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Do not quit your job!
You are stressed. No! You are totally exhausted, and angry, and fed up! You hate your work. You don’t want to take it any longer. This is not the kind of life you had envisioned for yourself. This is not life!
You are ready to stop this now. You want to take action. You want to give in your notice NOW – before you change your mind again. You want to feel free.
WAIT…
Quitting your job may be the right thing to do. Or maybe not. Obviously, something needs to change. But HOW you deal with change will make a huge difference to your professional and personal life. If you make a drastic decision when you are so emotionally charged, without having a clear and viable plan, you will only get back to square one – or even worse. You will have to start all over again. And you may regret that, on the spur of a moment, you burned precious opportunities.
Therefore, stop for a moment, and take conscious leadership in your career and life.
1. Congratulate yourself
Yes. Take a deep breath and congratulate yourself: You have just realized that you are ready to make a big change in your life. This is your big day! Soon you’ll be ready to think strategically, allowing both your mind and your heart to guide you more wisely.
2. Take a few days off
You need to get away from work in order to see things from a different perspective. Allow some time for pure enjoyement and fresh air, so you can clear your mind and soul.
3. Commit to living your best life
If you got where you are now, it means you are not living the life you really want. Do you want to quit your job just to get into another life you don’t want? If your answer is no, commit to doing what it takes in order to start living the personal and professional life you really want.
4. Choose what you want to change
Make a list of all the things you want to be different in your work and life. Among them, choose the ones that you can do something about and evaluate how a change would impact your life personally, professionally, emotionally, financially.
5. Lay out your roadmap
List all the things that need to happen in order for you to create the change you want. Set milestones and create a timeline. This is not meant to limit you, but rather to give your change structure and a sense of direction. Unexpected things will come up, but you’ll stay focused on the ultimate outcome you want.
6. Set yourself up for success
Make an inventory of your assets. Identify what’s really unique and valuable about you. Explore and test different options for your job or career change. Set small and achievable goals, so you experience a growing number of successes that keep you motivated as you move forward. Develop new habits to create your desired lifestyle TODAY. Talk with people who created change, surround yourself with like-minded people who understand and support you whenever you bump into a roadblock.
You are in an excellent place: you can start creating a better life. You can begin today. And you are not alone: Others have gone through similar challenges, they have undertaken this exciting and highly rewarding adventure. Learn from other people’s mistakes, use the resources you find, the mentors you meet, and the opportunities you get. You have all you need!
About the Author
Myriam Callegarin coaches global corporate managers and entrepreneurs who are feeling stuck, helping them to successfully reinvent their career and business. Find practical tools and inspiration in the Resource Center.
What do you want? Find out with unconventional strategies
You are thorn between two powerful opposite forces. On one side is your deep desire for a significant change in your career or business, and on the other side your doubts and fears are holding you tightly to what feels secure.
You know that giving in to one of these two forces might make you regret not having given in to the opposite one. And there is a lot at stake: your status, your finances, your lifestyle, and more.
What do you REALLY want? And even if you decided to go for change, what should your change look like? You have got no idea what kind of different job, career or business could be right for you. So, how can you understand what you really want?
The common approach
The more common approaches to finding out what you really want include long introspective search through various types of personality tests, strengths and career assessments, self-help books, counseling, or even coaching that keeps you going in circles.
While most of these approaches are highly valuable, too much introspective work can actually keep you stuck. It’s like having much more knowledge, but no idea how to sort it out and use it.
The unconventional approach
Even though I’m a deep supporter of the inside-out approach, meaning that first you change inside and then outside, my approach in this case is slightly unconventional: extensive research and experience has been showing me that when you DO things on the outside, it has an impact on the inside.
When it comes to understanding what you really want, along with your self-exploration you can try any or all of the strategies described below:
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Make space for what you want
You don’t know yet what you want. This knowledge is not in your conscious life yet, so you need to make space for it. Clear your desk, clear your house, get rid of old physical and emotional burdens.
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Increase your effectiveness
Peter Drucker used to say that Effectiveness is getting the right things done. I say that Effectiveness is getting the things done that truly matter to you. Identify what gets you the results YOU want and focus on that. Delegate or eliminate the rest.
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Increase your fun (and boldness!)
What do you do with your free time? Something fun! The more you learn how to enjoy your life, and the more you challenge yourself to be courageous, the easier it gets to understand what you really want.
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Develop a new habit
Understanding what you want means growth. Growth means change. Real change is reflected in your actions. Initiate change by developing new habits that support you better than your current ones.
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Explore and test
There is no need to make radical changes and jump into the unknown with big faith. First, explore a different job or career, volunteer, interview people, test your business idea.
There is so much you can do that allows you to understand who you are and what you really want. The simple fact that you are thinking about it means you are on the way to a higher level in your life. It means you want to grow, evolve and get to know a new you. That’s exciting!
If you are looking for more practical support and inspiration, check out our free Resource Center.
Wishing you success and happiness,
Myriam
About the Author
Myriam Callegarin helps global corporate managers and entrepreneurs to successfully navigate the challenges of career and business reinvention. Find practical tools and inspiration in the Resource Center.
3 Keys to Successful Change and Innovation
Today, life is not as it was 20 years ago, or even 6 months ago. Everything is changing: the climate, the economy, the way we work. For example, companies do no longer provide a secure lifelong haven: they are acquired, merged or they file for bankruptcy, suddenly leaving employees at all levels without a job. If you apply for a job, your cover letter and CV play a secondary role: what counts is what you post on Facebook or Linkedin. Professionals work from anywhere in the world, often without ever meeting their customers, employer or colleagues in person. They need to find other ways to build relationships that create trust.
Change is here: how are you responding to it?
Are you clinging to the past, afraid of losing security, or are you getting ready for change and innovation? Is your innovation random, or is it organized and structured? It doesn’t matter whether you are thinking of yourself personally or of your organization. Are you resisting change, or are you leading it? If you do not pro-actively get ready for change, things will change anyway, and you may not like what you get.
If you do recognize the need for change, here are 3 keys to successfully leading change and innovation.
Key #1: Leadership
Personally or within your organization, the first key to successful innovation is taking responsibility for your own change and becoming pro-active. This is about (personal) leadership, and it includes identifying the purpose of change, developing a supporting mindset, creating a powerful vision and action plan, leveraging your resources effectively, and following through. Along with it comes your ability to effectively communicate the need for change to others, so they can understand the benefits and support you.
Key #2: Collaboration
Change and innovation require new perspectives, new solutions and new habits, and this is very difficult to do by yourself. When you collaborate with others with the purpose of growing, generating new ideas, solving problems and implementing change, you move forward much faster. Why so? Because you (or your organization) make decisions and act based on past experiences, past habits and rules, and based on what you want to see, no matter if it benefits or damages you. Just think of self-sabotaging thoughts, beliefs and behaviours, or of ineffective systems or processes that someone established years ago. When you are open for collaboration, you focus on what you do best while allowing your weak spots to be filled by other people’s excellence.
For example, being open for collaboration may include involving your team, or even suppliers and clients to gain different ideas and perspectives. Or creating ambassadors among your employees and clients who like and believe in what you do. Or partnering with a coach who challenges you to move beyond your limiting beliefs or behaviours, think out of the box, and follow through effectively with your projects.
Key #3: Integration
Change and innovation require the integration of new behaviors and systems in the current environment. It means that you need to let go of ineffective behaviors and systems, and find effective ways to integrate the new ones so that they become a habit for everyone. Successful integration requires behavioral change as well a measurement of the results. This allows you to act with focus and consistency, to adjust the course if needed, and to keep improving.
Conclusion
As the world is evolving rapidly, resisting change just makes it more difficult. Instead, leading change gives us the opportunity to control it to a certain extent, and to grow. Today, the purpose of change and innovation is not to simply move from one set of habits to another one that we will stick to for the next 10 years. Today we are called to open our mind and heart to the fact that we need to become more flexible as a habit. This is an opportunity to uncover and experience our true potential, because in order to change and innovate ourselves, we are called to move beyond our self-imposed boundaries and limitations.
At the same time, it becomes more important than ever to get clear about our values, purpose and ultimate goal for our life or business. Because when we know exactly where we are heading to – and why – we are flexible enough to adjust to change while at the same time being strong and focused as we resume the route to what matters. Changes are challenging, and yet they are the biggest opportunity for growth and for exciting and rewarding innovation.
About the Author
Myriam Callegarin helps global corporate managers and entrepreneurs to successfully navigate the challenges of career and business reinvention. Find practical tools and inspiration in the Resource Center.
Are You Feeding Incompetence?
We are walking contradictions, aren’t we? We want results, top performance, efficiency, effectiveness, more money. And then of course we want more time and freedom to enjoy life.
So why do we persist in feeding incompetence?
For example, I’m thinking of corporations that hire the right people but put them in the wrong places. Have you ever met unmotivated employees who perform poorly, or just average? HR sends them to expensive motivational or customer care trainings, only to realize that the money was wasted. Move these employees to a different position that suits them better, and they start performing as if they were geniuses.
I’m also thinking of entrepreneurs who want to do everything themselves. They insist on doing stuff they are not good at, and then have no time and energy left for their best activities, the ones that attract and retain their best clients. In the end, relaxed evenings and fun week-ends remain a dream. Running a business is hard work, you know…
The four zones
Gay Hendricks, famous psychologist and counselor, describes 4 zones in which a person can operate:
- The Zone of Incompetence: That’s activities we are not good at. Other people do them much better than we do, in a fraction of the time. For example: Repair the printer, build our website, create spreadsheets, etc. Pride and narrow-mindedness keep us stuck in this zone. We are blind to the time, energy and money it costs us, while producing poor results.
- The Zone of Competence: That’s the things we are good at, that others do well, too. When we operate in this zone, we do things mechanically, without passion. After a while we wonder why we are feeling bored, tired or unfullfilled. We feel we are not expressing our full potential, but tell ourselves hundred reasons why we should stay where we are.
- The Zone of Excellence: That’s the activities we do extremely well. If we operate a lot in this zone, we are probably quite successful and feel secure. Even so, we are not genuinely passionate about them, and deep inside we feel that something is missing.
- The Zone of Genius: This includes the activities that make us thrive and feel alive. They flow, they come naturally to us, we never get tired or bored of them. That’s where we get the best results, work feels like play, we fully express who we are, we use our unique talents and strengths, and magnetically attract the right people.
Honestly…
How much time and energy do you spend each day in each zone? What about your employees, where do you see them?
If you want to stop feeding incompetence, what do you want to start feeding instead? Competence? Excellence? Genius?
How do you stop feeding incompetence?
Well, that’s relatively simple: spot all activities you are not good at and either delegate, outsource or eliminate them. Do you have the guts to do it?
What about employees? Do the same. Engage with them and spot what they are not good at, then find better ways to employ them. It will take longer of course, but think about the time, energy and money it will save you. It’s like driving a car with a clogged engine. If you take time to clear it, you’ll be surprised at how fast and smoothly it races!
About the Author
Myriam Callegarin helps global corporate managers and entrepreneurs to successfully navigate the challenges of career and business reinvention. Find practical tools and inspiration in the Resource Center.
Stuck? 3 Steps to The Right Decision
You have just been offered an Expatriate position on the other side of the world. That would be exciting, if it weren’t for the fact that in the past 6 months you’ve been playing with the thought of leaving your company altogether. What should you do?
Sleepless nights and endless discussions (with yourself and with your family) have been exhausting. You’ve got to make a decision. But how do you balance your heart with your mind, so that you can make the right decision?
Here are 3 steps to help you in the process.
Step No. 1 – Identify your values
If you want to make a good decision, the first step is to establish your unique values. Why is it important? Because your values clearly remind you of what is most important to you, both at emotional and practical level. When your decisions are not aligned with your values, it’s very easy to step into situations that put you out of balance and that generate conflicts with yourself and others. When a decision affects your whole family, encourage each family member to establish their personal values as well, and be open to a fair discussion.
Step 2 – Identify your limiting beliefs
Each decision is triggered by beliefs. These beliefs might be positive, or negative. Positive beliefs are based on trust, confidence, power. Negative beliefs are based on fear, and they are disempowering. For example, such thoughts as: “If I leave my job I must give up the lifestyle I’m used to“, or “If I accept the expatriate assignment my family life will really become a mess”, they are limiting your objective vision. You tend to focus only on a few aspects, believing they are true. But what else could be true instead?
Step 3 – Get a different perspective
Too often, we over-estimate our ability to see things clearly. Our mind is so cluttered with what we want to see that we do not recognize very important aspects. When I decided to leave the corporate world, back in 2001, I thought I had evaluated every aspect, I had talked with my family and friends. However, today I know that if I had consulted a professional coach or mentor, I would have avoided a lot of mistakes and pain, and my journey to the success I was looking for would have been much shorter. For example, I would have tested a few things before jumping.
Conclusions
Every decision is an opportunity to get to know yourself better, and to trust yourself more. At the same time, it can open you up to new tools and opportunities that are available to you, even if your pride tells you that you don’t need them. Wishing you all the best with your decision!
About the Author
Myriam Callegarin helps global corporate managers and entrepreneurs to successfully navigate the challenges of career and business reinvention. Find practical tools and inspiration in the Resource Center.
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