No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.
Buddha
As you start this research phase, you may already have definite ideas about work avenues, or it still could be a bit unclear. Either way, if you can do the exercises in this chapter it will set you up for the rest of the steps in the book – and help you come up with promising ideas that may never otherwise occur to you.
From now on you will generate ideas and drill down into them, finding out as much as you can about your various possibilities. So far we have spent time looking at you, but now your focus will turn outwards, to find the best intersection between your talents and the needs of the world. Some readers will be heaving sighs of relief at this point, at last able to stop navel gazing and get into action. If that’s you, jump in now.
If that’s not you, jump in now anyway, because after a certain amount of imagining, there is no way forward except via action.
Here we go …
Exercise: Lots of questions
In your search for the ideal work pathway, some of your questions need to be answered in the external world, like, ‘What training would I need for this new field of work?’ and some will demand that you dive into your inner world, like, ‘Does your job define you, or do you define your job?’
The best way to encourage lots of good questions, and therefore lots of good answers, is to keep a notebook or journal where you can record questions, reflections and results of your research.
Some questions need to simmer on the back burner for a while – often you will keep a question in mind for days or weeks before the answer ‘pops into your head’. (Of course it doesn’t actually pop into your head from nowhere; it is the result of all that reflection, of moving your attention into the right space.)
Here are some questions to get you started – but the best questions will always be the ones that you come up with yourself, the ones that are personal to your own career search. So, as you work your way through this list, pay attention to any new thoughts or ideas that occur to you, things you are curious about – write them down and set aside time to think about them.
Take the time to write out each question and compose an answer. It is very powerful to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and see the words taking shape in front of you. Some questions may be reminiscent of earlier exercises in the book, but it’s worth taking a fresh look at this stage – you may find your thinking is changing.
There are many questions here, so it’s important not to get overwhelmed. You could start by deleting the questions that aren’t relevant and those you are already clear about. Then perhaps pick 10 of the most interesting to you, and set aside some time to work with them. If writing isn’t for you, why not use them as discussion starters with your partner or a friend?
Questions about work and purpose
In this context, ‘work’ may mean paid work, or activities that give purpose and structure to your life, such as giving back, starting a social enterprise, writing a book and the like. But not hobbies, unless you are turning them into a business-like project.
• How do you feel about work right now?
• Do you want to keep working? Do you need to?
• How do you see your working life in the next five to ten years? What would you still like to achieve at work?
• What’s your fantasy work situation in the next five to ten years? Hours, conditions, work environment, role, flexibility, opportunities and so on?
• What are your options in your current job or field of work?
• How confident are you about your ability to find (and keep) ongoing meaningful work?
• What are you an expert at?
• What are you passionate about? What’s your greatest enthusiasm?
• What existing strengths and skills and experience could you leverage? Or transport to a new job or a new career?
• What additional skills could you develop – either because you think you will need them, or because you’re interested in the area?
• How flexible or adaptable are you about career change? How do you feel about it?
• How much of your sense of identity and purpose (who you are, what you do, what you value) is related to your working life?
• Do you have any beliefs about work that could help or hinder you in the future?
• What have you left on the back burner all these years? Is it time to bring it to the front? What parts of yourself do you want to reclaim?
• Does your job define you, or do you define your job?
• Does your age define you, or do you define your age?
• Does your current identity define you, or do you define your current identity?
• What if you saw your work as a portfolio of projects and activities?
Questions beyond work
• What does ‘retirement’ mean to you?
• Have you thought about transitioning beyond a full-time career? Do you have a plan?
• Have you thought about completely retiring? Do you have a plan?
• What aspects of working less are you looking forward to?
• What aspects of working less are you not looking forward to, or even dread?
Questions about your life
• Thinking about your life right now, has it unfolded as you expected?
• How do you see your life generally in the next five to ten years?
• What would you still like to do, in order to feel you have a happy/successful/meaningful/satisfying/good life?
• What non-work activities are important to you?
• Have you got an unfulfilled dream or passion that you’d love to activate in some way?
• Do you understand your financial position now, and as it will be in the future – income, debts, investments, superannuation, available benefits? Do you need to seek help or find out more in order to plan your financial future?
• Do you understand your state of health now? How do you hope it will be in the future? Do you need to seek help or find out more in order to become healthier or maintain your health over the years to come? This includes food, exercise, managing any health risks or conditions, sleep, stress and peace of mind.
• What’s the status of your key relationships? Do you need to think about changes in your immediate relationships (partner, family, close friends)? What about your wider social network?
• What are your likely responsibilities over the next five to ten years – caring for children, parents, grandchildren or partner? Will this involve time, focus, support, money?
• Are there any conversations you need to have about the future? These could be with loved ones, professional advisers or people with whom you have any unfinished business.
• Who else needs to be involved in your planning? Who is part of your day-to-day life and focus?
• How would you describe your philosophy of life, or the meaning of life, or the purpose of your life?
• Do you have any beliefs about life that could help or hinder you in the future?
• What will be your legacy? What will you be remembered for?
• What are the other questions you need to answer?
Claire, 50
Claire’s story is a great example of someone who is starting to ask herself lots of questions about future directions, and to research and explore some new possibilities. She doesn’t have any final answers yet, but she is doing all the right things in exploring new ideas.
I didn’t really know what I wanted to do or be when I left school in England, but I had a holiday job in a firm of accountants. And it was just so much fun, the people were really nice and I could understand the work and I could put it into context. And I thought, ‘Yeah I can do this.’ So then I did an accounting degree and joined an international firm as a graduate. I became an accountant through nothing more than having a good holiday-job experience.
I worked for various employers, ending up moving to Sydney for work. And here I am, 14 years later, still here. Similar industry, similar role and responsibilities, similar reporting lines.
I have always been a reader, I’ve always been interested in books. When I moved to where I live now, I didn’t know anybody, so I joined the local book group. It’s run by the owner of a local bookshop, but it’s quite a literary book group, not the kind where you just sit around and drink wine. As well as book clubs, the owner of the bookshop also runs writing workshops for adults, so I gave that a go.
I really enjoyed the workshop, I really enjoyed being able to capture what was in my mind and to put it down on paper. Sharing it with other people was a bit confronting, but I quite enjoyed that as well. I haven’t done any more workshops since, but it’s in the back of my mind, and I’ve looked at formal courses, online courses and a whole bunch of stuff. It’s something to think about over time.
I have taken advantage of opportunities like contributing to our local garden-club newsletter. I’ve done it over the last three months, and it’s something I would never have thought of doing before, because I’m at the learning end of gardening, whereas there are others there who have been gardening for 50 years. The editor said they could do with some contributions and I just find that no one really steps up to help, and it’s easy for me to put a couple of hundred words together and a photo about something garden-related.
I don’t think I’ve got as far as thinking of writing as a replacement for accounting yet. But the editor of this garden newsletter said, ‘I love receiving your articles because I don’t need to change them at all’, so that is a good start. I’ve also submitted an article to our local paper about a garden-club activity, so I hope that that will get picked up as well. But none of that is paid.
At the moment, all I’m doing is seeing opportunities and leveraging them. I’d really like to take some kind of evening class or something I can fit in with work. I don’t see how I could make this something I could pay the mortgage with, but I love being in this curious phase, and it’s amazing now I think about it more, how many opportunities there seem to be to write.
It’s more than just play for me. I would like to learn the formalities around all these things, rather than just keep writing for my own benefit. I’ve always enjoyed writing, and I did well at it.
I’ve got a mortgage to pay so earning money’s pretty important. As far as corporate roles go, I’m interested in doing a good job, but I’m not on a career ladder now. I’ve got too many things that I want to do. Learning about things outside of work, and taking the opportunity to get exposed to other things is important. I’ve been with my current employer for a few years now, and I know that role, and the rhythms of the organisation and the cycles, so that takes the pressure off and allows me to do other things.
I feel frustrated that time is my limiting factor. If I could work even four days a week that would give me an opportunity to do something else like writing on the other three days, even if it isn’t paid.
I imagine I’m going to be working forever. I’ve always wondered about this retiring at 50 thing, because that would leave you with about 30 years of unpaid existence.
You need to work, because you don’t want to stay in your pyjamas all day, you’ve got to get out of bed.
Exercise: Lots of jobs
This next exercise is about looking at lots of jobs, but it’s not just about using your logical, analytical brain to select a good role for you. This exercise will help you find the patterns and the deeper satisfaction in different ways of working. Have some paper or a journal handy to jot down your reflections and ideas.
Step 1
Have a look at the list of jobs on page 166. Reading through the list, circle the jobs that you are drawn to, the ones that you think you would find exciting, satisfying and interesting. Don’t worry about skills, qualifications or experience, or availability, salary or anything practical at this stage. This is just about the careers that grab your interest. If jobs come to mind that aren’t on the list, add them at the end.
Now, pick out the top 10 or so from that list and rank them roughly in order of excitement or interest.
Step 2
Have a look at your top 10. Are there any patterns, clusters of skills or themes – things like ‘working outdoors’, ‘being creative’, ‘having people contact (or not)’, ‘running the show’, ‘thinking/doing/helping/making’, or ‘solo vs. teamwork’, for example. What themes or patterns can you see?
You might also pick up contradictions, such as a bunch of thinking jobs and another bunch of practical doing ones – that’s fine, it’s all part of the mix, so make a note of those, too.
Step 3
What else do you notice? Do you find memories popping up as you do the exercise? Do you remember a long-abandoned work dream? Or a job experience that you would love (or hate) to repeat? What’s going on as you look at your list and think about these things?
Take time to reflect on this exercise, as it can bring up some very useful clues, both obvious and subtler.
JOBS LIST
School teacher – primary or high school
Academic – university teacher and/or researcher
Presenter, public speaker, trainer, facilitator
Coach – career, business, executive, life, etcetera
Carer – for children, adults, people with special needs
Social worker
Psychotherapist or psychologist
Librarian in a public library
Engineer
Architect
Lawyer – private practice, in-house, government, barrister, legal aid, mediator, judge
Hospitality – restaurant owner, manager, waiter, barperson
Minister of religion
Journalist – online, for a paper, magazine, TV, radio, documentary
Blogger
Writer – fiction, non-fiction, plays, copywriter
Linguist, translator, interpreter
Editor or publisher – magazine, newspaper, books
Animal worker – vet, vet nurse, zoo worker
Accountant, bookkeeper, actuary – at an accounting firm, insurance company, business
Visual artist, sculptor
Chef, cook
Medical professional – GP, specialist, surgeon, diagnostician, nurse
Alternative health practitioner
Pharmacist
Business owner – small, large, in between
Entrepreneur
Business consultant
Property developer
Venture capitalist
CEO of a big company
Project manager
Executive in a big company, middle manager
HR manager
Marketing manager in a company
IT expert
Software programmer
Administrative support person
Athlete
Personal trainer, sporting coach
Town planner
Manufacturer – factory owner, manager, worker
Inventor – private, government, corporate
Product developer
Scientist
Driver – bus, train, taxi, truck
Director – stage, film, TV, opera, documentary
Actor – theatre, TV, film, advertisements
TV anchor, newsreader
Tradesperson – electrician, plumber, handyman, mechanic, etcetera
Construction worker, builder
Airline pilot
Hospital administrator
Retail worker, shop manager or assistant
Police officer
Farmer, fisherman
Armed services
Banker – retail, investment
Shop owner
Archaeologist, historian
Member of parliament, local councillor
Recruiter
Explorer
PR agent
Environmental scientist
Social activist
Financial services professional
Interior designer, decorator
Public spokesperson for an organisation
Event organiser, event manager
Diplomat
Real estate agent
Musician, composer
Economist
Non-profit or charity area – caseworker, officer
Other?
It can be interesting to look for people whose careers or lives you admire. They might be friends, colleagues, people you’ve read about or seen on TV. They might even be fictional characters from books or movies.
The key question is: whose job (or life) would I most like to have in the whole world?
Then do some research to find out as much as you can about what it would take to get a job or life like that, or what skills or experience you’d need to acquire first. And bear in mind that it may be some aspect of that person’s work or life that you admire, such as the ability to travel for work, or the opportunity to help people during a difficult time in their lives. If so, extract that aspect and ask yourself what other roles or pathways you could explore that might give you that same element.
Exercise: Job-card shuffle
For this exercise, you will need a bunch of index cards, or post-it notes, or some other small blank cards.
Write down every single possible job or field or course of study or business or project or significant hobby you have ever wanted to do, no matter how impractical. Put one item per card, and just keep going until all avenues are exhausted.
Your list might include big-picture items such as ‘engineer’ or ‘author’, as well as activities like ‘do a design certificate’ and specific things like ‘learn to make my own clothes’. All are equally welcome in your list.
When you have at least 20 cards (and hopefully double or triple that), lay them out on a table in front of you. Look at the cards and see if you’ve missed any possibilities – if so, include them.
Now, do the following exercises:
Step 1
Pick up two cards at random. What would happen if you connected these two somehow as a job? Say on one card you had ‘work in a chocolate shop’ and on the other ‘teach primary school’, how could you connect them? Maybe teach chocolate-making, work in a school canteen or teach children to cook? Put any new ideas onto new cards.
Now pick up two more and try to connect them, then pick up two after that for several more rounds.
Step 2
Eliminate any cards that are of zero interest to you – but not the ones you like but which seem impractical. Looking at the stayers one by one, what draws you towards that idea? You might write the pros and cons on the back of each card. See if they form natural clusters around themes, say ‘creative jobs’ or ‘hands-on’ or ‘corporate’ or whatever.
Step 3
Collect all the remaining cards, and number them ‘1’, ‘2’, ‘3’, etcetera. Each card should have a different number written on it.
Now, look at the matrix diagrams on page 169. A matrix allows you to rank different ideas on the basis of both their practicality and how much you desire them. In the example shown, number 7 is desirable but impractical, 4 is neither practical nor desirable and numbers 3 and 9 are practical but not desirable. The clear initial winners are likely to be 1 and 6. (Another option, of course, would be to go with 7, but work on making it more practical.)
For this exercise, take your card numbered 1, rank it on the basis of its practicality and how much you desire it and put the number ‘1’ in the relevant box on your matrix. Now continue with all the other cards in the same way.
Then, look at the matrix:
Example Matrix
Your Matrix
• Which are the jobs or activities that rate as practical as well as desirable?
• What about the ones you love but which are impractical – could you do something to make them more practical?
• What about the less likeable but immediately practical jobs – could you turn one into a ‘journey job’? (Remember, a journey job is a job that you can do with your present skill set and pay the bills while you think further about other possibilities, or a job that gives you an entry into a new world from which you can then leverage work that is closer to your new career ideas.)
• Which are your winners?
John, 47
John came to me because he was unhappy and couldn’t see a way out. As we worked through his process, it became clear that he wanted to stay in his current job for a while, while he managed his breadwinner responsibilities. But having a strategy and an exciting new venture to plan for and get excited about has changed everything for him.
I’ve been told we all probably need to keep working until we’re 70, but it would be better to do it and actually have fun. I think anybody who has been doing the same thing and is in their 40s and upwards must be thinking what I was thinking: I’m in a rut and I’m not enjoying my job, but I’m in a comfort zone. I wanted to do something else, but I had doubts as to whether I could. Wouldn’t it be fantastic to get up every morning and do something you really enjoy?
I have been in the real estate industry for 20-odd years. I’ve been married for 20 years, too, and we have two children. I’d been grumpy in my job, so my wife sent me along to see Joanna. I went along with a blank canvas and said simply, ‘These are the things I enjoy’ and we went from there.
We started with lots of questions and I did homework basically trying to find out what I like, what I enjoy and, more importantly, what I didn’t like doing. And then breaking that up and heading in that direction of what I’d like to do. Joanna looked at what I was thinking and then helped me put the pieces of the puzzle together: I like motorcycles, I like touring with motorcycles and I like looking after people, so we targeted that I might create a motorcycle-touring-group business.
First of all, I’m not jumping out of what I do now because unfortunately I’ve still got to pay the bills. So it was more along the lines of the age factor. There seems to be a line at 50 where you become very unmarketable. We discussed that it’s probably a good time to do something now, prior to getting into your 50s. But for me I won’t immediately take the jump 100 per cent because it mightn’t work out and then I’ll be struggling to pay the mortgage, pay the bills, feed the kids, that sort of thing. It was more arming me with the things I needed to do to make a decision.
I still have a leg in my old world, but I have a plan now. I have the confidence to pursue my plan and to see if I can do it. You know, I’m a lot more relaxed about my existing job because I know that at any time – when the timing is right – I can do what I really want to do. Worst-case scenario is that you give it a go and it doesn’t work; however, even if you just break even it’s been an experience. And also having the ability to fall back to what I do at the moment would still be there.
So the main thing was finding out that you are still marketable in your late 40s, you’re not dead and buried yet.
Now I’m on a fact-finding mission. Joanna suggested I investigate businesses, what’s available and prices. I’m preparing myself to make the jump. I’ve joined a motorcycle group and we ride together. I’m looking at insurances, weighing up business viability, looking at what competitors are doing and checking out websites. In my current job, I run a group of people and look after budgets, so that’s the easy part. It would be great to have someone assisting me, and I’m looking at the amount of riding and the type of motorcycles.
I have never experienced getting up and being happy to go to work before. That’s going to be great. Well, it won’t be work then, will it?
For many people, this part of the process is where it starts to get real, and all the ideas that you have been tossing around begin to come alive. You start to ‘get’ that this process might actually result in change. And that can have some interesting consequences.
You may start to feel excitement building because at last you are doing something to take charge of your future, to create a map that will take you to your next stage of life. There is something very powerful about taking steps in new directions and it often leads to positive feelings and a sense of trust in yourself.
However, you may also (or instead) feel a sense of impossibility, or apprehension, or even dread. This is quite normal and comes from those parts of you that don’t like change, or risk, or dealing with the unknown. Because of this, it’s important to develop a strategy, so you don’t stop the show before you’ve even had the dress rehearsal.
Chapter 14 contains a full discussion of these ‘showstoppers’ and plenty of practical strategies for working with them. So if you find anxiety creeping in, or you have a little voice in your head telling you that it’s all a waste of time, or you are procrastinating the day away, please jump ahead to read that chapter so you don’t lose your momentum.
It’s very useful at this stage to get clear about the context of your work. Things like the right work environment and doing work in a way that suits your personality are important but often overlooked.
I’ve mentioned already that when I was a lawyer, I was drawn towards a number of jobs that were like Bright Shiny Objects, luring me away from my core values. Because of this BSO seduction, I also ended up in workplaces that were never going to let me do my best work – large, competitive, impersonal offices, crisis-driven environments where production was measured in six-minute increments, all recorded in a daily timesheet. Years later I had a conversation with a friend who had stayed in that world, rising to the very top. She mentioned that her firm’s sole aim in training young lawyers was to make them ‘meaner, leaner, harder and faster’. No wonder it wasn’t the world for me.
Exercise: Context questions
Here are some questions about the context of work. Have a look, think about them, and record the things that will be important to remember as you move towards deciding your next pathway.
Questions about the work environment
How do you feel about:
• Working in an office? Working outdoors? At home?
• Large or small company?
• New business or well-established?
• Working for yourself?
• Travelling for work?
• Opportunities for transfer to another division, another city, or overseas?
• Working in the CBD, the suburbs, or the country?
• Are you interested in not-for-profit businesses? Or the chance for a corner office? Or a competitive environment? Stable and secure, or risky but exhilarating?
What about:
• Open-plan offices?
• Having lots of people around you?
• Quiet or loud workplace?
• Frequent meetings?
• Working alone or in a team?
• Do you need to have fun at work?
Questions about the work itself
• Do you like being supervised, or self-directed?
• Do you need a clear job description?
• What about opportunities to learn or to develop skills?
• Promotion possibilities?
• Do you prefer a fast-paced job or slow and steady?
• How do you feel about decision-making?
• Do you need a lot of variety, or a steady uniformity?
• How many hours a week are you prepared to work?
• What about availability after hours? Weekend work?
• Is job security important?
• How much retraining or obtaining new qualifications are you prepared to do?
• Do you enjoy creative thinking, problem-solving, generating new ideas?
• Do you like dealing with crises?
• Do you like working on commission?
• Do you want a portable career, one you can do in another city or country?