Pay attention

So you know you want to make a radical career-shift but you have no idea what else you could be doing. Arghh! SO frustrating!

Chances are, you won’t suddenly discover, in a great big gust of insight, what it is you really want to be doing. For most people who discover a great new direction, it just doesn’t happen that way. [There are no lightning bolts, no career-fairy shoulder-taps].

So how do they do it? These magical, suddenly-career-happy people? How do they work out what they would prefer to be doing?

They pay attention. They pick up, over time, on the little clues that their life is giving them, about what their idea career could possibly be.

• They notice conversations that pique their interest
• They notice the books and articles they like to read
• They notice the people on Instagram whose lives inspire a touch of envy
• They notice aspects of their job that they enjoy the most [even if it’s the coffee run]
• They notice how they spend their time, when they’re on holiday
• They notice the things that they lose themselves in, and do effortlessly
• They notice the websites they visit and the content they consume

In short: they notice how they spend their days. [Because really, in many ways, we’re already living our passions, we just don’t necessarily realise it].

And they take detailed notes on it. [This is actually key, but is often overlooked].

So if you’re stuck on what to do with your career, start here. And don’t be put off by stuff that seems like you could never make money from it [like: I love lying on beaches and reading about travel destinations]. How to monetise an idea falls under the heading of The Next Question, which is: How to Make it Happen. 

For now, don’t even think about bothering your brain with that. Simply focus on the clues, and what they’re telling you about where you could happily go.

Tags: career-coaching, life-coaching, Melbourne