Career change, like all transitions, call for moving past a
familiar zone of comfort. Breaking free feels like blasting
out of the earth's gravity zone: you need lots of energy to
get started before finding a new momentum.
Gaining energy means staying away from energy drains and
spending time around energizers. To see where your energy
is going, begin an energy journal.
For the next three days, keep track of how you spend time,
hour by hour. You may combine blocks of 2-3 hours if you're
in one place. For each hour, write:
(1) What did you do? Be specific: Instead of "worked,"
write, "drafted proposal for the new account." Instead of
"walked dog," write, "walked dog around the block and
stopped to chat with two neighbors."
(2) Were you alone or with others? Indoors or out? Engaging
in familiar activity or trying something new? Voluntarily
present or feeling you had no choice?
(3) At the end of the hour or block of time, did you feel
energized, drained or neutral? Were you ready to take on
the world or crawl into bed with the cat?
I recommend waiting at least three days to study your
journal and identify patterns. You can also try journaling
three days on a long weekend and comparing that journal
with three days during a week.
When you're drained by television-watching or hanging out
with friends who are on a lower energy wavelength, you can
create your own action plan. When your job, location or
family drains your energy, that's a sign for deeper
excavation, possibly with a coach and/or counselor.
Too much neutral can keep you stuck in a comfort zone. You
need energy to make a change -- and that calls for
surrounding yourself with people, places and actions that
charge your batteries and get you pumped for action.
************************************************************
Cathy Goodwin, Ph.D., author, speaker and consultant, works
with midlife professionals who want to rebuild, renovate and
revitalize their careers.
"Ten secrets of mastering a major life change."
http://www.cathygoodwin.com/subscribe.htmlWebsite:
http://www.cathygoodwin.comContact: mailto:
cathy@... 505-534-4294
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