now. Begin by exploring questions like What's important to me?, What am I good at? and What do I want for the future?. This is the best way to start defining career success more personally to you.

Is there a secret to career satisfaction?

Sadly no. There aren't any quick-fixes, short-cuts or easy-answers but you can find out more about career satisfaction and what it means to you, if you are prepared to look for it too. Take a look at some of these career stories if you'd like to read more!

Add your questions, answers, opinions and anything else in response to the above.

Best Regards for now,

Paul

Work Matters

How you feel about work matters. How your work makes you feel matters too.

This post is dedicated to a friend. He's looking for a job right now and trying to make sense of his career at the same time. This friend has been through a run of bad luck recently. But he's still wise and courageous enough to know that his luck will change and that he's the most likely one to change it.

He's still learning from recent experiences, some of which he'd rather not repeat. In fact, he's aware and smart enough to know that he's still learning from all of his career experiences. And at no time is this more true than when you're looking for work.

Old decisions, old situations and past conversations often come back to haunt you. You can easily find yourself getting caught in loops of "If only", "What if", 'Should've' and 'Could've'. And if your career has ever been somewhere similar, you'll know this leads nowhere.

[By the way - I'm sure I sat next to the Shouldves or the Couldves at a wedding. Lovely couple, if a little hard on themselves.]

Reaching High, Courtesy of Rosa Say on Flickr

So what message did I want to send my friend here?

You know more about your career right now, than at any other point in the past. You'll know even more tomorrow too because every day you're learning something new.

This time around, you're also making discoveries for yourself. Sure, there are people who can and will help you, people whose opinions matter, people you need to take care of. But most important right now is the understanding you're building for yourself around work. The figuring out that focuses on your personal relationship with what you choose to do for a living.

Only you can know what work has made you happy in the past. You're the only one who can get excited by new work you could be doing right now - whether it's out there in your community or in a place you've not even visited yet.

You're the only one who'll find the work that puts a smile back on your face and the right sized pay-check in your pocket. You're the only one who can understand where your own desire comes from and how it keeps you going. You are the only one who can make yourself feel more secure in each step, as you get your career moving forward again.

As you probably already know, there's no magic bullet when it comes to careers. No easy answers. But there are plenty of questions. And if we're courageous, determined and willing enough to face these questions - as I know my friend is - the absence of easy-rides, short-cuts and quick-fixes all becomes worthwhile.

Hope this helps in some small way :)

All my best for now,

Paul