A 10 minute hack; a lifetime of holistic career visioning

Ready for the weekend? Whether your answer is 'yes' or 'no', try our 10-minute career hack. Seriously! For those of you in the 'yes' column, the practice might shine a light on some new bucket list entries to pursue. If you are a solid 'no', this brilliant tool can be used for visioning a new job, a new career, a new place to live, anything that you want to bring into your life - and the weekend is a perfect time to reflect and revitalize. For our purposes, we are going to apply it to a new job or career. What I like most about this tool is that it usually captures a more holistic vision for what I’d like to bring to my life than just talking about it with a partner or friend.

It’s an easy way to get onto paper what you know you are looking for in your next career move. You might be surprised about what else shows up on paper. Give it a try:

• Get a piece of paper – decent sized, I usually grab a sheet of paper off my printer. You can use a page in your journal if it is of a decent size.
• Draw a circle – have the circle take up about 85% of the paper – leave some room on the paper outside the circle.
• Label the inside of the circle WANT. Label the outside of the circle DON’T WANT.

Now, start writing!

• Anything you do want to show up your next job or career put it inside the circle.
• Anything you definitely don’t want to be a part of your next job or career put it outside the circle.

Pulling from our Bright Livelihoods material, here are some questions to consider once your writing has slowed down:

• What’s important to me the people I work with (colleagues, boss, direct reports, customers or clients)?
• What’s important to me about the tasks of my job?
• What’s important to me about the environment in which I work?
• How do I want to feel when I am at work?
• What’s important about where my work fits in with the rest of my life and relationships?
• Thinking about my last job(s), what worked well for me that I would like to also have in any work going forward?
• Is there anything about my last job(s) that I want to be sure to avoid going forward?
• What do I really want that I am afraid to say out loud to someone else?

I’m not even sure to credit for the want/don’t want. I suspect I picked it up from a coach friend, though maybe I read it in a book? Anyway, I didn’t originate it and I send thanks into the ether to the person who shared it with me. It’s been helpful to me over the years.

I hope it’s helpful for you. Let me know how it goes!

- Laurel, Kelly, and the Bright Livelihoods Team

Interested in working with Founder Laurel Donnellan or CEO Kelly Dwyer? Find out more & contact us at brightlivelihoods.com