Dawn Barclay

Helping you align all that you do with your core values

Moxie Work and Career

How To Make Life Decisions

Life is like a road. There are long and short roads; smooth and rocky roads; crooked and straight paths.

In our life many roads would come our way as we journey through life.

There are roads that lead to fame and fortune on one hand, or isolation and poverty on the other.

There are roads to happiness as there are roads to sadness, roads towards victory and jubilation, and roads leading to defeat and disappointment.

Just like any road, there are corners, detours, and crossroads in life.

Perhaps the most perplexing road that you would encounter is a crossroad.

With four roads to choose from and with limited knowledge on where they would go, which road will you take?

What is the guarantee that we would choose the right one along the way? Would you take any road, or just stay where you are: in front of a crossroad?

You do not really know where a road will lead you until you take it.

There are no guarantees.

This is one of the most important things you need to realise about life.

Nobody said that choosing to do the right thing all the time would always lead you to happiness.

Loving someone with all your heart does not guarantee that it would be returned.

Gaining fame and fortune does not guarantee happiness.

Accepting a good word from an influential superior to cut your trip short up the career ladder is not always bad, especially if you are highly qualified and competent.

There are too many possible outcomes, which your really cannot control. The only thing you have power over is the decisions that you will make, and how you would act and react to different situations.

Wrong decisions are always at hindsight.

Had you known that you were making a wrong decision, would you have gone along with it? Perhaps not, why would you choose a certain path when you know it would get you lost?

Why make a certain decision if you knew from the very beginning that it is not the right one. It is only after you have made a decision and reflected on it that you realise its soundness.

If the consequences or outcomes are good for you, then you have decided correctly. Otherwise, your decision was wrong.

Take the risk: decide.

Since life offers no guarantee and you would never know that your decision would be wrong until you have made it, then you might as well take the risk and decide.

It is definitely better than keeping yourself in limbo. Although it is true that one wrong turn could get you lost, it could also be that such a turn could be an opportunity for an adventure, moreover open more roads.

It’is all a matter of perspective. You have the choice between being a lost traveller or an accidental tourist of life. But take caution that you don’t make decisions haphazardly.

Taking risks is not about being careless and stupid. Here are some pointers that could help you choose the best option in the face of life’s crossroads:

Get as many information as you can about your situation.

You cannot find the confidence to decide when you know so little about what you are faced with.

Just like any news reporter, ask the 5 W’s: what, who, when, where, and why. What is the situation? Who are the people involved? When did this happen? Where is this leading? Why are you in this situation?

These are just some of the possible questions to ask to know more about your situation. This is important.

Oftentimes, the reason for indecision is the lack of information about a situation.

Identify and create options.

What options do the situation give you?

Sometimes the options are few, but sometimes they are numerous. But what do you do when you think that the situation offers no options?

This is the time that you create your own. Make your creative mind work.

From the most simplistic to the most complicated, entertain all ideas. Do not shoot anything down when an idea comes to your head. Sometimes the most outrageous idea could prove to be the right one in the end.

You can ask a friend to help you identify options and even make more options if you encounter some difficulty, but make sure that you make the decision yourself in the end.

Weigh the pros and cons of every option.

Assess each option by looking at the advantages and disadvantages it offers you. In this way, you get more insights about the consequences of such an option.

Trust yourself and make that decision.

Now that you have assessed your options, it is now time to trust yourself. Remember that there are no guarantees and wrong decisions are always at hindsight.

So choose… decide… believe that you are choosing the best option at this point in time.

Now that you have made a decision, be ready to face its consequences: good and bad.

It may take you to a place of promise or to a land of problems. But the important thing is that you have chosen to live your life instead of remaining a bystander or a passive audience to your own life.

Whether it is the right decision or not, only time can tell. But do not regret it whatever the outcome. Instead, learn from it and remember that you always have the chance to make better decisions in the future.

What Are The Least Stressful Jobs?

Let’s face it, all careers, under the right or should I say wrong conditions can create for an individual stress and stress related illness.  Are some roles more stressful than others, is it the employer’s duty to manage stress or is it all down to the individual?

You know you best, and only you can diagnose if your current role is causing you stress.

Now, I am not a GP and this is not about symptoms and diagnosis.  You and I experience stress differently.  Even now, I could not make generalisations of symptoms.  We are all different.  For me though I know that I am stressed when I can’t sleep or funnily enough completely the opposite ‘I need to just close my eyes for five’.

I have to say knowing your triggers are good to acknowledge to ultimately reducing your stress…if I am tired and something is keeping me up at 4am, I know something isn’t right.

I digress, you know there are excellent employers who understand the pressures their business activities may have on their employees and they do take steps to minimise potential stress.  This can take the form of family friendly working polices, correct breaks, flexi time, regular meaningful supervision, appraisals, great benefits, excellent training and they listen and respond to appropriate feedback.

We both know that some employers are not as great at looking after staff and they do nothing.  Letting people cope alone and get on with it, offer no support or understanding, they bully and belittle, use fearful tactics and coerced motivation.

Here is the problem; you may have the best employer, career, wage and team in the world yet you are stressed.  Or you could work for technically the employer from hell and have no stress at all.  So does that mean it all comes back to the individual?

What you may see as a stressful job, I may not.  For me by the way it’s being a waitress (okay, I lasted one day, but that was enough to me.  Look, I gave it my ‘ best shot’:).  Maybe you are a waiter or waitress, who loves the role and experiences no stress at all.  I think I should model your behaviour. You have my utmost respect.

Can you make comparisons of what is a less stressful job over another?  I think if you looking for an answer to the least stressful jobs then are you actually saying ‘I am not coping, there is something wrong, I hate what I am doing, work shouldn’t be like this and I need to get help or get out’ or a mix of some of them.

It all comes down to personal choice, personal attributes and where you as an individual feel stress and how you manage your own stress on a daily basis.

I fully believe that you should be stressed at work.  Okay a little excitement, adrenalin and a bit of Alice’s white rabbit approach..hurry hurry hurry to get a piece of work completed on time is manageable as long as it does not happen every day.   And employers should not create environments where it happens.

You would think with all the technology to make ‘life easier’ we would all be working part time by now, yet the opposite has happened.  How is that?  Are you putting more demands on yourselves, do you have to do everything, and do you have to do it right, perfection at all times, and heaven forbid you make a mistake?

Instead of seeking the least stressful job, why not, at the very most consider the least stressful job for you?

For that you could take a review.  Have a look at the following questions.  And remember when you answer, include all areas of your life.

What stresses you?

How do you know?

Where, what environments stress you?

What behaviours in others stress you?

What are your stress trigger buttons?

What can you not tolerate?

How do you manage stress?

Who can you talk to?

When you are stressed what do you do, say, how do you behave?

What skills could you learn that would help you manage your stress better?

What skills could you learn so that other people’s stress does not affect you?

The trouble and sad fact is if we are stressed continually, especially at work, our whole life suffers. I do not need to explain that to you, you know.

The secret to finding the least stressful job is to research a role you think is less stressful, identify the employers and business they are in and then talk to people within that organisation.  Ask them, what is it like to work here?

Next, manage yourself.  There are tools you can learn and use.

 

Career Change is a Retrain Required?

Many people assume that to change career they are going to have to completely retrain.

Not true. Yes, it applies to some careers but for the majority it doesn’t.  Careers that require professional registration will require a complete retrain i.e. social worker to doctor, nurse to health and safety officer.

So, what role do you want to move into?  You will already know if you have to complete mandatory training or are you looking for a career change that may not require specific qualifications in order for you to obtain it?

You may just need to find a way through the door.

If it’s latter it may not be a question of retraining but re-branding you and your skills, knowledge and experience.  Many people know about transferable skills and prior knowledge/learning yet are unable to utilise them in their search and application.

The following might help and it’s good fun:

Send off for three applications for the job/career you are aiming for.  This can be based anywhere because at this point you are probably not going to apply right away, so forget saying ‘oh I am not skilled’ this way you are taking the emotion all out of it.

You have no intention of applying.

Once they come, go straight to the person specifications and we will use these only.

Look for the similarities, they may be worded differently but do they mean the same thing?

Create your own specification called ‘My Dream Job Requirements’ on a new piece of paper.

List everything you need to have in order to be doing the job.

Now, for every point on your list write beside it examples, truths, knowledge, paid, unpaid experience, why you know you could do the task.

Recently, I worked with a client who had been working in retail for 20 years and they wanted a role helping people but they felt they had no experience.

Doing the above exercise we discovered together that she had brought three children up on her own, cared for a parent who had died of cancer, volunteered in a day centre ‘doing peoples nails’ and was involved in a local community group.

Their problem was, they did not see the connection. You can right?

So you will have two lists next, where are the gaps?  That is your first retraining.  It might be something like ‘ability to use SAGE’.  Your call to action would be identify who uses this, where they use it, can you help them use it?

This may even be someone you know.  And note it where it says the ‘ability’ to use, not 10 years experience.  If you are asked for an ability to do something, you can probably assume they will provide training.  You just need to show you have the capability to learn.

People assume they have to spend fortunes in expensive career change retraining yet someone else out there already knows what they need to know.

The key is learn and retrain from them.

The Problem With Crisis Job Search

Our careers are a roller coaster ride, just like every other area of our lives.

They go up and down, have high points and low points.

Some days are better than others.

We can leave our baggage at the doors most mornings, and yet other days we drag in the suitcases.

There is nothing wrong with having the odd negative moment, hour or day about your career.

The problem is when the negative far outweighs the positive when every day is a low point.

Going in some days can be an emotional nightmare. The fact you dislike what you are doing so much affects your confidence and self-esteem. If you have got to this stage then perhaps a Career Change is needed.

The Long Dark Dinner Time of The Sunday Night Soul

I worked with a client once who basically wiped out Sunday with his family so he could concentrate on dreading Monday morning.

Maybe like what he did, you carry out crisis job search every night when you go home.

This is the type of search where you go to the big online job/career recruitment sites, enter a keyword and then just send off your stored CV, usually the CV that has been the same one, without changes, for a year or two.

The problem here is you then feel as though you have been applying for a while and nothing is happening. You believe that recruitment agencies are no good when the truth is you sent something irrelevant, untargeted and not a match.

Let me explain. You are only applying in crisis when things are bad.

Think about it when you do other things in a bad mood: does it work out rosy? Or does it seem to get worse?

My advice: stop applying for a while.

What! I know, I am asking you to give no thought to your career, the thing that is driving you insane. Instead of applying, research and get ready to make a meaningful change.

This can include the following:

  • Discover what you love to do. Think about your current role, is there any of it left that you still enjoy? Make a list.
  • Spend time on you. Next time you are online only research the roles and careers you would love to explore. Find out about salaries, training, skills requirements.
  • Speak to those already doing the job you would like. Spend time with them asking all about it. Be ready and willing to see new opportunities and chances.
  • Get ‘career savvy’. Learn everything there is to know about researching, applying, writing CV’s and cover letters, interviews and alternative career searching. Instead of downloading an online template start a file of interesting information you find.
  • Start applying again when you are not in crisis. Commit yourself to this. When you are calmer, you are more focused and you will actually see more.
  • This is the best time to apply, not when you are in despair. It’ll come through in everything you write, say or do.

The Myths Attached to CV’s

Some people have heard time and time again and therefore now believe ‘oh it’s your CV what gets you the interview’. The result being they have attached such an emotional value to it they can’t let it go.

Some people, spend days, weeks, months and in some cases YEARS getting their CV ready to fire out to hiring employers and agencies…yet in the end they never send it! This emotion they have attached to it is so strong that anything less than perfect will just not do.

Ready to shatter a few myths so you can actually start applying for all those opportunities and chances?

Myth 1: Writing A CV Is Hard

Wrong!

What people, generally, find ‘hard’ is selling who they are, their skills, experience, knowledge and potential.

A CV is just a tool, all you need is the ‘know how’ and knowledge and understanding of the tool to make it work for you. There is no point wasting time looking for ‘Free CV Templates’ if you are unable to complete the empty boxes, also searching for ‘good CV examples’ is not another great thing to do. Why? Because you will no doubt try and replicate it word for word. To create the best CV for you, look at you first.

Unless you have taken an inventory of who you are, where you have been, what you have learnt, where are your skills, where are you talents, gifts and uniqueness you will find selling yourself an extremely difficult task. No one can sell you, you have to do it. To learn to sell, adopt a career change salesman mindset.

Myth 2: If My CV Is Perfect I Will Always Get An Interview

Wrong again. What your definition of perfect is, may not be the same definition the employer/recruiter has. It should be ‘perfect’ for each job you apply for and there is no way that every job will be the same. A perfect CV involves having the bulk of it done and tweaking it as you go.

Having only one CV for a career change is ineffective. Why? There is nothing worse for an employer to look at a CV and be thinking ‘have they read the advert’?

Myth 3: My CV is The Most Important Part of Searching

No actually it’s not. Okay, if you are just sticking to only traditional job searching methods it will be your first introduction to a company or agency, yes it’s pretty important.

More important is your attitude and goal orientated behaviour. When applying for a new position or starting down a different career path. The CV should be the last thing put together. Research and document everything, learn the language your future employer is using first.

Creating your CV’s will be a hundred times easier.

Job or Career? Is There a Difference?

So, you’ve decided that now is the right time to get a new career or pursue that new job.  What language do you use to describe your work habits?  How do you think and speak about what you get paid for?  Do you use ‘my career is’?  Or ‘my job is’?

Do you think of yourself as ‘career orientated’ or ‘career minded’?  Perhaps, do you see a career is something that comes with having a string of qualifications?  Is ‘having a career’ something better than ‘having a job’? Or are they same?

Generally, people assume the two are different.  They are, by definition, however can they be separated in reality?  One of the biggest differences between having a job and having a career could be that of attitude and thought.

Please, before you jump and down and list your qualifications carry on reading…

You see there is so much ambiguity, ideas and lies around careers and jobs for example:

  1. A job does not include a career but a career usually involves many jobs
  2. A job is a means to an end; a career is more personally fulfilling
  3. A job is lower paid than a career role
  4. A career is harder to achieve than getting a job
  5. A career obviously involves many qualifications, having a career is very specialised

So, can you have a well thought out career that pays well: full of advancement, progression and promotional opportunities.  Yet you detest it.  No, you loathe it.  You cry going in and are depressed after your holidays.  Well, you are working a job.  You are working to pay the bills.  Your career does not fit your passion and purpose.

On the other hand.  Say, you call what you get paid for a job.  It may not have taken you years of qualifications to get there; it might not be well paid however it is lucrative in other ways.  You love it.  Everything about it.  The tasks. The people. The day-to-day role.  The customers.  Even though you may not think about it this way yet, you have a career.

Eh?

Do you need some definitions?

Okay…

Career: A chosen pursuit, occupation or profession.

Job: A task, or series of tasks you get paid for.

Please focus on the word CHOSEN.  So, whatever you have chosen to do.  That’s a career.   The job element is the tasks you undertake within that career.

People who have a career, also have a job, otherwise they would not have a career.  They get paid for carrying out tasks (jobs) that fit the career choice.  People who have jobs are still within a career choice.

A career is a path, full of choices, using your full skills, talents and experiences.  The path is not ‘job’ or ‘tasks’ yet it is made up of a lifelong journey that fully utilises your strengths and talents.  It encompasses your leisure, family, relationships; it’s made up of all the parts of you.  The fact you get paid for this is the job element.

How can you pursue a career that leads to carrying out jobs you get paid for?

Nothing Remains the Same

To constantly have a happy rewarding career journey of your choosing, stay alert to what it happening around you.  Recognise that in the jobs you carry out within your career there is a big world out there and flexibility, adaptability and willingness to accept change is key to surviving in these times.

Nothing is Ever Fully Learned

If you believe that when you finish formal education you are all set, then you may be disappointed.  Learning is lifelong, the brilliance of being an adult in the throws of a career path means that you also now can make the decisions of how, what and where you learn.  It’s never done.

You Are Never At A Crossroads

People feel that their careers are a choice to be made one path over another.  Crossroads suggest that one path is better than the other.  Careers are a lifelong path, twists, bends, humps, roundabouts, crossroads and the map is huge, the world is a large territory.  Start by realising that your career is a journey and sometimes we go places we are really not keen on or wish we had never went, however you can always get back in the driving seat, travel down different roads to see different destinations.  Get it?

Follow Your Passion

There is nothing more wasted than a dream, passion and purpose left to sizzle out and have no action taken upon it.  Even the impossible can become possible.  If you are constructing a career of your own choosing, choose what’s right for you at this moment.  And choices are always being made, and they can be changed along the way.

The Power Of Association

If a career is a journey of life, like the CV is a biography of your life.  Build up strong, meaningful and purposeful connections.  Everyone needs meaningful relationships and no one is except from this.  Associate with what you find valuable and it helps you recognise your strength, talents and uniqueness.

So is there a difference in career versus job?  Yes, by definition.  The jobs we carry out may be better to sit in alignment with our career journey: the roads we are choosing that sit well with us emotionally will ensure that we are working on tasks that are following our passion and purpose in our career planning, job hunting and career changes.