Do you need a haircut or a new career?

People often ask me when I knew I had to do something different in my career and the answer has a number of critical moments that happened over time. It wasn’t one singular event. These moments happened over YEARS and so in order to help you understand if it may be time for you to change here’s my story. 

My Career Back Story

For context, I worked in the same industry for 17 years; 3 years with one company, 14 years with another. I was good at what I did, won a lot of awards and accolades, climbed ladders and learned a hell of a lot. 

I worked very hard, I pretty much committed my soul to it and at times had my balance way out of whack. I loved the success I was getting and at times when I wasn’t as successful I worked harder to claw it back.  

You could say it was my everything. And, truthfully my commitment to my work at times came at the detriment of other things in life; relationships, wellbeing, social life BUT I had a lot of fun and gained significant life changing experiences. 

So, why did I question it? 

About 8 years prior to my career shift, I remember a friend saying to me 'you should be a Life Coach.' And while I was flattered that she felt I had that much to give others and I had a feeling of ‘ooh yes, I’d love that’, my inner monologue very quickly went to things like...
 
''I can’t do that, that's not a job for someone like me, I work with Global corporates, I'm climbing ladders, plus they don’t earn much...'' 
 
But, somewhere deep down I knew I'd love to do something like that, to teach and guide others. And I knew I'd be good at it. But at the time I ignored it because it didn't seem 'good enough' for me. At least for the person I had become. 

The person that thrived on hitting sales targets, loved the recognition that came from being top of the league tables (financial and otherwise) and the person that was known to be top of my game. 

And so I carried on in my success bubble.  

My first warning 

Years later a family member was asking me how work was going and true to form I reeled off all of latest successes, promotions and accolades.  

And then he asked me if I was happy? 

And that question stopped me in my tracks.  

I had to swallow pretty hard before I answered, ‘yes of course!’ But, that innocent question made me realise was that I wasn’t truly happy. I was highly successful, but I wasn’t truly fulfilled. 

But the buzz of success, my commitment and loyalty, my love of the recognition in an environment where I was good at what I did still was enough to stop me from doing anything significantly different. 

I made some changes to my scope of work, but the fundamentals remained the same. 

When the success was no longer enough 

At the end of another year, I landed top of the league table, won awards, great bonus but that Christmas break I felt totally over it. How could I go into another year and do more of this same thing that by then I had done for maybe, 13 years.  

And so, I drafted my exit plan. It involved biting the bullet and launching my own business in the coaching space that had always niggled at me on the darker days. 

BUT, when I went back to work after my break I was promoted and my role scope changed. The new scope was a fresh learning curve and challenge and that exit plan went very quickly to the back of my mind.  

More success to feed off, more learning, I no longer needed that plan did I! 

But then I had my hair cut 

Maybe 2-3 years later, I was heading away for a friends 40th birthday and on the morning we were leaving I had a real urge to get a fringe cut into my hair (that can be quite the change of look!) and so off I went to the salon. 

On the way back from that long weekend away and due to return to work the next day I had an overwhelming feeling off ‘I can’t do it anymore.’ And this time, it felt like I meant it. 

I was bored, I felt stagnant and the thought of carrying of felt suffocating and unauthentic. 

I quickly realised that my urge for the fringe was a craving for new, fresh, different and it worked, I loved it but it made me realise how much I needed change in my life in general.  The fringe was somewhat of a door opener. 

And so, 1 year away from turning 40, this time I was listening, paying attention and ready to act. I always was a sucker for a deadline and the big 40 was a juicy one.

The moment I got home from that trip, I opened my laptop and began to organise to take long service leave from work in order make more sense of things and figure out my next move. 

I invested in coaching support to help me, and the thought of taking the leap began to invigorate me. 

This time to the extent that I was certain I was making the right move, and no amount of success was enough to keep me there this time. I could now see that it was no longer enough for me.

What I know now that I didn’t know then; 

With the benefit of hindsight and having learned a lot about myself through coaching (including becoming a professional coach) over the last few years, there is so much that is obvious that I didn’t see at the time.  

Firstly, at times when I questioned if I was in the right place, my values were no longer being met. When I could take action to re-align them, I kept myself happy for a while longer until I ran out of options and the niggling voice returned. 

Secondly, my identity was wrapped up in my work and it was an identity I liked because it proved that I was good enough. I was good at it and people knew it. Of course, that felt good, so I stayed. I always looked forward to what was next, the next achievement, the next milestone without stopping to give much thought to what else might be good for me. 

Lastly, I was in my comfort zone and stopping myself (subconsciously) from making a move because I was afraid. Afraid of not being good enough, afraid of judgement from others if I did what I really wanted to do. I didn’t have the self-awareness or confidence to know that if I took that work success away, that I was good enough without it.  

So, was I in the wrong job for 17 whole years!? 

Fundamentally no, I don’t believe that to be true. I would not be where I am today and able to do the work I love doing were it not for the professional and personal experience that got me here. But do I think I could’ve made a move sooner if I had built my self-awareness with coaching support earlier, yes. 

Over that career I had the privilege of helping thousands of professionals with their career, leadership and business goals, which when added to the experience from my own highs and lows over the years is a very powerful combination. When a client comes to me now feeling overwhelmed, or confused by an issue they’re facing, I can very quickly determine what’s likely happening and what they can do about it. 

I have the experience to be able to help others to love what they do for work, which is a very fulfilling place to be. 

So, to my friend who said I should be a (life) coach, you were right, thanks for the inspiration.  

Now, if you’re reading this and nodding along, maybe feeling inspired, there’s a reason for that. And that reason likely won’t go away until you act on it. But, it doesn’t necessarily mean you to need a complete career overhaul where you start again, small changes can make a big impact.

So, what’s your next move? 

Of course, if you’d like to talk to explore what your next best move may be you can book a time to do so here.