Welcome to the 50th edition of the Career Refresh Digest.
Earlier this week I wrote on LinkedIn about a question I hear a lot: “I’m in my forties, shouldn’t I have figured this out by now?”
Often the people asking it feel they know themselves pretty well, which makes it harder for them to understand why they’re still unsure. This issue looks at how common that is, and one way to start putting what you know about yourself to use.
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WORTH THINKING ABOUT
Knowing yourself well enough to recognise a good fit
A lot of people tell me that they have good self-knowledge. Yet when it comes to applying that knowledge to confident decision-making, they struggle, and once we start working together most find there’s a lot more to uncover.
My Career Wellbeing Quiz shows something similar. Only 31% of people say they’re confident they’d recognise an opportunity that’s a good fit, and only 11% feel in control of their career direction.
This is borne out in my client conversations. For example, people often have a rough idea of what they value, but haven’t thought about how to apply those values to their work choices, or to how they spend their working day.
Or, they might have an idea of the things they can do well, but may not have considered which of those things they enjoy and how to shape their roles around them.
Try this:
Write down one thing you know about yourself, such as a strength you enjoy or something that is a core value for you.
Write down two or three things you’d see in a role that made use of it.
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WORTH DOING
Every yes is a no to something else
Do you often finish work with nothing left for anything else?
In the same quiz, only 18% of people said they typically have energy left at the end of the work day for personal activities. Nearly half (45%) said they don’t.
At this time of year it tends to get worse. There’s the push to finish things before the break, and plans for next year start taking shape, often with new projects and responsibilities attached.
One way to get more balance is to be deliberate about what you say yes to. There are only so many hours in the day, so everything you say yes to means saying no to something else you could be doing.
This is another way of applying what you know about yourself to how you shape your role. Say yes to more of what you enjoy and what energises you, and avoid falling into the trap of saying yes to things you know you can do well but that drain you.
Before you agree to the next thing, ask yourself what it will take time away from.
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WORTH CONSIDERING
If you want help to reassess
There are still a few gaps in my diary to start my six-session coaching programme this year. If you’d like to start before the break, book a free 15-minute call and we can see whether it’s a good fit.
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That's it from me for this fortnight. Have a good week.
– 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.