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How Can You Be Sure About Your Career Direction?

Lets say that you want to reach the level of Director, or V.P. or maybe even get to a C-Level

chair. As much as you say you want to follow thistrajectory you have doubts. You question

whether or not this is the right path and you look for evidence to prove, to yourself, you know

what you want. You can lose confidence and berate yourself because youresupposedto

know what you want. After all yourean adult. Thatswhat adults do, right?

The truth is very few people know what they want with such depth that what they know about

themselves carries them throughout their lives without any deviation. My wife Judith Sherven

and I have worked with a wide range of executives from CEO down and they love their jobs. But

they often tell us they didntplan to be where they are. In a very real way not only did they find

themselves in their new roles, they discovered who they were and what they were capable of in

their current roles.

Granted some told us that they wanted the position they are in and navigated consciously to get

there. But they were in the minority.

So how can you be sure youremoving in the right direction even if you donthave a clear

picture of where you ultimately want to be?

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To Begin You Must Start Where You AreIf you want clarity itsbest to stay in the present. Memory can be foggy and inaccurate because

we lay on our past/memory an interpretation from the conscious and unconscious points of view

of where we are now which can distort and rewrite what you believed then. That risk makes

memory essentially risky to this task. And whatever you hope for or imagine what will be in the

future has not yet occurred and as we all know what you hope for now will be different when it is

realized.

The first step is to be clear about what youredoing now. Describe in detail what you are doing

in your work life. You may think you already know so this step would be redundant. But when

you commit to the task of putting it on paper, i.e. making it objective, the process itself will reveal

to you detail you may not have considered. Your commitment itself will bring things to mind that

otherwise might remain in the shadows and unavailable.

Are You Fulfilled in Your Current Position?

What is fulfillment? Like all psychological/spiritual concepts it is very difficult if not impossible to

answer the question in precise terms. But you can closely approximate that precision by lookingat the qualities that are part of the experience of fulfillment.

Think of it this way. Use your experience of fulfillment, to the degree that you are fulfilled, as

evidence that you are at the right place, in the right role. For the time being you are contained,

no longer reaching. This doesntprevent you from wanting more, but that next level is in the

future. How can you be sure itsright for you? You cantknow until yourein the role but you can

know that youreon the right path. You can trust your ambition and the picture youveimagined

for yourself. For the purpose of determining a sense of surety stay focused within the frame of

where you are right now. Ask yourself:

Does what I do express my abilities and represent who I am?

In my current role do I feel in alignment with who I see myself to be?Are my values supported by what I do?

Do I have a sense of purpose?

Are my expectations met?

Am I achieving what I predicted?

Do I confidently accept who I am at this time?

Warning:do not put the burden on yourself of having to be perfect. There will always be

moments of dissatisfaction, frustration, and even bewilderment, but they are moments and to be

expected. Whatsimportant is that your picture of you and where you are now in the context of

where you want to go is the platform on which you stand to build you surety.

Do you receive pleasure from what you do?

For this assessment understand pleasure to mean something you prefer in other words your

preference, so that what you do is grounded in your own choices. If what youredoing is not

reflective of your will and desire theresno way you can derive pleasure from it. The deepest

level of pleasure is that you are doing what you want to do. Pleasure is a big part of fulfillment.

So ask yourself:

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Am I content with where I am now? This is not to say you dontwant more, but again stay in

the present. The task here is to gain surety for your career trajectory. Dontcomplicate it.

Do I feel a sense of generosity from what I do? For example do I, for the most part, enjoy my

colleagues? Do I trust them? Can I depend on them? Do I appreciate them? Am I generous to

them and they to me?

Do I feel an ease with regard to collaborating with them? Do we have a mutually accepted

goal that focuses us and creates a unified purpose?

Is it fun doing what I do with those I do it? Do we laugh? Can we be playful?

Answering these questions in detail will allow you to shape the working conditions you need in

order to assure your excellence.

Your answers may not directly open a window on your career direction but if your answers are

Yesin some form in the majority of your answers you can trust that the path youreon is

correct.

Do you receive recognition for your work?

Is what you do visible to others? Do you receive public acknowledgment for your work?Acknowledgment is essential not only to a good life but as a demonstration that you are in the

right place. Otherwise you may be on the wrong path heading in a negative direction or just

spinning your wheels.

Do you believe that recognition when you get it or do you dismiss it? Another way of saying

this is does the recognition feed you? Do you feel more secure as a result, more confident of

who you are?

Is curiosity part of your daily life? Are you growing? If not than whatever picture you have of

where you want to go is not only static itsregressing. Desire and ambition must be fed or they

will die.

Do you prize what youredoing? What value does it contain for you? In what ways are youdeveloping so you can identify your growth?

All of these questions have to do with self-awareness without which you can never develop a

clear and meaningful picture of where you want to go. Does what you do help you know yourself

better?

Surrender

Surrendering to or going with who you are right now can fill out the picture of your path.Without

your willingness to accept yourself you will be in internal conflict and that will only produce a

confused, frustrating, and ultimately powerless picture of what you want for your career.

But for now, all that you are has in it the germinating seeds of what you will become. Listen toyourself. Listen to those around you. Listen to the quality of your work. Listen to your ability to

collaborate. Your depth is speaking to you in all these ways and itsin your depth that the

clearest, most sure picture of where your career is going will be expressed and discovered.

Your career trajectory is emerging every day. If yourenot sure of it, pay attention to whats

around you and whatsinside of you. Thatswhere you will discover your true career trajectory.