Clients often come to me for career coaching when they think they have exhausted all of the ways they know to find a job or get a promotion without success. They want me to tell them what else to do, the magic recipe that will guarantee they get that job or promotion quickly.
As a career coach, of course I have several suggestions of what clients can try to create a faster, easier road to success. But often, they already know those things and more, but they can't access their own creativity to think outside the box.
Usually the problem is that they have been doing the SAME things A LOT and although they feel very busy, they aren't productive - which leads to frustration and burnout.
At this point, if someone doesn't look for guidance from a career coach, they look for a different job for which they are overqualified, or they rationalize why a promotion isn't that important.
They settle for this even if it doesn't align with their vision for their career, their values or their lifestyle. And then they wonder why they aren't happy, although they might be quite comfortable with what they settled on doing.
But one simple question I ask usually creates an avalanche of ideas. This in turn excites, energizes and motivates them.
IF I PROMISED TO GIVE YOU $10 MILLION DOLLARS IF YOU GOT A JOB/PROMOTION IN THE NEXT 30 DAYS, WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
Here is what I suggest clients do to get started.
Do a brain dump of EVERYTHING you can think of.
Don't judge the ideas or censor yourself. Just write down all your ideas whether you think you would take action on them or not.
Don’t let yourself off the hook - if "I don't know" wasn't an option, what could you think of to do?
If the ideas don't start flowing ask yourself "what would you stop doing".
Still stuck - "What would I definitely NOT do"?
Either of those questions usually unlock new ideas of what you COULD do.
Now that you have a list, choose one or two of those things and start doing them!
It will be rocky at first - you have to be willing to experiment and iterate. And if you really wanted that $10M then you would have to move fast and on a large scale. You would have to be willing to figure it out as you go and be willing to iterate and pivot in real time!
The reason you probably haven't done those things before is that you thought that the obstacles and challenges that you would face along with the fear and discomfort you would feel didn't seem worth it to you to endure to get to your goal..
But, I bet if you were going to get $10M, somehow you would think it would be worth it to experience those negative emotions and overcome those obstacles and challenges.
Ask yourself why that is the case.
What have you allowed to stand in the way of the success you already know how to achieve?
What would your life look like if you went for it, all the time, regardless of the prize?
What if your dream career (or any goal) was in itself worth those challenges and you weren't afraid to give everything a try?
What couldn't you accomplish if you listened to your own wisdom and then got out of your own way?
What's your $10M ANSWER???
If you can't find it alone, then maybe with the help of a coach, you can live the dream life that is waiting for you - right around the corner.
PS - If you want to help to unblock your creativity and figure out what you can do to get that job or promotion sign up for a free consultation with me and let’s talk. CLICK HERE to sign up for a spot on my calendar.
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