Redesign Your Career
Module 4: Make a Start

Welcome back to Redesign your Career. This week you’ll establish the framework to take the first actions towards the lifestyle you want.

Part One

This week, prepare for some exciting changes! So far, you’ve discovered your life purpose, you know what your true values are and which are the most important ones, and you have a list of suitable careers. It’s time to turn the theory towards practice and create a dynamic lifestyle perfect for you, one that will match your values and help you to express your life purpose.

The first step into your new career is to ask yourself some questions. These questions will be different depending on whether you are staying in your current position, or changing your career to a completely different lifestyle.

Right job, wrong approach

If the job you are currently doing fits your life purpose, ask yourself: ‘

  • How can I improve or adapt the way that I am working in order to feel great every day?
  • What do I need to put into place to feel confident and happy no matter what issues arise on a day to day basis?

Another, very obvious question, often ignored, is

  • How can I give more, how can I increase my value, enhance the service that I provide, either to my company or my customers?

Instead of focusing on what you want, focus on what extra you can give.

If you’re clear that you’re in the right business for you, decide to love it. Behave as though you do. Put in place an attitude of gratitude and willingness each morning. Make yourself an easy person to be around, an indispensable part of the team.

Let’s say you’re a driving instructor and you have discovered during this course that you are doing the best job in the world for you because it allows you to live your life’s purpose, it meets your values and no other career seems to match all the areas so completely.

Brilliant, you think. That’s it then, time to stop the course and drive off into the sunset? Stop! You came to this course because you didn’t feel fulfilled in your current job so there are clearly changes you have to make. So ask yourself, ‘How can I improve or adapt the way that I am working in order to feel great every day?’ and, ‘What do I need to put into place to feel confident and happy no matter what issues arise on a day to day basis?’

Part Two

Make each day the best it can be

The great thing is that you can answer these questions and make a real difference to your current lifestyle. You can change an average day into a stunning day. How can you, the driving instructor, make your day better?

One way might be to make a mental note when each client is talking about themselves so that the next time they are in the car you can ask them about the things that are happening in their life. Be specific, so that they realise you listened and cared enough to remember. This will make them feel special and look forward to the driving lesson which, in turn, will reflect back to you.

Perhaps you don’t like working on Saturday but it’s the best day for business and you’re always booked solid. How can you make this better? Perhaps you could choose to finish work one hour earlier and use this hour to do something special, something you really enjoy – a round of golf, a manicure, a massage, anything that will give Saturdays a lift and give you something to look forward to at the end of the day.

Part Three

Wrong job, what next?

What if the job you are doing has got to go? You have your life’s purpose, you know what your values are and you’ve selected some suitable career options. What next? You need to decide which one is best suited to your new life.

You’ve already chosen careers which match your purpose and values, now you only need to decide on the best one for you.

Pick no more than three and compare them to each other by asking yourself,

  • Is number one career more appealing, exciting, exhilarating than number two?
  • Is the one you chose more appealing, exciting, exhilarating than number three?

Suddenly, you now know which is the right choice for you!

Your top career has been selected, now it’s time to make a start. You already have skills you can use, but you need to know which ones are crucial and if any skills or knowledge must be gained. There will be a set of skills and competencies with your career and you need to identify them to know what steps you need to take next.

Part Four

Using your skills

Let’s say that you want to become a self-employed hairdresser. You already have the following skills; hairdressing, dealing with people, booking in appointments, taking and balancing the money and day to day running of a salon.

What you can’t do, or don’t know at the moment, is how to run a self employed business, how to order hairdressing products, how to do the book-keeping, how to find and negotiate business premises to your advantage. You are however, excited, motivated, passionate and ready to embark on the career journey of your dreams.

It’s your turn to do the work how and when you want to.

It’s time to make a start.

Action!

Actions of the Week

A. You are staying in your current career

1. List all the small areas of your job that ‘bug’ or irritate you or you dislike doing.

2. Put against each one what little small improvement or change you could do to make this more appealing for your or better for your clients.

3. Now put a date against each area by which time you will have done the improvement.

4. Take each item and date and write out the following statement of intent.

‘I will do ———-(area) on or before ___________(date) because I know it will move me toward a career of my dreams.’

B. You are changing careers

1. What skills and knowledge does this career require?

2. What skills and knowledge do I already have? (Don’t be modest!)

3. What do I have to do to make it happen?

4. Put dates against each of the things you have written in 3.

Now you have a list of things to do and dates to do them by, so go for it! Start now, not tomorrow, or next Monday, but NOW!

Next week’s lesson will move you closer to your goals.