Life is short. Please don't settle. Find a job you love.

Last week, I recorded a podcast episode with the wonderful Ruth Penfold-Brown for her Pancakes and Peacocks series. We were talking about making a change if something no longer serves you. Both she and I have done that ourselves in our lives. I also spend a lot of time exploring this topic with my coaching clients.

An exercise I love and use regularly is the Career Timeline Exercise. In it you plot your career as a line graph with time along the X axis (from when you started in the world of work, up until the present) and overall enjoyment rating on the Y axis (from 0 up to 10, with 10 being you at your happiest). The outcome is a wiggly line which shows your career highs and lows.

Typically people have a mix of both highs and lows, and as they get further through their career and life, they have worked out what is important to them in their work so are generally getting happier. In many cases I have seen, people have been at their happiest at work when they are getting to use more of their energising strengths.

It is a wonderful tool for reflecting on your journey so far, and common themes in both your highs and lows. It is also very handy when you are working on your CV.

(If you would like a copy of the full exercise pop a comment below or message me directly if you prefer and I will send it to you.)

But what if you are in a career low right now, and you aren't loving what you are doing?

My advice which I shared on the podcast was:

1. Be honest with yourself about how you are really feeling. Listen to your thoughts, emotions and physical clues. Acknowledging that you aren't enjoying the role at the moment is an important staring point (and not always as easy as it sounds.)
2. Take some time to reflect on what is going on. Use the Career Timeline Exercise to pinpoint when you have been happiest in the past and identify what these times and roles had in common. Explore the mismatch with the current situation. Is this a temporary blip, or would you be better suited to a different role?
3. Get clear on your energising strengths. My personal favourite tool is 'Strengths Profile' by Cappfinity. Examine whether you are getting chance to use these in your current role or not. Certainly for me this was an absolute game changer, and many of my clients have had an 'a-ha' moment when they have realised that a promotion has taken them away from what they love doing, are great at, and are most energised by.
4. Be brave. Have the courage to take steps to proactively change your situation. Don't wait until you are forced to make a change. Don't blindly follow a professional path because its the field you trained in / fell into. It is never too late to make a change if you realise you aren't happy.
5. Talk to someone you trust. Your mentor, coach, a professional friend. Articulate your thoughts and work towards getting an action plan.
6. Be open to opportunities. Sometimes the best things come out of an unknown or a difficult situation. That is definitely what happened for me. Not all career paths are planned. Sometimes it's about being true to what matters to you and keeping open to possibilities.

The full podcast will be coming out in a few weeks. In the meantime check out Ruth's blog and previous episodes:

Have a good month, and get in touch if I can help with anything. I am happy to chat more about the exercises and tools I mentioned.

Ellie xoxox