Reflect on Your Career and Get Ready for the Season

Have you noticed? Loads of people are currently preparing for a wonderful and well-deserved summer holiday. I see campervans and caravans all over the place or people stuffing their cars full of the things they want to take with them. The preparation for a trip delivers a lot of joy. Also, Taking a break often is Reflection Time. So what is it: Reflection Time???

Introduction: Why Is It Important to Take a Moment Before the Holidays?

Reflection Time is the time you take to reflect on things that happened in the recent past, past months, or years. Reflect means ‘to think carefully, especially about possibilities, opinions, and opportunities’, according to the Cambridge Dictionary. The reason why I feel everyone should schedule reflection time regularly, not only during summertime, is that reflection time will allow you to put things in perspective, and to close things. Besides this, reflection on the past is often good input for the future.

But why take a moment to reflect before going on holiday?

Reflection often happens during the summer holidays since holidays make us step out of daily life and/or work situations. We spend time in a different location without the normal day-to-day routines. We take a different perspective and look at the situation from a distance. This is what instigates reflection. Taking some reflection time before the holidays offers you an opportunity to close your time at work and really be with your family, friends and enjoy the holidays even more. By taking this moment, you are already creating some distance between yourself and the time and/or situations you reflect upon. You already make headspace for other things and made the decisions you wish to make before the holiday starts. How amazing would that be? It allows you to just ‘be’ when on holiday.

Steps for Doing a Career Reflection Before the Holidays

To get started with Career Reflection you want to schedule a moment to ponder, ponder about the things that happened in the last months or year, situations you find difficult, and so on. Reflection works differently for everyone. Some people like to reflect when running, others write, some meditate (this is not what meditation is meant for guys??), and some need a conversation to reflect. So the first thing you wish to do is find your preferred way to reflect, then find a moment – not just five minutes, but at least one hour or even half a day to get started.

Think about the things you enjoyed in the last months, the things that were challenging but fun, the things that drained you and weren't fun at all, and the things that excited you. What are the things you wish to leave behind as of now? What are the things you wish to take with you to the future and what would you like to do more of? What would help you to realize that???

Tips on How to Set Goals and Prioritize Your Tasks Before the Holidays

I notice not many people set career goals or reflect consciously on their careers. Most people just go with the flow until they reach burnout, face dismissal or realize they need to drag themselves to work every day. I believe consciously working on your skill set, and setting your career goals only makes your work more fun and challenging. It helps you to create a career path you enjoy. Sounds like more fun than just having a job that just pays the bills.

Once you start reflecting, you might notice you also are looking forward already. I believe this is a natural tendency we have, to immediately look ahead as well. This means that you are already moving forward toward goal setting. Goal setting is usually very difficult for people, we tend to set too many goals, set big goals or goals that don’t challenge us.

A good goal is highly specific, instigates excitement and a bit of fear (the feeling of: “I never tried it and I think I can do it”), you feel committed to reaching it, it has a deadline, and feels reachable. Furthermore, I like to work with the principle of 3; three goals, 3 things a day, and so on. I believe a maximum of three goals will keep you busy for the coming months or even years.

Prioritizing starts with taking the end goal in mind; what goal is the hardest to reach? What goal will take the most of your time? Start there; note it down and you can get started with them right after returning from holiday.

How to Recharge and Relax During the Holiday Break So You Can Come Back Rejuvenated

Perhaps reflection before going on holiday already helps you to recharge en relax when going on holiday. When on holiday, you want to do the things that excite you, energize you, and offer you relaxation. Take afternoon naps, read a book, make music, sing, listen to your favorite podcast, go swimming or surfing, or cycle with the kids, and enjoy the fun of doing nothing – and only think about what to eat, drink and just be. The fun of relaxing and recharging is that we all need different things and we all do it our way. I’d love to hear what you do to recharge en relax. Let me know in the comments??

Tips for Making Positive Changes in Your Career After Taking Time Off During the Holidays

When returning from holidays, you want to get started with executing all goals you set for yourself. Time to get started with making positive changes! If you are looking for inspiration on this topic, I want to refer you to the Happiness at Work podcast I recorded together with Anna. They contain good tips for making positive changes including ways to get started and keep going.

More of a reader and like to know more about making a career pivot?

Perhaps my blog about 'How to start when you want to pivot' is a good starting point for you. You can find it here.?

Wishing you a happy holiday with loads of fun and relaxation.?