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Career Management and Life Planning Tools: Eight Powerful Questions About Your Future
"Most people don't plan to fail. They just fail to plan." This
old saying applies to any area of your life where you want to
make some positive changes. Prior to planning, however, you must
get absolutely clear on your intentions, and then keep
those intentions top-of-mind as you make your plans and live
your life. Identifying your intentions is particularly key if
you are setting professional goals for the coming year, or
considering a career transition.
The following questions are designed to help you identify your
priorities and GET AT what your intentions are. If you are like
most people, you have a nagging, vague sense of where you need a
course correction, but your thoughts are too fuzzy and ragged to
have much of an impact on your actions. Work through these
question on your own, or work with a partner or a coach. I have
seen many successful people clarify their intentions with these
questions, and then use them to inform their career transition
or other life changes.
These eight clusters of questions apply, whether you are making
major changes or simply fine-tuning. The clearer you become with
your intentions, the more powerfully they will impact your life.
1. What are your intentions for your next work chapter? What do
you want to bring to it that has worked for you before and what
do you want to do differently? What do you want to bring forth
from yourself in this new adventure? What experience are you
looking for, and what kind of support do you need for that to
happen?
2. What are the things you have tolerated or are currently
tolerating (people, behaviors in yourself or others, low
standards for this or that, and so forth), and how can you
eliminate these tolerations as you move forward?
3. What experiences do you want to have had, 10 years from now,
looking back over your previous 10 years? You might express
these experiences in very concrete terms, such as, "I want to
have seen fields of tulips in bloom in The Netherlands." Or you
might express these in more abstract terms, such as, "I want to
have learned to recover more quickly from 'mistakes,' and to
have grown thick-skinned enough that I no longer dwell on things
I wish I'd done differently," or, "I want to do something
groundbreaking with my team, where we all pull together and do
something amazing."
4. What do you want to learn in your next professional chapter,
whether at your current position or somewhere else?
5. Do you want to create some shift in any of these areas?
- simplifying your life
- finishing incompletes (with projects, with people)
- handling money, creating reserves
- taking care of your mind, body, spirit
- extending your boundaries, being well protected (insurance,
as well as more abstract protections)
- raising your standards
- re-orienting around your values, strengths, and what delights
you
- creating a healthy support network
6. What might de-rail you or get you off track or out of
balance as your life gets busier? What can you do in advance so
that doesn't happen?
7. What are the ways you are holding yourself back from
dreaming big - ways you are telling yourself to only shoot for,
say, St. Louis, rather than the moon?
What do you most fear about your future? Get very vivid and
clear and detailed about the fear; get friendly with it. Then
figure out a way you would deal with that which you fear - not
just how you would survive it, but how could you come through it
with strength and even some grace. Then figure out yet another
way you could deal with it. What is your intention regarding
this fear?
If you could use some support for any part of this process,
including how to make your intention become a reality, do not
hesitate to get help from a career professional. There is just
no reason to stay stranded and alone. Most career coaches will
provide a complimentary initial consultation, which will give
you a strong sense of what coaching can do for you.
If you're considering hiring a coach to help you with challenges
like these, contact me at www.stcoach.com me for an initial
consultation at no charge.
Copyright 2003, Sharon Teitelbaum
About the author:
Sharon Teitelbaum, a Work-Life and Career Coach, works
with high achieving women with young children, people at
mid-career, and professionals seeking greater career
satisfaction and work-life balance. She coaches by phone and
in person in Boston. Getting Unstuck Without Coming
Unglued:Restoring Work-Life Balance, Sharon's first book,
was published in 2005.
Sharon Teitelbaum
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