by pam | Jan 25, 2016 | Coping with Change, Discovering Your Passion, High Achieving Women, Life Purpose, Women in Business
How do you know when it’s time to leave a position or career that no longer excites you?
What I’ve discovered in working with clients over the past 7 years, is that when we’re stuck in one part of our life, we’re usually stuck in other parts as well. The good news is when we take action on one aspect of our lives, we usually get “unstuck” and also move forward in other parts of our lives (e.g. in our relationships).
Here are some signs it is time to make a change:
- Work and/or life are no longer fun for you
- You are no longer challenged by or passionate about your work
- You may often feel “wound up” and find it hard to relax
- You feel SOoo tired
- You frequently catch colds or get sick
- You may be experiencing some new health issues
Barriers to Change/Moving Forward
What holds us back from leaving a position/career?
Barriers to change include:
- Guilt that we will let people down
- Rationalizing that we have invested so much time and money in a particular career/business that it doesn’t make sense to leave it
- Fear of loss of approval
- Fear of the unknown
- Rationalizing that we have a good job, are making good money, and that we should be happy
- Fear of not making enough money
- Believing that we will never find the career/business of our dreams
Tips to help you embrace change and move forward
- Rate yourself on a scale from 1 to 10 (1 being “thrive on it” and 10 being “scares me to death”) as to how you usually respond to change. How you’ve responded to life changes in the past will provide you with clues as to how you may respond to change now.
- Reflect on your past experience with life changes; what have you learned that has supported you to adapt and move forward positively?
- Change your perspective. View change as an opportunity: for self-growth and learning; for exploring new solutions and ways of doing things; for “putting on a new pair of glasses” and seeing the world differently.
- Slow down and go inside yourself. Instead of keeping yourself busy, create some time and space for yourself each day. Set aside time in your schedule for you. Spend at least 30 minutes a day meditating, journaling, walking in nature, being.
- Get in touch with and acknowledge your feelings. Don’t push away your feelings; experience them. This allows the process of healing from the inside out to begin.
- Express those feelings. Draw, journal, paint, dance…
- Nurture and take care of yourself. Make sure you eat well, get enough sleep, and exercise regularly. Do something special for yourself on occasion, such as going for a massage, having a bubble bath, buying a new outfit; remember you are special and deserve the best.
- Reach out for support. Ask a friend, family member or life coach to help you. Surround yourself with people who believe in you and are not judgmental.
Based on past experience, how do you know that it’s time to leave a position or career? What strategies have you found useful to propel you forward/embrace change? I invite your comments below. Feel free to share this post with others. If you would like some support to rediscover your passion and find the career or business of your dreams this may be of interest – http://creativelivingcommunity.com/coaching/one-on-one-coaching/
by pam | Sep 11, 2015 | Conscious Living, Creative Living, Discovering Your Passion, High Achieving Women, Powerful practices
Many High Achieving Women know from a young age that we’re here to make a difference in the world. We may know that we are here for an important reason but have no clue as to what that difference is.
In order to truly understand yourself and discover what difference you are here to make, it is important to uncover your unique gifts and talents, as well as to identify your passion and life purpose.
Discovering Your Passion
“Your passions are the loves of your life … things that are most deeply important to you… things that, when you’re doing them or talking about them, light you up … When you follow your passion you love your life.”
(Chris & Janet Atwood, The Passion Test)
When you find your passion and live your life aligned with it, you feel truly joyful, fulfilled, and at peace. It lights your fire and fuels your enthusiasm for life. You feel that you are indeed doing something that makes a difference in the world and you feel alive.
We all have unique gifts and talents to share with the world. I invite you to do a short exercise.
My Unique Strengths and Talents
| Things I’m good at that come easily; e.g. mathematics, writing, athletics … |
Things I enjoy doing; e.g. being in nature, playing piano, teaching others … |
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i) Fill in the table above. Don’t take a lot of time to think about it. Write down the first things that come to mind.
ii) Circle the items that are similar or identical from each list.
iii) Rate each of the circled items on a scale from 1 to 10 according to how much it excites you/the level of passion you feel around it – “1” being “no interest at all” and “10” being “red hot”
Another clue as to whether something is a passion is if you lose track of time when you’re doing it (e.g. editing film, doing photography … )
iv) From the above, identify your top 3 to 5 passions .
Just being good at something doesn’t mean it is your passion or will fulfill you if you work in that area. I’m sure you know someone who was good at math, went on to study mathematics, taught it at school or university and over time was miserable and not at all happy teaching math everyday. So what we’re good at can provide clues to our passions but are not necessarily connected with them. Things we enjoy doing; e.g. connecting with and inspiring others, are usually better clues to what may be our passions. A passion is often a blend of what we love and what we’re good at. As well, your passions may change over your life-time.
What was your experience with the “unique strengths and talents” exercise. Did you learn anything new? Did it confirm to you that you’re on your path? I’d love to hear your thoughts below. Please share the post with others you think would appreciate it.
by pam | Jun 1, 2015 | Conscious Living, Creative Living, Discovering Your Passion, High Achieving Women, Powerful practices, Proven strategies
Do you remember when you used to wake up excited about going to work?
Do you NOW usually drag yourself out of bed, rather than hitting the ground running?
Are you no longer “juiced” by what you do?
Do you feel SOoo tired at the end of the day?
If so, you are not alone. I’ve been there and so have many of my clients. When we drive ourselves for extended periods of time, we often lose our passion. That’s why I created the Rediscover Your Passion and Find the Career/Business of Your Dreams coaching program.
We all have unique gifts and talents to share with the world. Yet sometimes we lose touch with them or never have been given the opportunity or taken the time to reflect on what truly makes our soul sing. Here’s a short exercise to get started.
Draw a chart with 2 columns; in the one column Write down all the things that you are good at or things that come easily and naturally to you. It could be athletics, mathematics, writing … In the second column, write down things you enjoy doing. Could be “being in nature”; teaching others; using my body; playing piano … If you’re having a challenge with this, think back to what you enjoyed doing as a child.
Now look at both lists and circle the items that are similar, or are on both lists. Then review the circled items. Close your eyes, go inside and get in touch with the feeling each one evokes inside you. Does it excite you? OR Does it have little or no effect on you? Rate each item on a scale from 1 to 10 related to the level of passion you have around it – 1 being – “no interest at all” and 10 being – “red hot”. From this exercise, identify your top 3 to 5 passions. They may be: writing; contributing to a cause greater than myself; editing film.
Just because we’re good at something, doesn’t mean it is our passion or will fulfill us when we work in that area. I’m sure you know someone who was good at math, went on to study mathematics, taught it at school or university and over time was miserable and not at all happy teaching math everyday. So what we’re good at can provide clues to our passions but are not necessarily connected with them. Things we enjoy doing are normally better clues to what may be our passions. Passions are often a blend of what you love and what you’re good at. As well, passions may change throughout our lives.
To further explore your passions, here are some more questions to reflect and journal on.
- What would I like to do if I had all the time and money in the world?
- What are my hobbies?
- What is one thing I did as a child that I really enjoyed?
- When have I/do I get lost in what I’m doing (i.e. lose track of time)?
Did you discover anything new? I’d love to hear your comments and insights. Feel free to share the post with others.
