Career Refresh Digest #29
Welcome to the latest edition of the Career Refresh Digest.
Many people are reassessing their work right now and thinking about the direction they’d like to head next. This edition looks at how clarity supports those decisions and explores a few of the factors that can influence them — including how you interpret change, how comparison affects your thinking, and why timing isn’t always the deciding factor.
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WORTH READING
How to confidently navigate a changing world of work
With news outlets constantly reporting on the tight employment market and the impact of AI on people’s jobs, it’s understandable that many people are feeling more anxious about job security.
What I’ve seen in my work is that while we can’t control the wider job market, we can influence how we interpret and respond to it. And the starting point is surprisingly simple: getting clear on what suits you.
When you understand what genuinely suits you, the decisions you make tend to be more confident and better aligned with what you need.
I’ve written more about this in my latest blog post, which you can read on my website.
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WORTH THINKING ABOUT
How clarity protects you from unhelpful comparisons
Apparently it was former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt who said “Comparison is the thief of joy”. I agree with him – and it’s a line I often find myself quoting to clients.
It comes up because comparison is such a common barrier when people are considering a change at work, and it can make any next step feel harder than it needs to be.
Here are a few reasons this happens, and how having clarity around things like values, strengths, and the conditions you need in your work helps people let go of the comparison habit.
1. Comparison increases when decisions feel personally significant
Research shows that when people face decisions tied to identity or future direction, the brain looks outward for reference points. It’s an attempt to create certainty. The problem is that these comparisons are usually based on incomplete information and don’t reflect your own situation.
Clear personal criteria give you something more accurate to rely on.
2. Uncertainty leads us to pay closer attention to others
Studies in decision psychology show that when the environment feels unsettled –restructures, shifting markets, or unclear expectations – people take more cues from what others seem to be doing.
It’s a normal cognitive response, but often not a helpful one. Someone else’s decision may have nothing to do with your own needs or criteria.
Clarity reduces this effect. It helps you assess opportunities and changes based on fit rather than comparison.
3. Clarity shifts the focus from ranking yourself to evaluating options
Once you understand what genuinely suits you, it becomes easier to interpret other people’s choices without assuming they’re a template you should follow, and the comparison habit tends to lose its grip.
The focus becomes evaluating opportunities based on personal alignment, not on measuring up, which is a more solid foundation for making decisions..
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WORTH REFLECTING ON
Timing sometimes matters less than people think in career decisions
When people are thinking about changing their work situation, they often worry about timing – whether the job market is too tight, whether it’s the wrong time of year, whether they should “wait and see.”
What I’ve seen is that timing matters far less than people assume.
Most meaningful career decisions don’t hinge on perfect external conditions. They hinge on having a clear sense of what you need, what you’re aiming for, and the type of roles or environments that will support that.
Once you have that clarity, timing becomes one factor among many, not the deciding one..
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If you're reassessing your direction and finding it hard to cut through the uncertainty, a 15-minute conversation is a good place to start. Book a free call here.
- Lucy
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ABOUT THE CAREER REFRESH DIGEST
The Career Refresh Digest is a fortnightly newsletter for mid-career professionals who feel stuck or out of step with their work. Each issue shares practical insights and tools to help you reset direction, make clearer decisions, and reshape your work to better fit your life – drawing on recommendations, research, and insights from client work.