For many years I found myself worrying about what might be in my career. I worried about organisational change, reorganisations, mergers, acquisitions, disposals and delivering a role that had a meaningful impact on the business and the people I worked with. The Cycle of Uncertainty.
I was consumed by waiting to see what my fate might be. The feeling of waiting for decisions to be made or clarity to be found was exhausting.
In 2015 I was asked the question, ‘What do you really care about at work?’ I broadened this question to ‘What do I really care about?’ At this point, I had just returned from my second maternity leave and the timing was perfect to think about how did I want my life to look like.
I counted ahead 5 years and considered how old my children would be, how old my Dad would be and what I am passionate about delivering in my role. The time was going to continue regardless of anything I did, so I decided to stop waiting for others to make my decisions. I worked hard through multiple coaching sessions to gain clarity on elements such as:
- Strategically, what I am trying to achieve, or even exploring what I want my future to be? How will it feel once I do this?
- Emotionally, can I do this? Do I have the self-belief to do this?
- Financially, how do I/we maintain the lifestyle we enjoy while making changes to the way I work?
I recall one session with my coach in November 2018, where I decided I would draw as we went through the coaching session. The reason is, the left-hand brain works with logic, so the writing would have held me to the current norms and structure around me while drawing with colours used the right-hand brain, which is all about creativity. I often go back to this coaching session and the images I captured. I am delighted that I fulfilled everything I committed to.
Through the incredible capabilities of my coach, she challenged my thinking, she used questions that drew out my self-limiting beliefs and encouraged me to find ways of thinking differently.
The coaching alone did not make me leave my job, the power of the coaching kept the positive thoughts and clarity of ‘what I really care about’ louder than worrying of what may be happening around me. With this clarity, I was able to really define my plans and aspirations for the future. Any changes that happened around me, did not have an emotional impact on my self-belief, as I separated business processes from my aspirations.
While we live through the daily changes of 2020, what are you doing to be at your best now and for your future? What do you really care about? Through taking control of what you really want, the power and drive to achieve it can be unstoppable.
On reflection, the uncertainty energized me to find what I really care about and to consider how I want to spend my life. I am doing this now and love it!
What could coaching do for you?
For more information or to kick off your coaching journey contact zia@ziasavel.com or www.ziasavel.com