What stories do you tell yourself about career change?
What stories do you tell yourself about career change?
And a free coaching exercise
It’s too late
Career happiness is for other people
I don't even know what I'm good at
What if I fail or burn out?
If this sounds like you, then you are not alone.
In my seven years as a career coach and executive coach, I have worked with hundreds of women and also previously been on my own journey of burnout, career change and juggling work with family. Through my work I have heard the same common stories and fears over and over again, which dramatically affect women’s confidence and hold them back from pursuing their career dreams:
Am I ready?
Am I qualified?
Will other people judge me?
Will I make enough money?
Will I still be able to be there for my family?
Will I end up feeling burned out and exhausted?
Often these clients are struggling to find clarity and confidence in their careers, feel overwhelmed, are held back by self-doubt and are struggling to realise their untapped potential.
Women are not given the knowledge or tools at school, college or in the workplace to empower them to identify their unique strengths and skills, recognise what gives them a sense of purpose, or how to juggle career with family life. They are expected to work all this out for themselves and then are left wondering why they are stagnating in jobs that they don't enjoy and struggling to keep their heads above water.
They may try to follow the most popular current career advice which is 'follow your passion', but this is extremely vague and misses out on several crucial questions such as:
What are my unique strengths?
What do I value most?
What gives me a sense of purpose?
What kind of work environment brings out the best in me?
What does my ideal work day look like?
What does my personal version of success look like?
What makes me feel more confident?
These are like pieces of a giant puzzle which need to be fitted together before you can see the whole picture clearly and identify your dream career.
I know from experience that it is perfectly possible to overcome these fears and make a meaningful midlife career change with the help of simple and powerful coaching tools. I usually only use these coaching tools with my 1:1 clients, but I also wanted to make them available in a more affordable way to a much wider audience.
So in addition to my regular newsletter and #careerinspo corner, I will also be sharing coaching exercises for paid subscribers who want to dig a bit deeper and start to make some practical changes. These exercises tackle a different aspect of the career change process, in order to help you:
Get to know yourself again, away from being a mother or carer, a partner, a friend and an employee
Create some space to re-discover who you are and what contribution you want to make to the world
Feel excited about your career again and positive about the future – for you and your family
Speak confidently about their talents, ambitions, and mission in life
Feel calmer and more in control of your work life balance
I want any woman who feels stuck and wants to do meaningful work they love, to know that it’s completely normal to experience doubts and that there are also many practical and powerful ways to overcome them. I want you to feel seen, heard, less alone and excited about your personal and professional futures.
Today's coaching exercise is all about how to tackle those negative stories that you tell yourself, how to unblock your fears and start to create a more positive mindset around your career change. I've made it completely free to everyone today but in future newsletters these will available to paid subscribers only:
#CareerInspo Corner ☕ 📚 🎧
This is where I share any useful articles, books and general inspiration which may help you along your midlife career journey…
-Forget ‘midlife crisis’, are you having a ‘middlescence’? 💃
-Harvard Professor Claudia Goldin has won the Nobel Economics Prize for her ground breaking research into the gender pay gap (and is only the third woman ever to win it) 🏆
-Really enjoyed this episode of the Dirty Mutha Pukka podcast where host Anna Whitehouse invites her mum in to discuss the ‘grandparent gap’ - ‘silver saviours’ who are papering over the cracks in the childcare system 👵🎧
-Do you want to take a midlife career gap? You wouldn’t be alone, apparently 90,000 UK workers a year take a midlife career break to travel, care for a loved one or look for a new opportunity.
Hope you liked this newsletter, do let me know if there’s anything particular you’re enjoying or if there are any questions you’d like answering, down below in the comments.
Juliette x