DIY: Live the Life You Love with a Career Map
The job market has been HOT the last year or so and yet many people feel edgy, like we are living in uncertain times. Maybe it’s the summer heat or the crazy politics in Washington. who knows! Whatever the reason, there is one thing you can do NOW to take charge and feel confident about your future. Build your own career map.
Let’s begin with two simple truths…
1) Only You Can Own Your Career. No one can do it for you, nor should they (thanks anyway boss or helicopter parents).
2) Your Career is a Journey, not a Destination. The key is making sure the journey is satisfying and that you are living your life and not like life is living you. Career mapping looks a lot like this:
What’s a career map? It’s the container, the document, the holder of space, for the outputs you create from a simple process that invites you to take stock on your life AND work.
This simple process invites you to take time: reflect, assess, plan, and engage with others who can help you along your journey. Sure, your career is your journey, but even Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz needed help. Remember the Scarecrow, and the Cowardly Lion (among others) who helped her on her way?
Ready for some DIY career mapping fun? Begin by getting clear on your “why.” Who are you, what fills you up, what is important to you, what do you have to give, what do you hope to do more of, what would you prefer to do less of?
Find a time and place where you can get some quiet and let go of the day-to-day. Perhaps just walk to your local park on a warm summer day and sit somewhere with a notebook under the trees.
Take a few deep breaths. Be there, really there. Write down these question and any other questions that may come up for you and see how many you can answer. This isn’t a test. It’s okay not to know any, some, or all of the answers.
- Who are you?
- What fills you up?
- How would you spend your time if money and success were guaranteed?
- What is important to you?
- What do you have to give? What do you want to be known for?
- What do you hope to do more of?
- What would you prefer to do less of?
Next month we will go on to the next stage. For now, put whatever came up from your current inquiry into your Crockpot of Reflection. Noodle on it. Try a few things on and see how they feel.