Career Transitions Can Leave You Lost. Here are 7 Ways to Thrive Again.

I chose to take a redundancy from a firm I had worked at for a long time.

It was a huge decision with life-changing impact.

At first, it was wonderful to have some time off.? I was exhausted and desperately needed it.

I saw my parents overseas, travelled with my family, and had a period of rest and reflection.

Then I started getting antsy.?

Work has always been very important to me.? I've worked hard for my career, and I'm proud of it.

But I didn't want to do what I had always done.??

I was ready for something different, but I didn't know what that could be.

I wondered what else was even possible.

Doubts started creeping in.

The rest and relaxation morphed into unease and tension.

These 7 things really helped me get clarity and direction during that period.? If you’re going through something similar, I hope this helps.? Please take what serves you.

1.?????? Stop looking for your passion.?

Passions can feel vague and hard to pin down.? Instead, get clear on what gives you energy. ?Ask yourself:

-??????????? What type of work lights you up and doesn't feel like work?

-??????????? What type of work provides a flow state where you lose track of time??

-??????????? What type of work did you look forward to?

-??????????? What type of work do you miss?

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2.?????? Identify your ideal work style:

I used to work in a very fast-paced role, where I had competing demands for my time and people needed things from me constantly.?

When I stopped working that way, and had time to think, I realized that I did not enjoy that environment.? I liked the people, and I liked the work. ?However, the constant group discussions, interruptions, and meetings, were not conducive to my best work.

I came to realize that I was, in fact, an introvert.? I crave calm and quiet, and I need significant time alone to recharge.

My previous work environment was not suited to the deep work I love, and I didn’t even realize it until I was long gone.

Take a minute to really ask yourself:

- If you could design your work environment (because you can) what would it look like?

3.?????? Be patient with yourself.

Going through a redundancy, job loss, or big transition is a major life event.? Sometimes knowing that, can be helpful in accepting the difficulty.?

This acceptance had profound impact for me. I stopped trying to force a solution and accepted that the situation was not completely in my control.? Amazing things happened when I opened myself up to possibility and stopped trying to force an outcome.

Relax and just let it be uncomfortable.

4.?????? Build true confidence.?

Many of us have been praised and promoted consistently in our careers.? When you leave your organisation, that praise and outward recognition disappears. You can no longer dine out on titles and big-name firms.

Confidence needs to come from within you. If your confidence comes from external validation, you are vulnerable when others no longer praise you.

Make sure your confidence comes from what YOU think about you.

How do you build that??

-??????????? Focus on personal development.

-??????????? Keep promises to yourself.

-??????????? Build a body of evidence supporting the fact that you are who you say you are.?

-??????????? Do hard things. Prove to yourself that you are worthy of being admired.

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5.?????? De-institutionalize yourself.

It takes a while to walk away.? If you had a great situation, you might miss it. ?You might realize that your identity has been wrapped up in what you do and who you work for.?

If you had a terrible situation, it will take you a while to detox from the nightmare.? ??

I have had both the fond farewell and the nightmare and getting beyond either situation takes longer than you think.?

It can be painful.? You might even question who you are anymore.? What you know how to do.

But the truth is that your job doesn’t define you.? Your professional experiences have helped to shape you, but they are not who are you.

You get to decide who you are.

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6.?????? Get clear on your unique strengths.?

A friend of mine who is a coach turned me on to Clifton Strengths from Gallup.? If you are struggling with defining your unique value, this is for you.? It’s an online test that comes back with eerily accurate and detailed insights about exactly what makes you uniquely brilliant. It was fascinating and a huge boost when I needed it the most.

I learned that my top 3 strengths are: Strategic, Maximizer, and Individualization.

In a nutshell, this means that my unique mix is:

1.?????? I have a ton of ideas to solve any problem

2.?????? I excel at taking performance from good to great.

3.?????? When I engage with people, they feel like I’m speaking to their soul.?

??????? I can’t tell you how deeply this impacted me.? For the first time I could put into words where I felt most useful and the work that made me feel alive.

I used this information to build my company, Progression Lab. ?I develop leaders by working with them to solve their company’s problems. ?I am using my unique strengths, and it’s huge wins, all around. ?

I had been thinking about starting my own firm, but this helped me nail down exactly where I could serve best.

If you are feeling a bit lost and have forgotten your unique gifts, CliftonStrengths can really help.? And for the record, this is not sponsored, but Gallup , I’m open to it!

7.?????? You get to keep the people.

This one really kept me sane when I was leaving a lovely place.? I had developed such close relationships with so many people.? I was devastated to leave many of them and know that I wouldn’t see them much anymore.

Realizing that I can keep the people was one of the best insights I had. Of course, the relationship changes, but remember that you’re not saying goodbye. You’re saying hello to a new phase of your relationship.

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Changing jobs, looking for jobs, losing jobs…it’s all really confronting.? I hope you can approach this with the kindness and patience you deserve.? A major life event requires that.? And magic just might be waiting for you on the other side.

Let me know what you think at [email protected] .

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