Together

Although I haven't posted regularly for a while, work/life fusion is never far from my mind. I believe in the subject matter here, plus it will always be my place of firsts. This was my first blog, the first place I ever wrote in public and the first time I ever invited anyone to join me in an open conversation about careers and work.

I also feel lucky to have a place like this because only a few years ago everything here would have been scribbled in a notebook instead of blogged out in the open. Which means none of it would have been found or changed or improved by anyone other than me. Without the open conversation on this blog I'd still have no idea about the difference it makes when you realise you're no longer struggling or battling alone.

Many, Many People: Together

[Image courtesy of TheBigTouffe on Flickr]

Blogging together has taught me that we can make a difference and our collective voice on this subject grows stronger every day. By sharing and exploring individual work/life stories we've seen ourselves struggle with the same things. We see the same doubts, the same fears and the same feelings of being alone in ourselves and other people. We've seen these things and realised we're no longer alone.

The feeling of being alone is real enough but it's also a red herring. We're not alone. We never were and never will be. Of course our career stories are all different but we're also tied together in so many countless and unshakeable ways. We go to work, we come home. We meet new people, we get along. We argue, we resolve our differences. We succeed, we fail, we struggle, we fall, we pick ourselves up and we start all over again. In short, We experience and it's our experience, alongside the experience of others, that helps us make the right and best choices for our situation. We're all making unique choices and that makes us the same.

Right now I couldn't tell you what the future looks like for this blog but I can tell you I am proud of its past and what it stands for. I'm also proud of myself and everyone else exploring their experience - past, present and future - in the battle to improve and do as well as they can. Our potential, our confidence and our progress together will continue to grow.

Thank you for reading, writing and sharing your experiences as always,

Paul

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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

Where would I like to be in 5 years time?

Ask yourself this question

There's no trick to it

No right or wrong answer

Take your time

Where would I like to be in 5 years time?

Easy answers can't work in the long-run

Someone else's answer won't work for you either

You can't be 'technically correct' on this one

[Santa Cruz - see more at Saundra's Flickr Photostream here]

Where would I like to be in 5 years time?

You're not alone when you think about this question. It's by far the most searched and most visited on this blog.

I hope you do choose to stay with this question a little longer. The only person who can benefit is you.

Refresh it, Re-phrase it, Renew your attitude towards it. Do whatever you feel necessary but do take the time to ask yourself once again:

Where would I like to be in 5 years time?

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Learn how your answer to this question can evolve over time at exploreyourcareer.com

Where do you want to be in 5 years time?