Your Job’s Role in Personal Growth
A job is more than a way of making money.
It's an opportunity to develop YOU.
And I'm not talking about developing professional skills here...
I'm talking about something much deeper.
Because at the core of it...
Your job is your avenue for self connection and growth.
It's a place to get to know who you are and what you believe.
So let's not diminish our jobs into just the thing we do.
That's an insult to the powerful tool that our job can be for us.
Let's use our job. For our growth. For our self understanding.
To use your job this way, you don't have to be in a job you like.
You don't have to be in a job that challenges you.
You don't even have to be in a job that has growth potential.
Because whatever the job, it's your chance.
To see you. To be you. To hear you. To share you.
So don't numb out. Don't go on auto-pilot.
Don't forget you.
Instead ask yourself, who do I want to be, in this job, today?
Be that. You owe it to yourself.
This is you making your job work for you.
The job doesn't call those shots. You do.
So who do you want to be?
Happiness at Work
From working across levels and in various industries...here's what I discovered: You can be happy or unhappy at any level, but not necessarily in any situation.
A quick aside to walk through my career path to make this point:
Motel House Cleaner...Insurance Admin Assistant...Restaurant Food Runner...Night Shift Front Desk Attendant...Academic Mentor...Resident Advisor...Research Lab Assistant...Law Firm Admin Assistant...Spa Marketing Intern...Transportation HR Assistant...Hospital L&D Coordinator...Psychology Teaching Assistant...Navy Consulting Instructional Systems Designer...Leadership Firm Analytics Consultant...Communications Firm Coach and Trainer...Prof Dev Firm Life Coach...Prof Dev Firm Entrepreneur and Alumni Director...Freelance Coach and Facilitator...Founder and Certified Coach at Beliefseed
Whether in the Hospitality industry or the Consulting world. Whether as an Intern or at the Director level.
Happiness could be found. As well as lost. In any job. At any level.
It wasn't my role that determined my state of being.
****It was how aligned I was to myself in that role.****
So let's stop looking to our job title, or even the tasks, to determine our fulfillment. And instead let's look within. And let's ask ourselves -
- Does this role hold the space for me to be me?
- Is this job an opportunity for me to get to know who I am?
- Is this company an appreciator of what I have to offer?
- Does my boss welcome my perspective?
- Have I been granting myself permission to explore my own perspective and creativity as I do my tasks?
When we align to ourselves, sometimes roles that seem like they should be terrible are a lot of fun. Truthfully one of my FAVORITE jobs was being a House Cleaner because of exactly that.
And sometimes, no matter how hard we try, the work environment isn't conducive to our growth. So we need to be repotted. Into soil that nurtures us. I've been there too. Even in a role that paid me the best I'd ever been paid up to that point, I felt stifled, merely tolerated, and disrespected. So I left.
So if you're wanting work happiness and you can't seem to get it...
Check in with yourself.
Are you aligned to you?
Because when you align back to yourself, you can discover your answer on what next career move to make.
And for help with this, join me in 1:1 coaching. This is what I do. I'm here to help my clients reconnect to their truth and use their career as a hub of creative self expression - even in the most unexpected roles.
The Promotion’s Not the Point
"If only I got promoted, then...
...I'd be happier."
...My colleagues would take me seriously."
...I could really make an impact."
...I could finally relax."
I hear this often.
But then you know what happens when they do get promoted?
They minimize it.
"Well this is nice an all, but I really should be at the Exec level."
"Well sure I got promoted, but so did Shaun and Linda so it's like nothing actually changed."
Or they tell me they thought it would feel different.
And a wave of sorrow sets in. Because the thing they thought was the solution, turned out to lead to just another cycle of the same old story.
The reason for this let down resides in how we perceive promotions.
When we make the promotion the solution, the sole mission, the key objective...we miss out on the actual point.
The promotion isn't the point. The progress is.
The promotion is the measure of that progress, which is why it is an important milestone.
But when we get so focused on the measure that we lose the motive - the reason for wanting to excel in the first place - the promotion deceives us.
So let's remember the progress. The growth. The process of self discovery and development that our career journey can be. Let's remember the point is that progress.
The promotion is an indicator, but not the point itself.
Leverage your LinkedIn Banner Image
How to Leverage Your LinkedIn Banner Image:
Think of your LinkedIn Banner image as a canvas for your career branding. It's often key to a viewer's first impression of you and what you offer. So don't fill it with a random picture as an afterthought. Instead, use it to convey a compelling representation of your unique brand.
Here are 3 tips to do so:
1️⃣ ONE - Include a positioning statement.
This lets viewers know the value you offer. Examples:
Instead of "Front End Architect", My client wrote: "Front End Architect serving end users by implementing architecture to achieve business goals."
Instead of "HR Executive", my client wrote: "HR Executive who builds HR from scratch."
2️⃣ TWO - Choose an image that resonates with your style.
Think about the color composition and the image itself. You can get creative here, just make sure it isn't too distracting. Examples:
My Accounting Manager Client chose an image of a money tree because it represented money (for accounting) and also growth (he develops accounting teams and depts).
My Software Engineer Client chose an image of backend coding because it represented what he excels at in his role.
3️⃣ THREE - Keep it focused on your people.
Consider the audience you want to attract and speak to, and use that to determine what you include (and what you leave out). Example:
My Client worked as a manager in a company, but his goal was to get more freelance gigs on the side. So, we focused his LinkedIn on his business and made his banner speak to his potential customers (instead of to recruiters). And as a result - he's already gotten 3 new freelance gigs!
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That's what to include on the Banner. Now for HOW to make it.
My favorite free tools to use are Canva and Unsplash.
Canva will let you upload a banner image, add text overlay, and edit it all so it looks snazzy. The free online version has everything you need to make an incredible LinkedIn Banner Image.
Unsplash is a great additional free source for image options. This online site lets you search for a specific topic or color, and you can download the image then upload it into Canva.
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There you have it. These tips will enhance your LinkedIn presence and leave viewers with the first impression you're wanting.
How Your Job Creates Spiritual Growth
Your Job is your Avenue for Self Expansion and Spiritual Growth.
It's a place for you to create and confirm your personal character. Who you are, even in stress. Who you are, even in growth. Who you are, even in ambiguity.
It's your opportunity to experiment, to speak up, and to express.
Any job is a chance for you to sit with yourself, get to know yourself, and share yourself with the world.
So let's not make a job just a job. Let's remember it's an opportunity to reestablish ourselves, our values, and our perspective.