It’s been a journey, this path to falling in love again.
Immersion in my business for the past 20+ years has been exciting. Building relationships, acquiring clients and crafting a portfolio of content has been rewarding. Far exceeding the financial remuneration is the giddiness I get when a client emails me with the words, “I got the job!”
Falling Back in Love With My Job
Recently, as in the past 18 months, I realized my love for my job, while still evident in my passion for the process and for the ever-increasing opportunities to engage with equally passionate executives, was waning. Not because of anything my clients were doing, but more so because of something I was doing.
I was doing too much. Not too much for my clients – but too much in the overall scheme of my workweek. It was bleeding into my weekends, overtaking my evenings, sucking the energy out of my soul.
While I felt my results with clients, overall, were strong, I also knew that my energy and intellectual capital were being split. In my heart and head, I knew that when you try to do too much, nothing gets full attention or energy. Even when my output appeared to be at par or above par, something was giving–which often meant a hit to my health and personal relationships.
Hiring a Coach to Resurrect Client Passion
So, at the urging of my husband (and, my oldest sister), I hired a coach, someone who would help me sort through and reprioritize my work and life, so that I was focusing on the right things.
Initially, this meant a decision to separate from professional blogging commitments that, while wonderful in helping build my credibility and visibility over the past 11 years, were eroding the energy I desperately needed for meaningful client care. That was a vigorous starting point.
It also meant building out a strategic plan that fleshed out my long-term goals with short-term (even daily) action steps. Doing this helped me identify where I was missing the mark with things like regular, daily communications with my clients, revamping client worksheets, continually improving my career storytelling skills and simply, enjoying the process of collaboration.
For example, I had invested in custom, CareerTrend notecards for client check-ins that were gathering dust in my office closet. These are graphically designed and deliciously printed (on Thik-It stock) cards with which I so passionately desire to engage. They provide a platform for personal reach-out to clients with pen and paper, something I adore doing, but always something I deprioritize amid the flurry of deadlines and ‘more important’ commitments.
Reclaiming Focused Attention and Energy
In the past 7-8 months, since hiring a performance coach (his name is Joe Jacobi, and he also happens to be a Gold-Medal Olympian), becoming intentional with where I focus my attention and energy, I’ve found myself to be more contented and fully engaged in each moment. I’ve enjoyed more robust interactions with prospective and active clients, as well as embraced more meaningful time away to rejuvenate with my husband, family and friends.
I’ve also leveraged some of that liberated energy and time to say ‘yes’ to things like podcasts with Dan Jourdan and Pete Primeau, rich conversations about sales, marketing and my business. We also discussed the value proposition to my clients and how those clients specifically are excelling, part in parcel due to our collaborative storytelling, and more!
Building an Executive Story to Reclaim Your Passion
Similarly, I often find that executives who hire me to build out career portfolios and personal branding content are motivated to overcome this type of disharmony in their work and lives. They are feeling the increasing crush of work expectations with a decreasing sense of satisfaction and joy. The more successful they have become, the more their companies continue to pile on, but with little real reward. Over time, their energy suffers, their health and personal lives take a hit, and their mental stress skyrockets.
I was initially reluctant to take any big steps toward resolving my issue, as I figured it was just the nature of the beast to be entrenched in so many details and obligations. I had determined I just needed to learn how to handle my work and life better. In fact, my husband and I, in the throes of the pandemic last year, moved to the Texas Gulf Coast to help advance our goals for work-life blend.
But that wasn’t enough.
Moreover, executives who find themselves scrambling to please every obligation they have at work while maintaining some semblance of contentment within and without the office may want to consider their options. It’s not always about something you should be doing better in your day to day or that you need to just suck it up and grind some more. It may be about liberating yourself by re-prioritizing your time, obligations and energy.
It may be about ferreting out the work that matters and letting go of the rest. It might be about building a new story to guide you toward your new future.
You Can Fall Back in Love With Your Job
Evaluate your personal value proposition, your current goals and your strategic career plan going forward (not what it was 5 years ago, or even last year). By doing so, you may realize it’s time to start searching out a different job either within your current company or elsewhere at a separate organization. In fact, it could mean partnering with a whole new industry!
You may even discover that you’ve come to the end of the road in commitments unrelated to your day-to-day job that have been consuming your energy and time. Whatever the case, through a process of introspection and exhilarating self-discovery, you can plot a new, better path forward. And, if you stay grounded in this mindset, you can take this new and organic plan with you as you plot out the rest of your life.
Take the reins of your career and life. Change your story to help propel you forward so you can fall back in love with your job–and your life!
Dip your toes in the water of the calming executive resume process with my low-cost and recently enhanced Exec Resume Starter Kit. Email me for more information at jacqui@careertrend.net.
I am Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter, one of only 50 certified master resume writers and have crafted more than 1,500 career stories that put ‘your value into words.’ My bachelor’s in writing/journalism allows me to apply a journalist’s eye to your career.
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