As a coach, I talk a lot about thinking about where you want to be in the future work-wise.
But just as important is taking the time to stop and reflect where you are right now.
But we don't tend to do that much - looking forward, planning the next steps, visualising the future is a lot more fun....
So why should we take the time to look at where we are now?
Taking stock of right now, what's going well (or not so well) is a great way to shed some light on what might us happier and more content in the future, and it can give us confidence to make decisions that are based on experience and understanding, and not just hope.
So where are you, work-wise, right now?
The picture below shows an 'Anchor Wheel' based on Schein's Career Anchors. I've also put a link to a printable workbook here.
In short, the 8 sections of the wheel represent the most common things that are important to us at work, and we can use this knowledge to help guide our decisions about next steps.
So how does it work?
Using one colour pen, and taking the centre of the wheel as 0 and the outer edge as 10, rank how important that area is to you with regard to your work-life in general, and draw a line across that segment. When you have done it, it might look something like this:
Taking a second colour, think about your current work situation, or your most recent experience if you are currently not working.
Look at the difference between the 'wants' (the first colour) and the 'haves' (the second colour). The larger the difference between these lines, the bigger the mismatch between what's important to you and what you currently have.
What now?
Armed with this information, you can go through each section where there is a significant difference, and think about what could be done to start to close that gap. You may want to think of it in terms of the following questions:
What do I want more of at work?
What might having more of this look like?
How will I know when I have got what I need in this area?
What changes could I make to allow this to happen?
What is my first step towards this, and when am I going to do it?
This will give you the start of an action plan - the first steps towards moving from where you are now, to where you want to be.
Obviously this technique can be used with any 8 categories - I've used it with clients focused around building a business and with business owners looking to create more balance in their working lives - it's a really great tool to help you visualise where things are not quite where they should be.
So give it a go (click here for a free workbook template) and let me know how you get on - just drop me a message here.
Ready to take the next steps?
Now you know what isn't quite working for you - what are you gong to do about it? If you'd like some support in figuring out what your next steps might be, you can book a free 30 minute Discovery call with me here.