Maybe you, like many of the women I speak to, have a Good Reason to stay in that job that sucks the life out of you. Do you? Because it’s a very easy trap to fall into.

What’s your Good Reason?

New Year’s resolutions get a bad rap sometimes. And I get it - if you want to change or achieve something, why wait until 1 January to start right?

I particularly liked this card from a client who recently finished working with me in my Align to Thrive career coaching program, and not just because the message was so sweet.

It might be scary, it might not be convenient and it might be hard work, but if you’re asking yourself “how do I know if it’s time to find a new job?” the answer is it probably is.

A lot of my clients feel weary, burnt out or flat. A huge part of my role as their coach is to help lift them out of the hole or guide them through the fog. You need energy to find career clarity and job search. For most, that dream offer doesn’t come overnight. It’s more of a marathon than a sprint.

Letting go of the fear of judgement and re-wiring your psyche to tame your inner-critic is hard work. It takes self-awareness and recognition and consistent training of your brain, but it’s not impossible. With patience and practice you can begin to live your life free of the shackles of the fear of judgement whether that’s from society or yourself. Here are three ways you can start practice letting go of judgement and begin reframing any unhelpful thoughts:

If you’ve been on a call with me or are a client of mine, you’ve probably had me ask you “What are you afraid of?”
There are essentially four ways in which fear will show up in your career.

Sometimes the right job is easy to find, but cultivating a rock-solid mindset takes time. An amazing mindset, the right tools (a standout CV and cover letter) AND an intentionally crafted career strategy creates epic results. But if your mindset isn’t working for you? You can have the world’s best CV and cover letter, and a smart career strategy, and unfortunately, you just won’t create results.

There is absolutely no reason you have to make small talk when networking.

You can be the person at the networking event who doesn’t make small talk. You can be selective about what you go to. You’re more likely to find that authentic connection if you network with intent.

I get asked this a lot! And it’s a *really* important question.
What happens if you get the brilliant new job, or you make that career change, and… you still don’t feel happy?
I see it happen.

The problems that can follow when an organisation has a highly capable interim option :

• The hiring process can slow down, and even grind to a halt.

• You might not be paid the salary that goes with the job – you are told the experience is the reward!

• Your substantive role isn’t backfilled properly – you are working harder than ever across! A two for the price of one for your company!

• You have no certainty over your future with the organisation – and the longer this continues, the more your confidence wavers, the less credible you start to feel.

A question my clients often ask themselves is “can I afford coaching?”

A question I often ask back is “can you afford to NOT have a coach supporting you in your career?”

What is the cost of staying in an unfulfilling, or worse, confidence-shattering role any longer?

After having children, like many women, I found my feelings towards work had changed. Although my values remained steadfast, my priorities shifted exponentially.

Many women are completely unprepared for just how much their feelings about work change. As the high demands of motherhood consume more of your energy, you might choose to re-evaluate your career options. Your career remains an important (oh, so important) part of who you are, but plans for career advancement may slow or grind to a halt for a short while.

Whether your monkey mind and the incessant chatter is a result of hating your job and wishing you were working somewhere else, or down to high pressure and stress levels over a prolonged period, I highly recommend doing some work around actively switching off. Your brain and body need this, so you can perform at your best when you are *actually* meant to be switched on!

Want to know something that can really have an impact on your career plans? Other people’s opinion.

We might go out and actively seek those opinions, calling upon friends and loved ones to essentially make decisions for us. Other times, people may (sometimes with the best intentions) foist those opinions upon us.

Regardless which, the chatter and noise of everyone else’s opinion isn’t overly helpful and can leave you stuck in making your decision.

What’s the first thing most people do when they start job-hunting?
That’s right, they go to Seek or LinkedIn and enter pretty much the exact search terms and parameters that MATCH THEIR CURRENT SITUATION. Want to know a little secret? Sometimes the best plan of action is to hit pause.

Everyone has a different tolerance level for how far and how quickly they push out of their comfort zone. The hardest part of stepping outside your comfort zone is often the first step, but it’s a great place to start and much more likely to yield results than waiting.

When you’re scared of failure, you do everything you can to avoid it. But actually? Failure often doesn’t happen, and if it does it doesn’t always feel that bad.