I know….the C-word….I’ve been avoiding it as long as possible, but it is now December so I figured it was ok to use it.
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Do you dread the question about ‘what do you do?’ at Christmas parties? Does the thought of heading into a new year still in the same job, with no idea how to make the next step make you feel miserable?
At this time of year, we all have so much on – buying presents, sorting the arrangements for the ‘big day’, dashing to the 101 school events that seem to be on – that we, and our priorities including our career, can fall to the bottom of the list, until we wake up in the new year, having not thought about our career change for a month….and then some how its harder to get started again.
But not this year!
I think the Christmas season is a great time to think about what you want to be doing this time next year, and with the tips below you can hit the ground running in the new year, ready to make next year the year you find a career you love - think of it as your present to yourself.
Photo by Ekaterina Shevchenko on Unsplash
1. Parties, Parties, Parties – the office party, school parties, even extended family parties. It is the season for standing around chatting with a glass of something, so make the most of it! Talk to the guy from office down the corridor and see what he does, that mum from the school gate who you think might do something interesting, ask your second cousin twice removed how her business is going. Not only does it give you something to talk about (useful if you hate too much small talk) but you never know what you might learn.
2. Reach out to people – Christmas is a great excuse to get back in touch with old colleagues or acquaintances. A quick message on LinkedIn, a quick email suggesting coffee in the new year can be a low stress way of reconnecting.
3. Make time for you – If you are lucky enough to get a decent chunk of time off over Christmas, then it can be a great time to decompress, take stock and do some thinking. What about your job do you like? Where would you like to be next Christmas, and what is important to you about this? Grab a glass of something festive and a mince pie, and scribble some ideas down. Dream as big as you can – and then read what you’ve written everyday. It has been proven that focusing on what you want (rather than what you don’t want) can help you get there quicker, so reading about and visualising what you want daily is a great way to build this into your day.
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4. Ask for gifts that will help your career change – I get it, a book about career change is hardly a sexy gift, but it might be useful one. If you are stuck for ideas for what you would like, and would like to avoid the yet-another- scarf, or the gift-pack-of-shower gel-you’ll-never-use, why not put together a list of things that would be helpful? A list of great books (or an audible subscription), money towards a course, tickets to an event. One client I had asked for ‘time vouchers’ – she and her partner ended up exchanging vouchers for periods of time where they could ask for the other person to watch the kids to allow them to do what they wanted on their career change. It can seem contrived, but if the one thing you are lacking is time, then why not ask for it?
5. Talk – if you have family around, try to arrange some time for just you and your partner, or take some time out with your best friend and let them know what’s going on for your right now, and why it is important to you. Be open to questions and share what you need from them – whether its picking up the kids from football so you can attend a class, or a friendly ear to bend once in a while. Bonus points if you can have this chat whilst doing something festive – walking in the snow, or drinking mulled wine in front of a roaring log fire.
So there are my five tips to ensure you have a Christmas break that means you hit the ground running with your career change in January. If you would like to learn more about getting unstuck and developing a career you love alongside your family, then please either come and say hello over in my free facebook group The Returnity Lounge, or click here to book a call with me.
