When I look back at my career timeline it looks seamless.
I’ve transitioned between different companies, industries, roles, labels, ways of working - and I can clearly see the thread that links them.
At the time? At each of those crossroads? Not so much!
At each of those points I was full of confusion. It’s a tricky time. Knowing that something has come to an end, but not what will start up next.
What I did know was what I didn’t want.
I love this picture.
It represents the fun of being up high, the joy of early dog ownership, the beauty of seeing the landscape spread out down below.
It was taken on holiday in West Wales back in 2018. Freddie and I are at the top of Mwnt, while my husband and children are on the beach down below.
They were happy doing, and I was happy being and seeing them.
Seeing our lives from above like this can be both calming and grounding. Things really do look different, and feel different, when we look down on our lives rather than being in them.
It gives us a moment to pause, to see the bigger picture, to put things in context.
…when you don’t know exactly what you want to do next.
Many of us dread being asked the question - where do you want to be in 5 years?
We simply can’t tell you the role we want to be in, or where we want to be. We don’t know.
And that’s absolutely fine.
Except… it can be really hard when other people know their answer, and it feels that we should too.
So, we default to the response we feel we ‘should’ give, or leave it wide open - neither of which feel right.
But there is a different way to have a useful career conversation.
Back in the day, when I was a brand manager on Lucozade Sport, one of my favourite things to do was write a brief.
It was a collaborative process, and I loved weaving together the threads to help tell the story of the brand:
What was it about?
Where had it come from and where was it now?
Where did it want to go, and why?
It was so useful to take the learning from the past and use it to shape the future.
And also to be specific about the edges - what was in and what was out, what was fixed and what was flexible.
I have been a great completer finisher in my life.
Sometimes when it really would have been wiser to stop.
I’ve trained through injury, I’ve stayed too long in roles that no longer fit me, I’ve chosen to ‘push through’ when really, I needed to stop and regroup.
I’ve also started things that felt like a wonderful idea at the time - before I realised what the process would be like - and then felt I had to see it through.
So, it’s been a complete gift to realise that I don’t have to finish everything I start.
And that I often learn just as much from the things I stop as the things I complete.
It’s all useful data.
It’s the middle of the year.
A half way point.
A beautiful time to take a step back and look both ways.
To appreciate the progress you’ve made so far, to focus on what’s to come.
When we’re busy in our lives and work, we can forget to pause, to see the bigger picture, to put things into perspective.
And yet it’s so important.
One of my favourite quotes from Danielle North sums this up, “If you never stop to ask yourself how you are doing, how will you ever really know where you are going?”
I’m a big fan of creating clarity from the inside out.
Of shining a spotlight inside to light the way ahead.
Of getting super clear about who we are on the inside, so we can create the life we want on the outside.
It’s what got me into coaching in the first place.
And yet…
Sometimes, it’s not an inside job.
Sometimes, it’s the situation.
Who were you 12 years ago?
Where were you, and what were you doing?
What was your life like?
So much can change in our life over time.
Our circumstances, our surroundings, the people in our world, what we want, what works for us, how we like to spend our time and energy, what and who we value and appreciate - all can change.
You are not the same person you were 12 years ago, 7 years ago, 1 year ago - even last month or last week.
And neither are the people around you.
And yet it’s so easy to miss the changes. Unless we stop, take stock, notice and appreciate them.
I came upon this sign on one of my regular dog walks recently. It really struck a chord!
Sometimes in life we are clearly moving and growing. Things are happening, there’s a plan and regular progress, we’re on track.
We’re in motion.
Sometimes we’re regrouping. Taking some time to reflect on, and integrate, what’s been. Pausing to let what we have sown grow. Taking stock and working out what’s next.
We’re still.
Are you forgetting to look back?
So often in life we are focused on the future, and the gap between where we are and where we want to be.
It can feel hard to see how we will get to the destination. We can feel like we are a long way off, and maybe that we will never arrive.
We can end up…
Focusing on how far we have to go, rather than where we are.
Reviewing what we haven’t done, rather than what we have.
Measuring ourselves harshly against expected progress, rather than actual progress.
We can forget to to look behind us to celebrate the journey we’ve already made.
