A to Z of escaping BA contracting and finding work you love

I've been running A to Z for escaping from your BA contracting career for a few weeks so I thought it would be useful to share what I have recorded so far and what is coming up.

In true 'test and learn' style I just started with A for Advocate and a video to see how it felt. They are from 2 minutes up to 5 minutes max.

A is for Advocate

Be an advocate of yourself. Respect your need for change, for something different. Your needs are important and if you don't advocate for youself that nagging feeling will get bigger, it won't just go away.

B is for Budget

I talk about Budget which connects with money and your income. It triggers fear because of change which we are generally resistant to. If discussing money triggers fear then you need to change your relationship with money where it is a tool for you, not something that controls you!

More discussion on this and how to look at and make changes to your budget in the video...

I decided that it would be useful if you could have the opportunity to ask questions so I set up events on Linkedin Live (without much notice admittedly!).

C for Courage

D for Deficienc y

Today I will be talking about deficiency. But also about disposition because it relates to my take on deficiency.

To give you a hint I will explore deficiency and how we are encouraged to view ourselves as deficient, with strengths and weaknesses rather that having innate dispositions.

My philosophy is that we shouldn't focus on 'fixing' our waeknesses but rather celebrate and find working life that allows us to use our innate dispositions.

E for Escape

Reframing escape so that you are not running away from a fire but moving towards something you love. And love will open up your creativity whereas running away in fear will close down the creativity that you need.

G for Guilt

Guilt can hold you back. You're lucky you've got such a well paid job. You should be grateful. Don't let your inner talk hold you back.

And for next week I have set up these events in advance. I am looking forward to seeing you there!

H for Herd (9am,UK time, on Monday, 8th August)

Are you following the herd? If you stay with the herd it can be a good strategy to keep you safe. In this case I use the idea of the herd being those who keep plugging away at BA contracting even though they it doesn't fulfil them.

The big question is one of safety here. When you choose not to stick with the herd, is it dangerous?

In the short term it is safer because you don't take any risks.

In the longer term it is very risky as you have to turn off or ignore your feelings. Eventually you will not be able to ignore those feelings any more.

I for Imagine (9am, UK time, on Tuesday, 9th August)

I for Imagine - imagine what your working life would look like to inspire you to act. Leaving BA contracting and discovering something that really inspires you Hope to see you there and answer your questions about how you might imagine a working life you love.

J for Judgement (9am, UK time, on Wednesday, 10th August)

Judgement can get in the way of action. Judging yourself for doing something for yourself and not being grateful for what you've got. Judging it as impossible to achieve because you can't imagine the path there. Using poor judgement by being unrealistic in how long it might actually take to transition. This self-delusion may be a way of avoiding having a difficult conversation with your partner.

I was planning to do two more scheduled events for the whole week but LinkedIn Live keeps giving me an error and I am currently stumped. I will add in links when I have worked out what I need to do differently

K for Kick (up the arse) ?(9am, UK time, on Thursday, 11th August)

Finding someone who will advocate for you. Who will tell you that you are worth it and that it’s ok to want something different, that you have changed and you want work that really rewards you. And not just a kick up the arse, someone who will also really listen to you as you work things out. And who both knows how to support people in finding their own way forward but also has been there and has guidance when you need it.

(I have just discovered that LI is rejecting the use of 'arse' in LI Live. It came up as an error but through a process of elimination, I discovered this was the problem)

L for Live – as in How do you want to live? ?(9am, UK time, on Friday, 12th August)

What sort of life do you want? If your work isn’t fulfilling you any more what will you do about this? What is the best course of action? You can choose to be open and honest about this including your uncertainty about what you DO want. Or you can choose to compromise your needs and continue as you are. How can you both meet your needs and those of your family?

I will continue scheduling these in advance and update this article.

Help me to help you by providing some feedback or any requests for future articles to address questions you are struggling with.