finding career zen
Stories and interviews highlighting the unique challenges, failures, and successes encountered on the path to achieving career zen.
finding career zen
Beyond Job Titles: Discovering Your True Career Fit
Imagine waking up every morning with a sense of purpose and excitement for your job. Now, snap back to reality, where the majority of us spend our days disengaged and unsure about our career paths. The struggle is real, and we get it! In this episode, Pete Newsome and Rachel Serwetz from Woken dive deep into the heart of why most people struggle with navigating their career paths. Rachel shares insights into why many people struggle with finding the right career path and emphasizes the importance of intentional efforts in career exploration, especially during the formative college years. The discussion covers the challenges individuals face in understanding their best-fit career paths, the limitations of traditional resources, and the significance of having the right support and guidance.
Career Path Exploration Guide:
- Commit to the Journey: Acknowledge and embrace the uncertainty of career exploration.
- Reflect on Your Affinities: Identify your natural skills and what you enjoy.
- Explore Content and Industry: Reflect on topics of interest and explore aligned industries.
- Define Your Ideal Environment: Consider the work environment and experience you want.
- Separate Roles and Industries: Understand the distinction and explore various roles.
- Conduct Efficient Research: Use online resources for quick, efficient research.
- Network for Real Insights: Set up calls with professionals for valuable insights.
- Embrace Iterative Learning: Learn, reflect, and pivot based on discoveries.
- Seek External Support: Consider a coach or mentor for personalized guidance.
- Prioritize Engagement and Fulfillment: Focus on roles aligning with values for fulfillment.
- Stay Realistic: Understand challenges and strive for realistic alignment.
- Take Action and Be Proactive: Act on insights gained and be proactive in finding fulfillment.
- Leverage Clarity for Job Search: Streamline job search based on gained clarity.
- Consider External Support's Practical Benefits: Recognize the benefits of support in efficient decision-making.
- Maintain an Open Mind: Overcome limiting beliefs and be receptive to new insights.
Additional Resources:
- 6 Strategies to Overcome a Career Plateau
- 8 High-Income Skills to Learn to Help You Grow Your Career
- Exploring Non-Traditional Careers: Finding Fulfillment Outside the Norm
🧠 WANT TO LEARN MORE? 🧠 WANT TO LEARN MORE? Be sure to subscribe and check out zengig.com.
👋 FOLLOW PETE NEWSOME
ONLINE: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petenewsome/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/petenewsome?lang=en
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PeteNewsome
Blog Articles: https://www.4cornerresources.com/blog/
👋 FOLLOW RACHEL SERWETZ ONLINE:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelserwetz/
Blog Articles: https://www.iamwoken.com/resources
You're listening to the Finding Careers in podcast. I'm Pete Newsom and I'm joined today by Rachel Sirwitz from Woken. Rachel, how are you today? I am great. How are you? I am good. Career coach, ceo and founder of Woken. You're pretty busy, rachel. Just a little bit Well. Thank you for joining me today. Before we go too far, I want to ask you to introduce your company and tell me what the Woken name means. I already know the story, but I'd love for you to share it again.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we are a career coaching company. We help all different kinds of professionals with all different kinds of career goals or challenges. Whether you're clarifying your path, you're debating, upskilling, you're strengthening your branding, job searching, networking, interviewing, you name it, we help people with all career goals and co-pilot you through those journeys. And we do have a software component plus. We do coaching sessions. In terms of where we came up with our name, I used to always say that we're waking up professionals to take control over their career. I used to see that people would either go about it all by themselves or just assume that school or whatever resources they were given was sufficient and so, like anything else you would take on in your life, it's sort of that extracurricular in a way, where you want to go out of your way to get the right support and guidance and resources and there's such big, important decisions, so just making sure that you have support through that.
Speaker 1:Wonderful, love it. Well, you and I, when we first connected a couple of weeks ago, we got down the road would. You were sharing your thoughts on career path exploration, so I wanted to spend time on that today because I know that's a specialty of yours and I think to your point about the importance of a career search. This is at the heart of it, and let me just ask you, before we go too far down there most, why do you think most people are bad at this? I mean, it's such a big part of our lives but it's a constant struggle. I know that from my career in staffing. You, of course, have built your business around helping people figure that out. Why is it so tough?
Speaker 2:There's a lot of reasons. I think that our example of a person in this world is the assumption that, like you, may always go your life without knowing what your best fit career path is, and so we sort of assume that's normal. We don't really have a scalable, effective, affordable way to clarify your past right. Sometimes we try, we'll read a book and then we'll say that didn't help me, or we'll take an assessment and say I'm left with lackluster results. Or maybe there's a course that we follow, but then we don't actually take it into action. So there's a lot of resources we may try. Coaches oftentimes are too expensive, so there's things out there, but there's usually a reason why it falls short, and so it's really not to anyone's fault. It's just sometimes the systems and the resources and the guidance we have either aren't effective enough or holding you accountable or affordable.
Speaker 2:There's reasons for it. But yeah, that's kind of why we're here trying to make it so that any professional can follow that journey and feel clear and feel certain and feel confident and feel informed in terms of where are they going in their career, why are they pursuing that, versus like we go into job search and we're just sort of we don't know what we're searching for, we don't know why we're searching for it or we have way too many options and we're just okay with that and that's normal. But I try to help people to see you can explore before you job search and look how much different that's going to make your journey right.
Speaker 1:Well, we push kids and I say kids because I sound like the old guy with this, but when you're 18, 19, 20, you are a kid in many respects. You're sort of there to me and I have four children and my oldest is 23,. My youngest is 15. So I live this every day with them, where I'll say the system and that's sort of a crude way to phrase it, but kind of doesn't isn't really set up to help young people make these very important decisions. And I don't necessarily have the answer to fixing that, but I do know that it's something that is such a challenge where we have, you know, kids go down this path and by default they stay on it, without stopping when they're 25, 30, 35, necessarily to say, hey, is this the right path for me? Right, just because it's the one you started on, isn't the one you should remain on? And I'm sure you you have some thoughts on that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know it's funny, because either you're too scared to get off and you know pivot, because it's a really big deal, or it gets too late, and then you're like I can't take this anymore. So people do pivot, you know, but you just don't want to wait so long. And so, to your point in college, like those are those early days that are so important. But but you're right, because it's hard that we sort of force somebody who's really a young professional to make a decision about their major when they don't actually have the answer yet as to what is it I want to study. I always say, you know, I went in undecided and I wish that every single student could just be undecided, because they are meaning we hear your major. Right, it should line up with the timing of when you know what it is you want to pursue.
Speaker 2:Often we're just studying something and then we're figuring it out later. And so in an ideal world, you know we are exploring, we're doing research, we're doing networking, we're doing reflection and we're learning as early and often as possible. Right, it doesn't mean you have to decide perfectly from the beginning, but you just want to say, like I'm putting in this intentional effort to be informed about what I'm like and what my career options are, that at least you can be in the right ballpark. Right, we see people who are making career decisions for all the wrong reasons and then you're sort of discounting, like, well, what am I good at and what makes sense for me? And then it comes back to sort of bite you later. So you have to go into each of those decisions with the time it deserves to do that exploration and it will pay off. And then you want your career path to build organically right Versus, like I picked something for the wrong reasons and now later I need to like totally 180, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, and what you think is important at 17, 18, 19, and this is cliche, but it's cliche because it's so true, we know this what you think, then, is going to be vastly different than your perspective at 25, 30,. As your life goes on, your situation changes and your perspective changes along with it. So, when it comes to career path exploration, who is it for? I mean, if you had to, if you map out the perfect scenario, what? How would the timing look on that?
Speaker 2:And to your point. Yes, things do change. But that's kind of part of the problem is, like when you're young, a lot of you know folks are making decisions just on, like what is a secure career path, but it's not secure if, like, you're not good at that thing or you're going to hate doing that thing. So we have to think of holistically. We are human and so you have to think of all the important factors. It is hard when you're young to like either influence and educate and motivate someone to have that perspective when they haven't worked yet. So to answer your question, who is it for? It's really at every single stage you know, the earlier the better when you start, but truly any moment it's kind of the who and the when is is similar because anytime you're making a change or transition would be a time to go through the journey of exploration.
Speaker 2:Once you're later in your career, if you've already done exploration, you might need a shorter journey.
Speaker 2:So, for example, if you already know you're on generally the right path but you're ready for the next thing, you might just need a few days or a few weeks to clarify and refine what's next for you, but early days you might need more time to do that, anytime you're about to enter like a job search, and apply to something, even if it's a promotion or internal mobility within your company, wherever you're working, whenever you're ready for the next step and a change, whether you're starting, whether you're, you know, early career, whether you're mid or later. The whole point is to have a period of research, learning, networking, reflection. Give yourself however much time you need to think and just say what's next for me, what's right for me, what's best for me, and explore before you apply to anything. Now, sometimes we can't afford that time, and if that's the case, then that's fine. Sometimes a job is meant for I just need to support myself right now, and in those situations you can work with what you have. But to the extent that you can proactively do this, that would be ideal.
Speaker 1:And easier said than done. We know that. But so important and I just wrote something the other day because the age of my kids and I am constantly around their friends and talking to those, the parents of those kids it's a challenge that nearly everyone has. I don't want to put a percentage on it, but one out of a pretty big number, I would say knows what they want to do when they're getting out of high school and being told go now, go pick a go to college huge decision, go pick a major, something that you're going to, in theory, specialize in and have to earn an income from for the rest of your year, for the rest of your life. Which is kind of insane, right when you think about it. Because, to the point you made earlier, you haven't worked out in the real world yet, you haven't had much experience and exposure. So you're making these life choices with, and you're not really armed with, a whole lot of experience to do it on. So we can't fix that whole system, at least not today at this call, but I think we can acknowledge it and the importance of having the time to explore. So, if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to talk about the advice and the exploration path that someone who's younger would go through versus someone who's coming to that first realization.
Speaker 1:And I almost everyone I know has had this right. Some are lucky and they get it right out of the gate, but where you get deep a little bit into your career and you go, okay, this isn't working. I need to pivot. I need to do something vastly different. So let's start with young people. Where should they begin in the exploration process?
Speaker 2:Well, so the process I guide people through is actually largely very similar. Now, how much information and data you have about yourself is going to grow. So when you have your first few jobs, there's going to be more for you to reflect on in a way that's clear to you what did I like and what did I not like? Right, when you're younger, you have less of those experiences, but you can always learn from other people about what's out there. So it's a combination of learning about yourself and learning from others. You know in terms of what careers exist and what do they really look and feel like. That's what it is right, but the stage that you're in it's going to change how much information you have about yourself. You can always go learn about what's out there. So would it be helpful I could like walk you through just sort of the step-by-step problem.
Speaker 1:Yeah, just absolutely. That would be great.
Speaker 2:Cool. So the first step that I like to do well, first is a little bit of a commitment moment, like do I even want to go on this journey and am I ready? Because it does take a little bit of time. So you have to just be ready for that and enter into the phase of knowing you don't know and just being comfortable and swimming in that uncertainty. I think that's another reason people avoid this, because it's uncomfortable to not know, but just go into it and say I'm going to create a structured process to make it comfortable and make it easy to learn and explore and work through these questions. That's step number one. Then, once you're ready, I actually have an assessment, but you can do this manually and you could just reflect. And so there's really three things I like to reflect on. So the first is what I call the function, which is essentially your affinities, it's the skills, it's sort of your habits, it's what you're natural at, it's what you're good at, it's those verbs and action phrases. It's really the day-to-day experience. The second piece is what I call content, which is essentially the top of areas or the problem areas that you feel are important or interesting or innovative or intriguing to you. The third is the environment. What should it look and feel like? The people, the piece, all the bells and whistles of the reality of it, and so section number one, that functional element, is going to translate into potential roles. The second piece is going to translate into potential industries.
Speaker 2:A lot of assessment, a lot of coaches, a lot of things out there will munch roll and industry, but they're totally separate. You could go do so many roles in so many industries, so you got to separate those two. It's also a great way to incorporate some of your interests. You may not want to be a chef, but you could go find companies that focus on food in so many ways. That's just one of many examples. So once you have the options for roles and industries the other thing, assessments will spit out one answer. You should come up with a few roles and a few industries that feel relevant or viable based on your reflections. Then we do want to do a tiny bit of research. Obviously, we have Google, blogs, youtube, tiktok, chat, gbt. These are good informational resources, but they're online resources. You're only going to learn so much, so be efficient.
Speaker 2:I think another pitfall is that people research for weeks or months or years on end. We need to move to the next phase, which is what I call networking. So imagine you're setting up 15, 20, 30-minute informational calls with people who are in the roles in the industries that you actually are considering. You're learning. Now you have to do this.
Speaker 2:Well, a lot of people set up these calls and then they're like didn't get out of it what they wanted to. So really be creative with what you ask and how you ask it. And then what I like to do is go through these pivot loops. So you're learning, you're reflecting, you're synthesizing and you're pivoting to say what did I like, what did I not like and what should I go do next. And you are very iterative and over the course of a few weeks and a lot of learning, you'll probably uncover roles you never heard of. And you really are being honest with these people to say here's what I know about myself, here's what I think this role is all about. Can you tell me what is in your exposure, in your purview? And you keep going through those and that's really what gets you to the point of confidently knowing what role, what industry and what environment makes the most sense.
Speaker 2:A lot of people go into upskilling too soon Like let me go do an internship, let me go do this course, let me try out the skill. To me, a networking call if you do it right is the most dynamic and comprehensive way to be honest with a person so that they can be honest with you and together you can figure out what makes sense. Upskilling sometimes is a good way of testing things out, but sometimes really, it may not mirror what is this job like. It may not tell you what would it be like if I was good at this in a year from now. You want that high-level picture of what does a week look like on this job. So that's the quick version of what the process is.
Speaker 1:That's a lot. That is a lot. It's very involved, it's very deep and it's multifaceted, which I think is so interesting to hear, because most of us don't get to take that time right. We either weren't aware that it even exists Service is like the one you provide, so this is great that you have an opportunity to share it or we just don't think that way. The world doesn't really tell us to stop and really explore. It almost rushes us into getting a job, and I can't tell you how many times I've heard that Pick something so you can get a job. And to me that's very demoralizing to hear because your job is so much of your life and how you spend it. So everything that you just described, while it's a lot of effort and a commitment, the reward for making that commitment is immense and I think it is such an important thing to do. And, quite frankly, the word explore there's no better word for it. That's exactly what you just described deep exploration.
Speaker 2:The amount of time and effort to put in versus what you get out. The ratio is just not even normal. That's what I try to encourage people. On average, if you put in two to three hours a week, it usually takes about two to three months, but I've seen someone do this as if it was their full-time job and it lasted them about a month. So it's not crazy.
Speaker 2:Like sure, it's commitment, it's discipline, there's some time and effort, but it also could be pretty practical, pretty straightforward and pretty efficient. If you have the right support through it, it doesn't have to take forever. And so imagine you can actually feel clear and confident. The other end of it people come in lost and confused and stuck and stressed. On the other end, you're actually relieved, you feel certain, you feel free, because you can actually focus on. Let me now go after what it is I want, versus questioning where I belong and so what you've been from it. So, yes, it's effort, but it doesn't have to be this hard thing that lasts forever and gets support to make it as easy as possible and it'll pay off right.
Speaker 1:Well, what I think of putting forth that kind of effort, that's what's needed to be successful, right? I mean, unless it's by coincidence, I don't know people who just show up from day one and they're successful at doing anything. So if you want to run a marathon, you've got to train for it. If you want to be a physician, you have to go to medical school. I mean, there are certain things that are necessary. So it just makes sense to me that if you want to have happiness and fulfill it and success in your career, well, you should kind of create a good baseline and foundation for those things. So I think it's the right kind of effort, great effort. How do you know when you're done, I mean you've put? How do you know, is there a light bulb moment that happens?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so it may feel like a light bulb, but I would say, yeah, sometimes there is an aha moment, but usually, with incrementally increasing information, it increases your self-awareness, your insights and your clarity on what's right or not right for you, and so information really drives it right. This is grounded in something very real. We're not just like pulling the answers from thin air. Information is going to drive your ability to have answers and to know what's right for you or not, and to lean in to talk to the right people and not the wrong people. So it's very much action-based and practical. But yeah, you will get to the point. What I always say is, if you still have options, it means you need to do more learning or mere reflection, or both People. Yeah, they don't. It's sort of a weird thing to know that there will be this endpoint.
Speaker 2:But, yes, if you're not feeling certain yet, ask yourself what are the open questions or hesitations? Do I need to learn more? Or just think about what I've learned? Usually, if you have something on your mind still, we can deal with that in one way or another. Does that mean that? First of all, by the way, no job is perfect. You may say, knowing the challenges of this job, I still think it's right for me. So it's not that anything has to be perfect, it's just you want to feel informed and, based on that full sense of information, you'll feel certain and ready to go pursue it. Or, if there's still hiccups or hesitations, you'll go back to learning and not go back to the drawing board. But you'll see. What does this mean? Does that mean I should move into something else, whatever it may mean for your next step? So, yes, there is a point of that surgery that you will feel ready enough and informed enough to go pursue that path.
Speaker 1:I would imagine someone has to go into this with a really open mind. Is that a challenge for you when you start working with someone for the first time?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I would say people's like limiting beliefs do come into play, but that's why you walk with a coach to make sure that your limiting beliefs are not making your decisions right. So it's okay and it's normal and it's human, but we have to overcome that. So, for example, if someone's like I don't know if I'm capable of learning that thing or upskilling or pivoting into that thing or doing that skill or whatever it may be, how can we learn more? How can we get a realistic picture? Can we shadow somebody? How can we better understand? What did it take for them to really get there? What was the training like? What is the complexity? Can you ask really good questions to get a real life picture and then relate that back to yourself? So when you have, like a third-party person to help you process your thoughts, your feelings, it's really going to help you see yourself objectively, make sure you have the right information and make sure you're making decisions based on information and not a limiting belief.
Speaker 2:There's any number of mindsets that do show up, but that's, yeah, again, why you have somebody there to support you through it and you know if something is too hard for you. Like that's just a signal that it's not the right job, which is okay, right, there's. Any job is either hard to someone and easy to someone else, like what is fitting for your strengths and your affinities. So any sort of feeling that you have, it could be useful for us to actually listen to say does that tell us something good about, like what we could go learn about you or learn about the job. But it's sometimes the case where we have a feeling that's not true. So again, that's why you have someone there to make sure you're you know you're not getting in your own way.
Speaker 1:Well, in the best athletes in the world have coaches for a reason. So it makes sense that professionals need a coach too, because even though you're great at what you do, we can't be our own critic really not objectively not to see what our flaws are and to know where we need help. You know, as you're talking about being good at something, it's equally important and you touch on this briefly just because you're good at it doesn't mean you want to do it. You know you have to really have that. It has to excite you. It has to be something you're willing to put forth your best in, and I think that gets lost a lot too early on when decisions are being made or when people are going through their career. I think both our components are important. Do you agree?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I feel like I had a client recently. I mean, you have to know your own self, because someone might be really good at noticing those whatever patterns or challenges or business challenges, whatever it may be. But, yeah, is that the fun activity that you really want to take on? So, yeah, there are often cases for very capable people who might be good at many, many things, but what feels most enjoyable, what do you want to grow in? You don't have to do it all just because you could. So, absolutely, that's a great component of it, and the beauty of exploration is this is the moment where we only have to talk about the things you really like.
Speaker 2:Anything else, we just get rid of it. So you have to remember and have that reminder that this is the moment to have choice. This is the moment to get rid of the things you don't care about. We never have to think about those or talk about those again. You know what I mean. Or, sure, if there's something you're good at and it's not your favorite, but maybe it's adjacent to what you want to do, could there be a reason why someone chooses to incorporate that into their resume or whatever, maybe, but knowing yourself, I think, is the key, because I think someone's personality may cause them to pursue something for one reason or another, and that's really where you want to just understand your drivers, essentially.
Speaker 1:I saw an exchange on Twitter, I think over the weekend, where basically it took a statement that says if you find the job you love, it'll almost feel like work, or something to that effect. I'm not sure what the exact saying is, I'm sure you've heard it. And then someone said, yeah, but once it's a job, it no longer is enjoyable. And I thought, well, that's sort of a pessimistic take on it, right, and I do believe that I didn't use to place great value on this, but I do believe that you should find something that you genuinely like doing, because I'm of the mindset that in the right situation, it really doesn't feel like work. Is that hard to achieve? I mean, is that a unicorn to chase or is it realistic?
Speaker 2:I like to help people be realistic, because I don't like to use the words dream job or things like that. There's no job is perfect when you think about those three sections that we're reflecting on in the assessment. The first is the function. So what I would ask yourself is like what affinity is, what am I natural at, what do I enjoy or what am I good at? That doesn't have to mean you're sort of happy and it's perfect and it feels this joyful every moment of every day. But what is suitable for you, like if you're not great at research or you don't like doing it, we're not going to lean into that skill versus others. There's so much variation in the style of the work, of what could make up your day or your week. We're going to lean into the things that are easier for you, more comfortable, more natural. They come more easily to you. Right, we need to understand yourself.
Speaker 2:And then the second piece is a great way of aligning with missions that you care about, which is the industry. So that's a great way to find fulfillment or joy or significance in your career, because you're supporting a company or an industry where their product or their service or whatever it is they're doing feels interesting to you. So if you're not in that field, your role might have nothing to do with here. They might be, like you know, not as directly relevant to the product or service, but everyone in a company is driving towards that ultimate mission. But that's one way of feeling, like you're sort of finding that joy of fulfillment.
Speaker 2:So I would just always break it down into like what are the components of the role versus the industry, versus the iron environment, and how can I find something that feels aligned or suitable? And I don't need to strive for this perfect thing that no one's walking in the clouds and you know it's not perfect, nothing is perfect. But think realistically, like what is fitting, what is maybe fulfilling, what is aligned, what would I be engaged in so you could? Another way to do it is Gallup's definition, and when you were talking about statistics, majority of professionals are disengaged at work. What would you be engaged in? Which means you're checked in versus checked out. You can think about it in realistic ways for yourself.
Speaker 1:I saw that study you're referencing that came out a few months back and I thought what a terrible thing. Most people are showing up every day, not even interested in what it is they're doing, and so they're not going to thrive that way. Because even though you show up, that's not enough. We know that If you're a hollow and you're not putting forth your best effort, it's going to be obvious to everyone around you. I truly believe that, and I've been there. I've been checked out before on a job where every day becomes torture, and my advice to people is Stop immediately. If you, if you're, in that situation, your number one objective should be to change that now. It doesn't mean you can do it that moment, but you have to identify it when it happens I'm a big believer in this and then figure out how to change your situation as soon as possible.
Speaker 2:I agree it's not like it's actually not responsible. I think of us. We affect ourselves, we affect the personal relationships around us, our physical and mental health, even our own wealth potential. Like, if you're not succeeding, you're literally affecting so many things about you in your life. But what about the company you're working for? Are you the most productive and innovative person for that job? And you know, first society, like you know, we need all the innovation. We need the right people in the right jobs because we've got so many problems to solve. So you, you know, think about the world problems. You want People that should be in those jobs. You know what I'm saying. You could think about it that way, but, yes, there's a lot of reasons why you would want to take that into your own hands and and and strive to find something that makes sense. You exactly right it affects you, it affects others, it affects so many things.
Speaker 1:Well, we talk we've talked a lot internally over the past two years about quiet quitting. That's a term that has been used so much and my take on that is always what a shame, what a shame that someone feels so, so, so separated from their jobs, so disinterested in it, where they have to look at the details of their job description and Operate line by line. And I look at that and say that's an unhealthy relationship that you should look to get out of as soon as possible, where you have to associate every act you do with your job description. And, by the way, on the other side, a company that looks at their employees that way Is equally bad. So if that's a feeling you have, it's incumbent upon you, and I love the the phrase you use. I mean irresponsible. Yes, it is somewhat irresponsible to stay there because in in addition to affecting every aspect of your job, it's gonna carry over. Can't spend 40 hours a week at work Unhappy, and then you'd be happy outside of. That's where most of our waking hours are during the week Sunrealistic.
Speaker 2:Exactly. Yeah, no, I completely agree, and I think the quiet quitting it's interesting, like we used to all have that hustle culture. It's one thing to have balance, it's okay to not be overworked, but if you're noticing that you're checking out, ask yourself why. Maybe there's another opportunity at the same company you don't have to like job search. What if you take on some projects? Or maybe there's a different team that's just better for you? Maybe you've tapped out of learning opportunities.
Speaker 2:You know you hear about people that are just like sort of supposed to be working and not again be responsible. Like if someone's paying you, you should be doing the work. You need to be down to the wire every single minute. Like, be responsible, do the right thing, work. You know when you're supposed to be working. But if you notice that you're truly checking out, ask yourself is it the role, is it the team, is it the department? Is it the company? Is it the culture? Is it the industry? What's going on for me? What sort of change or improvement could I make?
Speaker 2:Again, the goal is not that you're overwork. You know quiet quitting. I think some people need a little break and they need a little breather. But you need to ask yourself like how do I find work life balance and also find a career path that is suitable and fitting? You can have those things. Those are reasonable things to strive for. So if you notice that you're ready for something new and different, just lean into that and say, like what could be next? Again, that doesn't have to mean you're burned out and overworked, it just means you're checked in and doing work that's interesting. Right. Like in our life, should we take breaks? That's what days offer for. Take your vacation days, right. Take those breaks. You don't need to work endlessly, right. Find an environment where you have work life balance. But find a job that you're not entirely checked out either, right?
Speaker 1:and and it's it's Not out of the ordinary. In fact, it is necessary for many people to get help in doing that and that sign of weakness. It's just we're not equipped to do that. I mean, there's no roadmap for these things and it's why as I think I shared with you the first time we we met is that the ZenGig logo is a. It was originally a winding path up a hill, because that is how I see careers. Where you start is Not. There's not a direct route, I mean, unless we get very lucky, and that happens by coincidence, and you shouldn't rely on luck. You should plan on Change in how you feel the situation that you're in and then take action. So that's why I'm the fan of everything you're describing, because we need that, we need help in taking action. It's just there's just no roadmap for that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, totally it's, it's. It's very okay to get support. And if you career coaching gets like a weird rap, you know, but it's like anything else, if you're gonna do invest in the financial markets, you're gonna get a financial advisor, like you're not gonna go into something that you don't know how to do. We were never taught how to navigate careers or job search, so it's okay to learn and get guidance and be supported. You don't have to go it all alone. It's a really big, important, sometimes stressful thing. So have support, even if it's a mentor or peers. Have someone near you, around you that can you know be there, and you don't have to sort of go it all alone.
Speaker 2:The other quick thing I will just say too is the benefits it has for your job search. Right, I think people go into job search and are looking for so many things. It's this like counterintuitive thing where people think by looking for so many options, they're gonna move faster or have more options, but it's gonna slow you down if you have seven versions of the resume. So what I always say is having this clarity. It's not that being narrow means you're having less opportunity.
Speaker 2:You can go find more of the right thing, but what I've seen is the clarity makes you more efficient in Finding the right things, getting into the right conversation, the right people, the right teams, being effective in interviews with a compelling story that makes sense, versus like I'm just saying the thing that makes sense on paper, right, it's like what, what do you want? And if it makes sense to you, it's gonna make sense to them and increasing the odd that you actually like the job once you get there. So it's it's important to think about all the reasons and the benefits. Of course, it just feels good to know your direction, but there's actually practical reasons why we would do this too for your job search.
Speaker 1:And when you say clarity, it's of course when you hear that you say, yes, that is something I need and and it makes so much sense, but it's much easier said than done to achieve and that's why you need someone. I mean, I would Be sure to say and you may disagree, so tell me if you do that, if you were so Motivated to do so, all of this information is available online. You could do your own homework and research and figure it out on your own, just like I could grow my own crops if I was so motivated to write that research is there but it's not practical. We need to let leverage experts to, so we don't have to reinvent the wheel. I mean, that's why specialists exist.
Speaker 1:And so when I think of your service, I think of the need for some for accountability, to have someone to hold you accountable, because we know we're not, we know we're not supposed to eat the cookie at 10 o'clock at night, right, or have that, or eat the cake or whatever it is, but we do it anyway because making the right choice is hard. It's hard to spend those time. We're all very busy. So when I think of your service as much as anything else, I think of the value of accountability in this, and if you have someone looking over your shoulder, you're going to perform better. You're going to do those things that are hard to do on your own 100%.
Speaker 2:I always say we're an accountability company. We have to keep you motivated, engaged and structured. And on top of it, and what's the next step? We're very action-focused and also having the visual tools. It's one thing to have a coaching conversation, but physically get in there and what's the work and what are the options. And I love to document things visually so that we can move through, make progress and figure out what's next.
Speaker 2:So having the tools, having a process and knowing what to do, how to do it, when to do it, where to do it, why to do it that's what we're here to do is make that process as easy as humanly possible and make sure you don't get in your own way, like we said earlier. So, like you said, you could research this on your own, but I do find that people research endlessly and so that benefit of networking when you can hear someone describe a job and really decide how you feel, to say what aligns or doesn't align, so you want to understand what else decides, just the tools you can access. And how do I go access those tools properly? That's the other thing. Right, I'll teach somebody how to research efficiently or how to use networking strategically, so you may know some of this, but how do you really take it to the next level and make sure you get to your goal right? You don't want to be guessing and just trying to research or network without getting anywhere too right.
Speaker 2:So we're here. We're here to help and, yeah, find support. You don't have to be alone in this career journey. It's such a big part of your life, it's so important. It impacts things, whether we want to believe it or not. And have some support there with you. You deserve it.
Speaker 1:And you'll be better for it. So let's talk about how to get that help. Rachel, where do they start? Go to your website, call you. Where should someone begin?
Speaker 2:Yes, so our website is imwokencom. We have a ton of free resources on there. We always offer a free initial 20-minute call so you can always get to know who are we and what would we do. What are your goals, challenges, timeline, what are our recommendations. But, yeah, you can find me wherever I'm very much on LinkedIn. You can message me, you can email If you have questions. We are literally here to help with so many free resources on our website because we genuinely want people to have the right information. So please find me, reach out and we would love to help you.
Speaker 1:Wonderful. We'd love for everyone to be helped, and we'll help them find you too. We'll put Rachel's contact information in our show notes, so thank you so much for your time today. This is great, a lot of very helpful information, and if this gives some people the spark to take that step, then we've done our job today, I think. So, rachel. Anything else before you wrap up?
Speaker 2:Oh goodness, I don't think so. I think we've said it all. But yeah, just if you're listening, know that people are there to help. And again, you don't have to be alone in this. And yeah, just know there's ways to feel more comfortable. Often careers are so stressful, but it just means that it's important to you. So take it to the. When you get support through something important, then, rather than being stressful, you just make it a focus, you commit to it with the right navigation. It's never a walk in the park, but you can have support to feel informed in your approach, and that is something you can get. So just know that we're here and come find me.
Speaker 1:Perfect and we think of it in our world as careers in. And if you haven't found it, if you're not feeling it, don't settle, act on it. It doesn't have to take long and you can't end up in a very different place and Rachel's here to help. So thank you for your time today.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:All right, everyone. Thanks for listening. Talk soon.