Knowing what it is you want.
For many of us, knowing what we don’t want, what we will no longer tolerate, or allow in our personal/professional spheres is as important as knowing what we do want. (This may be true of women especially, who still, in 2016, are made to feel shady for embracing their ambition. *sighs*) For many people, knowing what is no longer acceptable–say, a miserable job experience–forces us to take responsibility and articulate what it is we do want, and how we’re going to create the opportunities we need. How we’re going to allow ourselves to achieve our ambition. How we’re going to force ourselves to master our fears.
I see this all the time. Just recently, for example, a client hired me to help her revise her LinkedIn profile–she’s leaving one high-level job, that wasn’t what she thought it would be, and it’s important that her next job be the right fit for her goals, because, in corporate, ravenous America, we all of us only get a limited amount of chances to get our mind right.
Anyway,working through a first draft I sent, my client was forced to be honest with herself, and identify what it is that she’s looking for. She knew the draft didn’t work…but she didn’t know why. The very process of writing a reply email to me, of having to do research on her colleagues’ LinkedIn profiles, and resumes, in order to understand what was missing from my proposal, and what she needed/wanted–at one point, she was linking to specific sentences in people’s profiles–while probably causing her, at times, to want to strangle me, ended in an understanding and self-awareness that wasn’t there before. #yourewelcome I’d say I’ll buy her a drink, but since she’s on course to score a great new job, I’ll let her get the first round.
Trying to make your own professional revisions? Great! Sit down at your computer, or grab some pen and paper and start identifying, in as much detail as possible, what it is that you hate about your current position and why. Can you write a description of what your ideal job might be? That’s an important place to start. The next level is allowing yourself to believe that you can get this job, that you have skills and experience valuable to the people hiring for this position. You have to be sold before you can sell anyone else. You are the only person responsible for your career. #GetToWork
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