We spend about 57% of our waking lives at work during a working life of about 46 years. Phew!That's over half of our lives, but for many this feels like a lot more when you spend the weekend dreading work, long hours commuting to work, not sleeping at night as you worry about work, and not forgetting the overtime (which many of us are no longer getting paid for). 

Expectations from employers are getting higher, and stress rates in employees are going up with them.

The job search can create a fair amount of anxiety, fear and vulnerability in people, and I often work with clients to remove those emotions so they can better understand how these factors may be keeping them stuck in their current careers. Through coaching, you can reasonably expect to gain career confidence, insight, encouragement and inspiration. You should also feel as if the coaching relationship grants you some permission to relax a bit. 

If you are doing something you really, truly enjoy, it shouldn’t feel like work at all (many still believe that you are not supposed to enjoy your job - who says!?) Ideally, you should feel a sense of alignment between your work and your values.  It’s only in that space of overlap—which may or may not relate to your sense of purpose in the world—that a genuine sense of career gratification or fulfillment becomes possible. If you want a job that brings fulfillment, then aligning your work with your values is essential. If you already derive fulfillment from work, then your work is probably already an extension of your values.

If you are someone who has been feeling for a while that there is something more for you out there, but you are not sure what, or you know but you are afraid to take the leap unsupported, let me help you.

As a qualified career's adviser and 'Guru of Brave' I work with clients to identify their key transferable skills, fine tune professional CV's, and unearth their true career desires giving you clarity and confidence to go for what you really want.

If this sounds like something you are interested in please contact me or make a 15 minute appointment (available to book on the 'contact page') so we can talk about how you can move forward and tailor your next steps with me. Just follow the link and CONTACT ME NOW for a no-obligation chat.

Have you ever felt like you are 'blagging' your way through life? That at some point someone will find you out and it won't be pretty? This is commonly referred to as 'imposter syndrome' - when you, ironically enough, feel like an imposter in your own life.  

When I worked the 9-5 I felt like a fraud quite regularly, often wondering when I would finally get the sack and imagining the sigh of relief when I got discovered. No more pretending, no more having to look like I know what I am talking about, finally outed to being the fraud I was.

When I set up my own business this feeling went along with the belief that I wasn't good enough, but I started with some support in the form of my own personal breakthrough and I soon realised that the feeling is with many people, from all walks of life, employed or not. This is often a link to a limiting decision at the unconscious level but having a conversation with a friend recently we talked about how she was doing what she loved, more than anything else, and not only that, but people were PAYING her for her opinion, which she often found amazing. 

So many people believe that what they know is what EVERYONE knows, so it's common knowledge, it's easy, why would anyone pay you for it?? The problem is that what is 'common sense' to you, may not be so common. Maybe what is less common is confidence, confidence to take what you know and charge money for it.

When I took the leap from employment to self-employment I remember people asked me what I was going to do, where was I going to go... they were incredulous at the idea of taking a leap with no safety net. "But, what if it doesn't work?" they'd say. One even said to me, "you're not supposed to enjoy work though are you?" Some where along the line we learnt that we don't get paid for what we love to do, work is supposed to be hard, boring, difficult, challenging.... we roll our eyes at the idea of work, we don't wake up excited and we definitely don't get paid loads of money for something we find easy... or do we?

A friend of mine worked really hard in an administration role, and with every opportunity put herself forward for promotions, even though she didn't think she was qualified for the roles. Eventually she was noticed as a go-getter, ambitious and passionate about the company she worked for and within a matter of months she was one of the companies top earners. Now she says she feels bad that sometimes she works from home and does her washing and shopping instead of the work she is getting paid for (on other occasions she works evenings and weekends without payment) - the simple fact is, she finds what she is doing now so easy and can't believe the salary she gets for it, thereby worrying that she gets too much for not doing enough.

Perhaps the feeling of 'imposter syndrome' is a way to give you feedback, perhaps you do need to deal with an underlying belief that you are not good enough or don't deserve it (or some other limiting belief that can be just as stressful) and on the other hand, perhaps you have worked hard to get there, and perhaps the knowledge, talent and skills you have are simply everything that someone else needs. 

Perhaps you are pretending to be someone that in fact, you already are.

Need help getting aligned? Perhaps you want to identify your natural talents? Contact me today to find out how I can help.

Turning negatives into positives can be a really hard thing to do....but not impossible. Many have done it, many are struggling to do it, many believe they can't do it, and this week I have been inspired by two young people who have done it, and done it in style.

Some believe that they are too old to change, but change is a choice and age is an excuse. Many will have heard of the inspirational teenager Stephen Sutton; he won't get the choice to change when he is old, because he lost his battle with cancer this week at the tender age of 19. Of course there are many young people who lose such battles, but Stephen turned his negative into a positive by raising over three million pounds for the Teenage Cancer Trust. When he realised there was no going back, he looked forward, created a bucket list with his fundraising goal at the top, and as well as continuing on his personal fight, he stayed focused on his goals, took massive action and made it happen (in fact as things stand he raised over 350 times more than his original goal).

What inspired so many was how he turned a negative into a positive, he maintained his belief that you can get things done, and had a zest for life which drove him to make sure he lived every moment. His original goal was to become a doctor one day, but said recently "unfortunately my diagnosis means I won't be able to fulfill that dream but my core purpose of helping others is still the same."

The second young person turned bullying into a positive and at the age of only 13 stood in front of thousands and told his story in the form of a unique rap. Watch it here (and get the happy hankies ready):

To turn a negative into a positive you must look into the learnings behind the situation that you can take. Keep a gratitude diary and spend time being grateful for the negative, what it has taught you, how it can help you to inspire others or motivate yourself, what do you need to do differently for next time, and what does your response to it say about you?

When life has given you something, it's up to you to decide how to react.