How to chose a career that energizes you
I went a little MIA for some weeks because the September Self-Recovery Series had SOOOO much goodness, it took me a while to capture it all. If you missed it you can still catch the videos in the Facebook Group for a while longer (here). This blog summarizes the guest, the key takeaways (some are specifically Mary’s words and some are my interpretation of them but I was too excited to capture them 100% accurate so I apologize in advance for no “ ” around her exact phrases.)
Mary Atwood
An amazing guest speaker told us exactly how she not only solved a need for her department but also solved a desire for herself she didn’t even realize she had! Can you imagine finding a way to not only help your employer but also help yourself be happier?
Do you want a career that helps you play to your strengths?
What about a career that is perfect for you?
Finding a job that lights you up is easy, but you then worry about making money.
So you take a job that provides you the external benefits to pay bills, meet the mortgage obligation, etc. At some point, YOU made that decision so you can’t blame your teachers, bosses, and obligations for the situation you find yourself in. It is never too late to make a change that helps you build a successful (monetary as well as the intangible happiness that you seek) career and fulfilling life.
Mary made a career choice many of us wouldn’t think of...she stepped down from upper leadership to an individual contributor role that allowed her to show up ev’ry day. Wanna know how she did it?
Then keep reading!
The key is self-reflection - observe what energizes you or drains you (in my community this is also known as what gives you energy or drains your energy).
Knowing this, you can make changes to your personal life and career that make you excited to hop outta bed every day! Ok maybe not HOP out if you are still sleepy or have a bad back...but maybe willing to leave the comfort of your bed for at least 8 hours!
Key things to know about this philosophy are below. When you finish you might want to watch this video by Marcus Buckingham. The link will be after the tips.
Traditional descriptions of strength and weakness are associated with good and bad. If you're strong in something, that's good; if you're weak in it, that's bad.
Many people in or formerly in corporate environments are used to the focus on improving in our weak areas, rather than getting even stronger in our strengths.
I listen to a lot (I mean A LOT) of podcasts and in one I heard after our conversation I heard Brendan Burchard say a company is better off improving their high performers rather than putting $ in trying to catch up low performers! WOW!!! That is totally NOT how I see it done most of the time.
Anyway...back to Mary’s tips to being more energized by your career.
Buckingham's approach -look at strength as = energy - make us stronger - and weakness as = drain our energy - make us weaker. This removes the moral judgment of good and bad/right and wrong from the equation and helps us to make a choice that feels right rather than what we feel we “should” do.
So the key to picking a career that is right for you (as well as how to manage a higher happiness in your personal life) is to recognize what gives us energy and to find not only what drains us but also a way to do less of those things.
Our society's tendency to focus on what we want to have first (house, security, money, toys) and then what we can do to get those things.
A different way to look at it - one that honors who we are - is to first self-reflect on what gives us energy, what interests us, and what we value... THEN seek out what careers, roles, jobs can provide those preferences.
BOY OH BOY is this a hard concept! Especially when it is a core part of who we have been for years!!!
For so many women our identity when we introduce ourselves is based on our career, whose wife/mom we are, and then maybe what we do outside of that. If we are an entrepreneur, then that likely is going to be last… “Hi, I’m so-and-so’s wife/mom and I own a small business doing this.” There is nothing wrong with being a wife or mom but that is not only who you are so embrace all of you in the introduction.
Women have a MAJOR issue with how we identify ourselves in the world due to societal standards and influences. More on that another day!!!
As promised the link below is for the video explaining more of where these concepts came from. I think Mary broke it down amazingly for how it can be used in a real-life situation.
Peace and love,
Teresea
Photo Credit: Unsplash
