Book Chapter - Assessing Your Current Situation

Another excerpt from the book I'm writing. Subscribe now?for updates and to read the draft chapters as I complete them.

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She seemed depressed on our weekly call. “I can’t take much more of this. I’m not sure how much longer I can stay in this job. I want to quit now, but I know that I shouldn’t.”

We discussed what had happened at work and what she could do to address those issues and hopefully improve the situation. More importantly, we also discussed?a plan for the future, how to make the best of the situation until she moved on for a better opportunity, and a timeline for the next steps. We established a tentative date when she?thought?she might be ready to leave her job.

Setting that date is more important than you might think. One of the worst things about an unbearable situation is not knowing when it will ever?end. When you create a future “finish line,” you immediately feel better because you’ve made a decision, and you know something better is coming.

"History never repeats itself, but the Kaleidoscopic combinations of the pictured present often seem to be constructed out of the broken fragments of antique legends."

— Mark Twain

However, even when you’re suffering, the last thing you should do is make a rash decision and “leap out of the frying pan and into the fire.” If you don’t take the time to fully understand what’s going wrong,?why?it went wrong, and how to avoid those mistakes in the future, you’re most likely doomed to repeat this unfortunate history (or create a new variant of it).

If everything were 100% on track with your work and life, you wouldn’t be reading this right now. Something you’re experiencing in your life isn’t ideal. You’re probably frustrated by a situation at work. You want something more. Something different. Something better.

Don’t we all?

But, before you can get to?where you want to be, you must know where you are and understand where you have been. When?I work one-on-one with my clients, they receive “homework exercises” to help us understand their past, look for patterns, assess what’s happening now, and explore future plans.

This chapter gives you an idea of what that in-depth homework is like. Of course, I won’t be able to discuss your answers to the questions below (unless you work with me or?join my community). But, it is still beneficial for you to capture your thoughts and use that information to plan a path forward to creating your Invincible Career.

“The unexamined life is not worth living.”

—?Socrates

How?are?you feeling right now? Are you doing well at work? Is your career on track? Are you happy with where your life is going?

It can be challenging to think about all of this in the?abstract. You often have a gut feeling about how your work is going and a general feeling about your life. But you can’t put your finger precisely on the issues causing those feelings.

I?do?value qualitative judgments (e.g., feeling happy or a little sad), but I’m also a fan of quantitative assessments to understand the scale of a problem. So, I created a series of statements to assess how happy and successful you feel in your career and life. You can?take my free quiz?online to find out! Your score will be automatically calculated and emailed to you.

Or, you can think about your reactions to the statements below and manually score your responses instead.

You’ll notice that I blended work and life a bit. As much as we might hope that we can compartmentalize our working lives and personal lives,?they do impact each other. I’m sure you’ve experienced that.

If your morning gets off to a bad start (e.g., you didn’t sleep well), you may not feel like your best self during your entire day at work. Conversely, if you have a bad day at work (e.g., your boss yells at you), you may feel grumpy and unhappy all evening at home.

Be?brutally honest?with your reactions to the following statements. It will help you get a sense of how fulfilled you are with your current job and career path. It also gives you a sense of whether you are living your life the way you want or not.

Score each of the following statements on a scale of 1 to 5. A score of 1 means that you “strongly disagree” with the statement, and 5 means that you “strongly agree” with the statement.

1. Strongly disagree
2. Disagree
3. Neutral
4. Agree
5. Strongly agree

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Quiz

Think about your current work and personal life while scoring the following statements on a scale of 1-5:

1. I truly enjoy the quality of life where I currently live.?Score:
2. I’m currently living where I want to spend the rest of my life.?Score:
3. I really enjoy the location where I work every day.?Score:
4. I’m happy with my commute to work every day.?Score:
5. I feel like I have become an expert at what I do for my work.?Score:
6. Others at work, in my profession, and in my industry recognize me as one of the best at what I do.?Score:
7. The work I do for my job every day is meaningful.?Score:
8. What I do — or produce with my work — helps others and is making a positive difference in the world.?Score:
9. I have complete control over how I do my work every day.?Score:
10. My boss or manager lets me decide the best way to get my work done.?Score:
11. I have complete control over my work schedule.?Score:
12. I have total flexibility in my work hours and can take time off whenever I want.?Score:
13. I am happy reporting to my boss or manager, and they bring out the best in me.?Score:
14. I have great colleagues, coworkers, employees, or partners, and I enjoy working with them.?Score:
15. My work challenges me and fully utilizes my talents, skills, capabilities, and potential.?Score:
16. I am fulfilled by my work, and I get to leverage my expertise to help others.?Score:
17. I have full control over my career path and a clear plan for my future.?Score:
18. I do not feel "trapped" by my current job, profession, or situation.?Score:
19. I am not currently experiencing any negative or bad situations at work or in my life.?Score:
20. I feel completely empowered to live my life on my own terms, and I call the shots in my work and personal life.?Score:

Total Score:

Add your scores for the 20 statements. Here’s how to interpret your total score:

• 85-100:?Congrats! You must be feeling pretty good about your work and life.
• 70-84:?You’re feeling ok about your work and life, but things could always be better.
• 50-69:?You might be feeling unhappy about your work right now. It’s time to make some changes in your life.
• 20-49:?You’re feeling very unhappy with your work situation and life, and you feel more vulnerable than you should be. You need to make significant changes or explore new opportunities as soon as possible.

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I frequently see scores in the 60s when people take this quiz on my website. I suppose that shouldn’t be surprising. After all, a?record number of Americans quit their jobs?in 2021. In total, 47.4 million people voluntarily quit their jobs. Another 21.5 million lost their jobs (e.g., layoffs).

That’s a lot of unhappy people! Why are they quitting? Well, there are several reasons:

• Their employer won’t let?them work from home.
• Some people leave because their jobs don’t provide?a good work-life balance.
• They’re quitting to take a better job with more pay.
• They’re unhappy with how their employer treated them during the pandemic.
• They’re tired of low pay and health risks that come with their jobs.
• A greater awareness of mortality made people decide that life was too short, so they quit to pursue a passion or new career path.
• A surprising number of individuals quit their jobs to start their own businesses (a record?5.4 million business formation applications).

However,?let’s come back to you. How do?you?feel about your job? What is the biggest challenge in your career or life right now? Are you still heading where you want to go? What would make you feel happier, more successful, more fulfilled, and in control of your future?

It helps to capture more details and examples to understand your current situation better. I even recommend that my clients journal about their work and life experiences for a few weeks instead of relying on fuzzy memories and vague feelings about how things are going.

So, take a moment to document your answers to the following questions. You can come back to this chapter later to add more information, too.

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What’s going well in your life right now?

• On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate the quality of your life today?
• What makes you happy?
• What do you want to continue in your life?
• What do you want more of in your life?
• What have been your most significant accomplishments to date?

What going well at work?

• What is your favorite part of a typical workday?
• Do you have coworkers you would consider to be friends?
• What have you accomplished in the past year?
• What skills, knowledge, and experience have you acquired?
• How have you grown professionally?

What’s going well with your career overall?

• Do you enjoy working in your chosen profession?
• How far have you come in your career since your first “real job”?
• What has your career progression been like so far (e.g., internal promotions, promotions with new jobs)?
• Who are the people who’ve enjoyed working with you?
• What are the positive things coworkers, bosses, and managers have said about you and your performance?

What’s not going well in your life?

• What is the hardest thing you have had to overcome?
• What parts of your life feel out of your control?
• Do you have any challenging relationships?
• Are you worried about your health?
• Do you feel financially secure?

What’s not going well in your work?

• What is the most unpleasant part of your typical workday?
• Are you stressed about your relationship with your boss?
• Do you work with any unpleasant coworkers?
• Have you been passed over for a raise or promotion?
• Are you being compensated appropriately for your contributions, talent, and potential?

What’s not going well in your career overall?

• What are the most significant concerns or fears you have about your career?
• Have there been times when you feel like you took a step backward in your career?
• Do you feel?stalled?in your career progress?
• Do you have jobs in your work history that you regret taking?
• How difficult has it been for you to get promoted in past jobs, find better jobs, interview well, be hired, etc.?

What risks are you facing?

• I talked a lot about vulnerabilities in the?previous chapter. Where do you feel most vulnerable?
• What are the biggest concerns or fears you have about yourself and your future?
• Is your job at risk?
• Is your profession at risk of being less relevant in the future?
• If you don’t make any changes in your life, what regrets do you think you will have at the end of your life?

What are your opportunities?

• What do you feel is the next step for you in your career?
• What potential opportunities excite you?
• Where would you prefer to move and live if your work was flexible and gave you that type of freedom?
• How do you want to invest in your professional development?
• What would you like to contribute to the world?

What needs to change?

• Do you like the direction your life is moving?
• What are the primary stressors in your life (e.g., work, school, money, relationships, health, family, environment, etc.)?
• What makes you the most dissatisfied, stressed, or unhappy in your personal and professional life right now?
• What do you want less of going forward in your life?
• What needs to stop completely?

What’s your timeline?

• How many more years do you plan on working before retirement?
• How ambitious are you, and how quickly do you want your career to grow?
• How much longer can you tolerate the stress in your work or life?
• How soon do you want to make a change?
• How long do you think it will take to achieve your goals?

Even if you don’t share your answers to these questions with anyone else, I hope they give?you?a better picture of what’s going on in your personal and professional life. The most important question is probably this one:

If you’re not happy with how things are going, what will you do about it?

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Learn from your past to plan your future

We’ll spend more time on your ideal vision of your future in a later chapter, but you probably have an idea of what you want — or at least what it should?feel?like. How big is the gap between where you are today and where you want to be?

What are you willing to do to make your dreams come true? How important is it to you? Nothing comes for free. What are you willing to sacrifice?

Some people overcome seemingly insurmountable odds to wildly succeed in life.?Angela Duckworth?researches people who succeed and discovered the secret: Grit. Grit and determination are powerful. Consistency. Not giving up.

I know that you are capable of achieving extraordinary things. Human beings can overcome tremendous adversity, survive, and thrive.

You just need a vision, commitment, plans, determination, consistent progress, and?accountability. When you chip away at your goals a little every day, almost anything you want to do with your life is possible!

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I hope you enjoyed this excerpt. I’m excited to share more of my book with you this year.?Subscribe now?to read the draft chapters as I complete them.

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Larry Cornett?is a?leadership & career coach and business advisor?who hosts a private?mastermind community for ambitious professionals?with weekly challenges, office hours, and ongoing support. If you’re interested in starting your own business someday (or accelerating an existing one), check out his “Employee to Solopreneur” course (launching later this year).