Recently, I’ve had the pleasure of returning as a guest on Career Talk, a call-in career advice program on SiriusXM, Business Radio Powered by The Wharton School. The host of the show, Dr. Dawn Graham, is the Director of Career Management for the Executive MBA Program at Wharton AND an all-around awesome human. Here we are in the studio with producer Michelle Stucker!
I highly recommend that every single one of my readers and clients check out this FREE resource.
It’s Labor Day, a national holiday in the US, and I’m working. And feeling so grateful for that.
I considered taking the day off. Don’t get me wrong, I am a huge believer in taking time off, in vacation, in rest and replenishment, in designing and maintaining boundaries between work and the rest of life that serve both of those arenas…and I took some gah-lorious time off this summer.
Do you often tell yourself you’ll “figure out” the important stuff as soon as you have time?
Every night as you go to bed, you think about how you want to change your career, or improve a relationship, or start a project.
You may even get feverishly excited with ideas—and then those ideas have to wait until tomorrow.
Or next week.
Or next year.
Or whenever you have time.
Or money.
Or energy.
Because after all, you have A Lot To Do.
You don’t have All The Money In The World.
You only have So Much Energy.
So naturally, the steps you need to take to get on purpose and on your path get shuffled to the bottom of the to-do list.
From the very beginning, this summer has been a pretty intense walk down Memory Lane here in Carrie-town.
It started in the technically-not-summer-late-spring, when I walked down the street and saw the shades up and a big “FOR RENT” sign near the front window of my first apartment in Philadelphia.
I pressed my nose against the glass and looked at the empty space.
Memories came flooding over me, in a clearer and more visceral way than they had in years. I couldn’t pull myself away.
Vulnerability is a part of life, no matter what. It tends to be significantly heightened if you are pushing yourself to grow, taking risks, and moving through a period of transition.
The good news is, there are strategies that can really help you to manage the vulnerability of change and putting yourself out there.
Learning and practicing these strategies will build your resilience muscles, and help to carry you through the ups and downs of your journey.
Resilience is a practice, not a destination—so be kind to yourself, and know that it’s normal to feel knocked down from time to time. Here are some ways to get back up:
Are you questioning everything?
“I’m feeling all this weirdness lately. I feel apprehensive, depressed, frustrated, insecure, self-critical—all this at a time when trees are blossoming and temperatures are more—well—temperate. Spring is supposed to be a time of rebirth, of hope. Yet I feel worried and at times sad…”
Are you paying attention?
What are the world and the people in it trying to tell you?
If you feel lost, it might be time to listen. up.
When I was in the midst of my own career transition, I didn’t know what I wanted to do, or even that it would involve a career change, but I did know some sort of change was on the horizon.
And that, in and of itself, was scary as hell. Not knowing what that change would be made it even scarier.
As I was trying to figure it all out, inventing my own transition, cobbling together an outline so that I could write my own mysterious next chapter, I didn’t feel like I had a roadmap at all.
I know that lot of you are asking yourselves one or more of these HUGE questions:
I get that vulnerability is important—but it’s so hard!! How do I make myself vulnerable enough to connect to people and be honest about who I am—even when it’s scary to be my real self?
How do I cheer up and find laughter and happiness, even when everything sucks?
How do I learn to love and accept myself?
How can I get help with questions I’m too embarrassed or afraid to ask?
How do I quit my day job to follow my purpose and forge my own path?
How do I come out or transition when I’m already in my thirties?
My kid just came out to me…OMG. What do I do?!?
…
You are in major luck: I have some amazing answers to every single one of these questions for you.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
