Table of Contents Page Welcome and Introduction -------------------------------------------- 2 Checkup Questionnaire: What Is Your Work Situation? ---------- 3 Been There, Done That ------------------- 3 Bruised And Gun-Shy -------------------- 4 Bored And Plateaued --------------------- 4 Yearning To Be On My Own -------------- 4 One Toe In The Retirement Pool -------- 5 Life Balance Checkup --------------------- 5 Score Key --------------------------------------------------------------- 6 Steps to Take ----------------------------------------------------------- 7 Priorities ---------------------------------------------------------------- 8 Introduction Periodically we need to take care of our car to make sure it continues to perform in order to keep us on the road to get us to our destinations. Sometimes we may need a new muffler, tires, an oil change, check out the belts and check the engine, etc. In a way, it’s the same with maintaining your Career and Lifetime Checkup strategies with a slightly different slant. Sometimes we need to review our skills, add to our strengths, choose new jobs, research careers, continue our education, create a new lifestyle, and continually update our lifetime goals based on our passion and who we really are. This Career and Lifetime Checkup will help you discover and focus on what you need to do as you continue to grow and change. As an explorer, you need to continually ask yourself what you really want. Before you decide what you want for your life and work, you first must understand who you are, what the influences are in your life and why you act and think the way you do. On the following pages are thoughtful exercises to aid you in the areas of what you want in your career and life and what your focus should be at this time of your life. Participating this checkup will give you a sense of whether you are ready to begin a job search, or plan new goals, a new life, or look into retirement. Or, you may need additional training to enter a new occupation, start a new direction, pick different options, or discover that you are actually happy with what you’re doing now. In participating, the difference will be; your ability to make better-educated decisions when you make your choices in your career or life. Checkup Take a few moments and look at the descriptions of the situations below. The following list of questions will help you to identify your primary work or life situation, and will provide you with additional clarity about why you associate with a specific circumstance. Taking this assessment may confirm what you already suspect about your reasons for being discontented with your life or work and should allow you to gain further insights that motivate you in obtaining your goals and being more satisfied. Check yes next to the situations that apply to you. What Is Your Work Situation? Yes: • In the last year or so, have you ever asked yourself, “Why am I doing the work I’m doing?” Or, “What is the point of the work I do?” • I am feeling more and more that there is no reward or challenge for doing the work that I do. • I fantasize about ‘throwing in the towel’ and going to work for a nonprofit organization or a specific cause. • I have an interest or hobby that I am passionate about and that I wish I could become more deeply involved. Been There, Done That, But Still Need To Earn Yes: • I am unemployed and can’t seem to find the energy to focus on finding work that I enjoy, let alone a job of any kind. • I feel as if I have achieved a lot in my current career and would love to try a different kind of work but am afraid that I wouldn’t earn what I do now if I did try something else. • Earning the same amount of money or more is important to me so that I can take care of my family, but I am a little bored. • I’ll admit that I’ve been pretty bored and unchallenged in my job lately, but I’m hard-pressed to think of anything else I could do and earn the same paycheck. Bruised and Gun-Shy Yes: • I don’t feel optimistic about the future of my career, in part because of my past negative work experiences. • I don’t trust the corporate world anymore. When I started working, company loyalty was important. Joining a company meant you stayed there forever. • I’ve experience some hard knocks in my career. I’ve been laid off, gotten caught in company politics, been discriminated against, or my company has been sold. How much more do I have to take? • It seems that what companies want from their employees keeps changing. I just don’t know if I can keep up this pace any longer, but I can’t afford to stop working either. Bored and Plateaued Yes: • I’ve invested a lot of time and energy in my work and I am considered an expert in my field, yet I feel the need to change something about it, however minor. • I have been having trouble getting out of bed in the morning, especially during the week, and feel unmotivated when I’m at work. • I daydream about quitting my job and doing something entirely different because I don’t feel passionate about my work anymore. • I am experiencing feelings of burnout (anger, frustration, depression, and anxiety) at work. Yearning To Be On My Own Yes: • I am increasingly dissatisfied with the way the company I work for is run, and I’m convinced that I can do things differently and better. • I grew up in an entrepreneurial family or am close to someone who is an entrepreneur. I can see the advantages of having my own business—more than I fear the disadvantages. • I’m so envious of people who have their own businesses. I know it’s not easy, but the thought of being my own boss is so appealing. • I’ve always dreamed of being in my own little business. I know there are plenty of resources out there for entrepreneurs, but I am not sure where or how to begin. One Toe In The Retirement Pool Yes: • The truth is, I really would like to stop working right now. It just seems unrealistic to do so financially. • I never want to stop working completely, but I would like to slow my pace down a bit and do something different and less demanding. • I’m worn out from working. I’ve thought about my alternatives, and partial retirement seems like the best one for me as long as I can work part-time. • I’ve worked for a long time and would welcome ideas about structuring the next phase of my life. Life Balance Checkup Yes: • My activities sap my energy, instead of energizing me. • Life seems to happen to me, instead of me making it happen. • I know there’s got to be more to life, but I don’t know how to find it, or even what I’m looking for. • I am suffering financial burdens I can’t handle. • I am not sure what I want out of life. Other Yes • Other areas I feel I need to concentrate on at this time in my life are: ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ Score Key Below, check the categories in which you answered yes to three or more of the questions. Those are the situations that describe what you need to work on right now. • Where’s the Meaning? • Been There, Done That, but Still Need to Earn • Bruised and Gun-shy • Bored and Plateaued • Yearning to Be on Your Own • One Toe in the Retirement Pool • Life Balance Building • Other_______________________________ Step 1a: The Career Discovery System (Skill Assessment) Review • The first logical and realistic step is to review your plans and goals for your Career and reiterate what your unique values, interests, personality preferences, attitudes and favorite skills are. By reviewing this information about yourself as a strong foundation, you’ll be better able to focus your job search or career direction. You’ll be able to take your work situation specific to your circumstance and ‘who you are’ to choose and control the direction you’d like your career to take. Step 1b: Explore Roadblocks and Opportunities • Many obstacles and barriers may be preventing you from pursuing a different kind of occupation or changing the way you live and work—for example: age, money, time, relationships, education, goals, or lack of experience. On the positive side, the opportunities are limitless. A coach will teach you how to get around roadblocks. Step 1c: Lifetime Building • Life coaching is a unique professional partnership that helps you stop long enough to review your values, identify your goals, develop specific and strategic action plans that help you move forward with clear direction. A life coach can assist you in identifying areas to improve and strengthen in order for you to reach objectives. In this process, you are actually held accountable to produce the results you choose. Step 1d: Create New Action Plans • Action plans requires quite a bit of thoughtfulness, preparation and moving on your objectives. While creating new plans requires a lot of time and energy, it is an extremely valuable tool to use for mapping out a new career or revamping your goals. A coach will support and guide you throughout the entire planning strategies. Note: Although the journey that this Career and Lifetime Checkup takes you on is NOT EASY, it should be a fascinating and eminently worthwhile experience for you. Ultimately, it will bring you to your desired destination—satisfying and fulfilling life for as long as you want. Which of the items above would be your first priority to work on. 1._____________________________________________________________ 2._____________________________________________________________ 3._____________________________________________________________ If It Is To Be, It Is Up To Me!