Saying Goodbye to Your Old Job? S.H.I.F.T., Don't SH*T

Dear Change,

This is awkward.

But you are no longer in charge of my life.

You are going to work with me starting today or we can't be friends.

Signed,

S.H.I.F.T. (aka Skillfulling Head Into the Future Today)

Faced with a choice of living at the mercy of change or taking responsibility to make change work for you or with you, some people choose to wait and see what happens while others choose to forge their own path. Based on the most recent quits rate, It's pretty obvious a lot of people are seeking a new beginning.

Before I jump into how to Skillfulling Head Into the Future Today, let me begin with the beginning I produced for my recent opening keynote at the 58th Annual Indiana Chamber of Commerce HR Conference. Enjoy!

BTW - the young boy is my 2-year-old grandson whose ability to imagine and re-imagine inspires me and instills hope. And the two seniors reimagining the world through virtual reality (VR) are my mother (who is approaching her 99th birthday) and my father-in-law (91 y/o at the time.) It just goes to prove: You can reimagine tomorrow at any age!

Now back to the beginning!

SHIFT or SH*T: It's Your Choice!

You can Skillfully Head Into the Future Today (or Simply Hide In Terror)

Unfortunately, changing jobs (while often a gutsy and gritty move) doesn't guarantee the change will work out for the better.

Just ask 1 in 5 workers who regret changing jobs during the Great Resignation. Change without a plan or weighing the pros and cons isn't a sure bet, even if you think a higher salary makes uninspiring work or a toxic boss tolerable. Besides, changing jobs is stressful as hell.

In fact, the stress induced by changing a job incredulously induces the same level of stress we endure as the death of a friend.

You read that correctly, folks. According to the Holmes-Rahe Stress Scale, changing a job is as stressful as grieving the death of a close friend. But like grieving, some people move through it and past it while others are crippled by it and mourn the loss forever... and ever.

Personally, I expect the number of regrets will likely rise with time. [Do you agree?]

Why do I say that? This is simple, like taking candy from a baby.

It isn't easy for a majority of people to admit they made a mistake. According to research from PsychTests, 66% of respondents felt mistakes make us look weak and would subject them to mockery from others. A similar number felt degraded. Insecurity, a need for approval, and perfection are underlying reasons. But regardless of the cause, the result is the same: changing a job does not automatically improve your life. So I wonder: how many people quit their jobs but won't admit it was a mistake?

Changing your workplace, your boss, and the signature on your payroll check does not guarantee change will work for you. New scenery, a new boss, and new co-workers might just be the right move. But to be successful means you very likely need to adapt to new expectations, new routines, and new relationships. That means you must change your behavior too, something that most people don't do well.

Look no further than the losing battle many people face when it comes to losing weight and exercising more, even when chronic disease and even death stand with you toe-to-toe. We're addicted to certainty. Our routines are sacred. We'd rather blame others or seek easy fixes than tweak our behavior. Talking about eating differently and exercising more without changing your menu and going for a walk isn't a plan that works. You have to behave differently - start new behaviors, and stop repeating old ones.

Changing a job requires the same thing. Expecting that you can just slide into a new job and not adapt to new relationships, new routines, and new expectations is a recipe for failure.

Now allow me to switch gears.

Choosing to stay at your uninspiring job and/or continuing to absorb the jabs and blows from a toxic boss and culture as a sign of grittiness and resilience is no way to live either. Sadly, for many workers, living life at the mercy of change seems like the safer bet. It's not. Those who choose to live at the mercy of change may often find themselves feeling overwhelmed by all that's happening, as well as uncertain about how to respond. Abysmal employee engagement scores and record high stress, burnout, and mental illness tell a very different story.

So where does this leave us? We all have a choice. You can choose to live life at the mercy of change and valiantly fight the status quo like Don Quixote slaying windmills ... or you can see new beginnings and opportunity and S.H.I.F.T. - Skillfully Head Into the Future Today.

Are you ready to help yourself and your teams to S.H.I.F.T., to help ensure new hires succeed and current employees grow and thrive? Help them overcome their fear of failure, fear of mistakes, fear of uncertainty. Help them break their addiction to certainty. Help them see opportunity and discover hope, instead of loss and despair.

Offer them the one skill that McKinsey, Deloitte, World Economic Forum, and Harvard Business Review call the #1 predictor of life satisfaction, career satisfaction, future employment, and even higher incomes: adaptability.

Let us help be your guide. The road to higher adaptability starts with growth mindset. After several years of research and planning, I'm excited to launch our new AQPlus Mindset experience. In short, it's a 30-day microlearning/coaching journey that helps each participant to get out of their own way, make change work for them, and achieve their potential.

I'm offering 33% off introductory pricing for AQPlus which includes not only the 30-day coaching but a FREE AQai assessment (valued at $99) plus FREE access to our AQPlus Resilience experience (valued at $297). It's a better than 2 for 1 deal!

To get started, just click here.

To learn more about AQPlus Mindset, click here.

Not ready to jump in but need a demo first? click here.

Here's what one participant recently had to say about our new AQPlus Growth Mindset Experience.

I'm going to be honest; I wasn't sure what to expect before I started, I thought it may be a little boring, but every day it was interesting and enlightening.?Now I need to figure out a way to get my husband to sign up.

N.M.

My New Series on DIG LIFE DEEP

I'm excited to announce my new weekly series about the Future of Work, titled Future Shock 2.0 to be featured on the podcast Dig Life Deep , hosted by the award-winning journalist and podcaster John Aidan Byrne. My 1st segment is below. Here's a link to the playlist where all future episodes will be posted. And check out John's full episodes - amazing topics and guests.

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