Ever Feel Like You Are In The Passenger Seat of Your Own Career ?

As a career coach, the number one objective I hear from clients when they start coaching is a need for ownership of their careers. While growth is a desire for most, the true impetus that motivated that first session is typically grounded in control, moving out of the passenger seat, and getting behind the wheel of their career roadmap.

For some, it is time oriented. They need clarity on where they want to be, achieving this in relation to life events. These events range from marriage and raising a family to starting a side hustle or business. Some are writing a book, filing a patent, or preparing for career contingencies due to various circumstances. Others are navigating career transitions, from M&As, succession planning or redefining purpose after retirement.

For others, it is rooted in a lack of trust in corporations. Layoffs and constant restructures are significant enough events to ignite the brain's threat versus reward system. The impacts of loss are profound. Losing a job, an incredible people leader, or a trusted team can be devastating. The same goes for changes that impact your ability to use your strengths, gain meaning and the flexibility to care for a parent, your kids, and your health are grounded in a sense of loss, and can induce social pain, stress, and lead to workplace-related trauma.

For many, it is about taking a stand. They are standing against bias and its impacts on selection, development, and recognition. They are creating a new, neutral definition of influence by defining and documenting their careers for themselves.

Despite the varied reasons that motivated them to start career coaching, they are all united in the rewards that come from investing in their careers on their own terms. One simple but mighty habit I introduce to many is career journaling. The power derived from documenting career intentions, reflections and progressions is the difference in owning a thriving career versus surviving a career in the passenger seat.

So, grab your keys, and let's dive into this super habit: career journaling.

What Exactly is Career Journaling?

Career journaling is more than just scribbling down your daily work experiences. It's a structured reflective practice that combines informal writing techniques with personalized elements to gain career clarity, foster professional growth, and enhance self-awareness. Think of it as your personal GPS for navigating your career path.

As Herminia Ibarra, Organizational Behavior Professor, puts it, "Career journaling is a form of 'narrative identity work' where professionals craft and revise their career stories. It's crucial for navigating transitions and developing a robust professional identity."

The Super Science Behind This Super Habit

Recent research has unveiled some impressive benefits of career journaling:

1. Enhanced Self-Awareness and Career Adaptability: A 2021 study by Hirschi & Spurk found that weekly career reflection practices significantly improved career adaptability and self-awareness.
2. Stress Reduction and Well-being: Kaplan et al. (2022) demonstrated that daily reflective journaling was associated with reduced work-related stress and improved mental health outcomes.
3. Improved Decision-Making: The latest edition of Rashid & Seligman's Positive Psychotherapy manual (2023) highlights how structured journaling can enhance decision-making and goal achievement in career contexts.
4. Better Work-Life Balance: Wang, Liu, & Parker (2023) showed that reflective practices, including journaling, helped individuals better adapt to remote work arrangements and maintain work-life boundaries.
5. Professional Identity Development: One of my favorites from this year, is a study by Ibarra & Obodaru, exploring how career journaling contributes to the development and evolution of professional identities, aka your professional brand, which they found helpful during career and life event transitions.

Other Practical Benefits Include:

1. No More Review Anxiety: Despite some modernization in workplace performance systems, to skill or growth based, at some point performance is documented for decision making. If you wait to track your growth, and the value you delivered until you are asked to document your self-review, then you are putting yourself in a position to react. A position that can quickly turn into an overwhelming time suck activity versus owning your narrative and professional brand. Effective career journaling is your future review, with the best capturing results and outcomes including stakeholder insights in the moment not after. ????????
2. Resume Writing & Interview Prep Made Easy: Updating your resume becomes a breeze when you have a running list of your achievements. No more staring at a blank page, wondering if you've done anything worthwhile in the last five years. Additionally, when an interviewer starts down the “Tell me About a Time…” path you will not have to rely on your memory because you are the STAR of your own career documentary with plenty of detailed stories of situation, action and results ready to go.
3. Navigating Workplace Bias: Tracking accomplishments, documenting objective facts with self-reflection is associated with building confidence and voice both helpful in navigating bias and transitioning accountability of the unfortunate impacts of imposter syndrome and tallest poppy syndrome to their proper owner. ?
4. Improved Executive Functioning Skills: Expressive writing, including journaling, can improve creativity as well as executive functioning skills required for strategic planning, execution, influencing and leading. Our ability to improve executive functioning helps us reduce mental clutter, organize, and make progress. It is a powerful skill for managing ADD, anxiety and other mental health and nervous system disorders.?

How to Get Started (It is Easier Than You Think!)

The nice thing about career journaling, is there are no rules. The key to success is knowing what you want to achieve and then selecting the right medium (structured or unstructured journaling, pen, and paper versus digital application) that supports you in getting there. This is the trick to avoiding the madness over the method that can prevent people from getting started. The first step is to simply confirm the purpose of career journaling, select a few simple goals, no more than three. Here are a few examples:

• Clarify my career goals such as career path, progression, or transition.
• Improve focus and time management.
• Track my accomplishments, OKRs, growth and partnership insights
• Improve people leadership skills.
• Build self-awareness on flight fight triggers and learn techniques to calm my mind, improve decision making and self-regulation.

Once you know what you want to achieve in this new habit then it’s time to select:

1. Method & Medium: Choose a method that works for your goals for example - a simple notebook is perfect for creativity whereas a structured method such as bullet journaling might be more aligned to productivity goals. It can be as simple as using a notes app on our phone. The best tool is the one you'll use.
2. Core Components: Engage in reflective journaling about work experiences. Practice narrative identity work by crafting your value proposition, or improve authenticity with awareness and alignment to strengths and values, using a simple 1 to 5 alignment scale Record and reflect on feedback from colleagues and mentors.
3. Expand Relevant Focus Areas: Start small with your purpose and slowly build in other focus areas, for example, you may want to include strengths, values, synchronicity moments or broader monthly wellness areas such as community, financial, family vacation planning etc.
4. Record Reflections & Growth: Document your intention, reflections, accomplishments, challenges, lessons learned, and gratitude. Do not forget the small stuff – sometimes it's the little things that make the biggest impact.?

Like with any new habit consistency and cadence are key. Set aside regular time for journaling, whether it's daily, weekly, or monthly. Review Regularly: Take a few minutes each month to review your entries. You will be amazed at how much you've done and how far you've come!

Remember, your career is a journey, not a destination, the unexpected turns will happen and as long as you keep taking the wheel you will adapt course and navigate your career path towards those amazing moments of flow, and the world will demand to be in your passenger seat.

What's your take on career journaling? Have you tried it? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below!

#CareerDevelopment #ProfessionalGrowth #CareerJournaling #WorkplaceTips