Realigning Your Career Plans

SUMMARY

Do you sometimes feel like your career has gone way off track -- where you decided that you were going to achieve certain things, and it doesn't feel like you're ever going to get there?

Well, stick with me because this week I'm going to help you reinvigorate those feelings that you had when you set out to get where you wanted to go and then show you how to put a plan together so that you can get there.

If you have no plan, you won't know where you're going. I understand that you've had plans before, and because you've had them before and they've all fallen apart because of circumstances, you may have even given up making plans. You do them at work because you have to. But your life — your overall plan, intention and vision - is more important because whatever role you have in your career is just a part of your life. It's not above everything else in your life.

As you realign your career, all you're doing is bringing it back on track. It's just like an airplane. When you go on a flight, it's only twice on course in the entire flight. The first time it's on course is before it pulls back from the gate. The second time is when it pulls up at the gate in the new destination. Even though there's a flight plan, there are a series of checks and balances and shifts and adjustments that need to be made because of weather, air traffic control and all these things that can come up like things that weren't in the initial plan.

Well, that's it from me on this topic of intention. Join me again next week as we step into the area of professional leadership. That's that area where you do certain things to get results from your own efforts.

I'll see you then.

TRANSCRIPT

Do you sometimes feel like your career has gone way off track -- where you decided that you were going to achieve certain things, and it doesn't feel like you're ever going to get there?

Well, stick with me because this week I'm going to help you reinvigorate those feelings that you had when you set out to get where you wanted to go and then show you how to put a plan together so that you can get there.

Hi, this is Grant Herbert, Leadership and Sustainable Performance Coach, and today I want to continue our conversation around the competency of intention by helping you to realign your career plans.

Over this last month, we've been looking at doing things more on purpose and stepping away from the rut of just doing things day after day, which turns into weeks, then months, and doesn't really feel like you're on purpose.

Over this period, we've been talking about things like values and vision and being able to clear out the trees in front of you so that you can actually see the forest. So, what I want to do this week is finish off this conversation by helping you put together a plan. If you have no plan, you won't know where you're going. I understand that you've had plans before, and because you've had them before and they've all fallen apart because of circumstances, you may have even given up making plans. You do them at work because you have to. But your life — your overall plan, intention and vision - is more important because whatever role you have in your career is just a part of your life. It's not above everything else in your life.

The first thing you need to do is ensure you revisit an understanding of how you look at what's already happened. I've talked about that this month, and we looked at the fact that you need to do forward-focused reflection. You need to make sure that when you are looking at the past, you don't camp there. You have a quick look just as if you were looking up in the rearview mirror in your car, and then you put your eyes back on where you’re going (that big windscreen out in front of you). Those two pieces of glass are in that proportion on purpose because we want to make sure that most of your looking is forward, where you're going; otherwise, you will run into things.

Let's go through a process to prepare for this plan of reflecting on where you've been over the last year, reflecting on what went well and what didn't. However, as I said, you're reflecting whilst staying focused on where you're going. You're not reflecting on gaining data and information to feel bad about yourself, which validates how you actually see yourself and the identity you've been working on. No, you just want to collect some information and ask, "Hey, what worked well and what did I learn from that?”

And,“What can I take forward from what I learned and use it moving forward?"

Do the Exact same thing with what didn't go so well. Take the lessons that you learned and do things differently moving forward. So, step 1 is to reflect on where you've been.

The second thing to do then is to refocus on why you're doing what you're doing. Refocus on your overall vision and mission for your life, what you feel you are called to do. Refocus on the things that you need to do, but also who you need to become so that you can get there.

Sometimes, you lose focus because things are not working well or you're stuck in circumstances. But refocusing, lifting your eyes up and asking, "Hey, where am I going, and why did I want to go there?" gets you ready to put together a plan.

Once you've reflected and refocused, the next thing you need to do is relaunch. But relaunch with a new plan to bring things back on track. So, you’re not throwing out the baby with the bathwater and giving up on what it is you wanted to achieve. You’re just looking at different ways of getting there and then breaking it down into bite-sized chunks.

So, reflect, refocus, and then relaunch.

And your relaunch is exactly that. You're only starting a new leg of your journey, not starting again. Everything that's passed has been part of the process of getting where you are right now, but you’re relaunching with a new energy and vigour because you've got in your mind again why it is that you're doing this.

What's important to you?

Who's it going to help?

And, where does it fit into your overall priorities?

Now that you've done this and you understand the process before you can relaunch, you need a new plan. To do that, you can use my R4 Method. It's a simple plan with four parts to it that all start with R so that I can remember it easily. You put the different elements together in a sequence, which I'm going to teach you right now.

So, the first thing you need to do is look at where you want to go and where you want to be 12 months from now. I call these the RESULTS.

"What results do you want to see in your career 12 months from now?"

Work out what's important to you. So those priority areas that you have looked at in our previous conversations, and those values that you have worked out for each of those, and where it is that you want to be. When you do that, look at it as if it has already happened. Use a narrative that is in the present tense. To do that, you need to start by saying, "It is," and then fill in the date 12 months from now.

"It is", [whatever date it is] and "I have." Then explain to yourself or narrate to yourself what you see.

That's really powerful, and I know it might feel a bit strange the first time you do it because you are trying to trick yourself into thinking it's already happened. But what you're doing is giving your brain a picture of where you're going.

So have a go.

What are your results?

The next thing you want to do is come back to today and go, "Alright, well, that's where I want to go. That's great, but where am I now? What's my REALITY?"

So, whatever the things you put into the results side of the plan, on those same things, come back and just go, "Where am I now with this and this?" When you do this, you now have a clear picture of the gap that you're going to work on in the next phase of your journey.

Now, be very careful as you do this forward-focused reflection. You need to make sure that you're not getting down on yourself and saying, "Oh yes, I'm nowhere near where I wanted to be", and having a pity party.

No, you are just collecting data as you need to know what your starting point is.

Now that you know your starting point and where you're going, the next thing to look at is the ROADBLOCKS.

What are the things you're doing or not doing that are stopping you from going from where you are now to where you want to go?

What are the things that you could do or think that's going to get in the way?

There are external roadblocks as well, and you need to look at those so that you can have contingencies around them, but what we're talking about here are the things that are within your control.

What are you thinking about yourself? It could be some areas within your identity that still need some work.

What are the habits that you've formed? What are the things you procrastinate on?

Look at what roadblocks are getting in your way.

The fourth thing to finish off this plan is to look at what RESOURCES you need to add so that you can overcome those roadblocks and finally get from where you are now to where you want to go. These resources are things that you need to work on in yourself. They could be personal development, mindset shifts, or an overhaul of your belief structure. There are many things that they could be.

So now you have a plan that will enable you to look at where you're going in the next leg of your journey. That plan's over 12 months. What you need to do is go:

“Well, okay, this is where I am and this is where I'm going in 12 months, but where do I want to be 90 days from now?"

90 days is an amazing period of time to use as it is long enough away for you to stretch, and it's also close enough so that you can see the end result. So, look at the whole year, then bring it back to just a 90-day chunk, and then look at who you need to become in that 90 days. What things do you need to do, change, and shift in those 90 days so that you can kick off well on where you're going to be in the next 12 months?

As you realign your career, all you're doing is bringing it back on track. It's just like an airplane. When you go on a flight, it's only twice on course in the entire flight. The first time it's on course is before it pulls back from the gate. The second time is when it pulls up at the gate in the new destination. Even though there's a flight plan, there are a series of checks and balances and shifts and adjustments that need to be made because of weather, air traffic control and all these things that can come up like things that weren't in the initial plan.

Now, that you have a solid plan that you can embark on, you can step off and relaunch with a whole new excitement and vigour. Then, as you come up against these internal roadblocks, you can continue to work on them. I guarantee that if you take this on board, you do this, and if you get some support along the way, you will definitely get more out of this next 12 months than you ever have before.

Well, that's it from me on this topic of intention. Join me again next week as we step into the area of professional leadership. That's that area where you do certain things to get results from your own efforts.

I'll see you then.