Embrace Change This Summer: A Heart-Led Approach to Career Growth

As the summer holiday season is upon us here in the Northern Hemisphere, I find myself marveling at how swiftly this year is flying by. Whether you're winding down, ramping up for a busy season, or maintaining your usual pace, this time of year naturally brings a shift in mind and mood. 

With September around the corner and the 'New Year Feeling' it evokes (regardless of how long it’s been since our own school days), it's an opportune moment to reflect on what's next in your career journey and personal development and start thinking about your career goals and aspirations.

To help guide you through this period of reflection and planning, I’d like to introduce the SHAKE It Up coaching system. This approach, which I use with clients when career coaching, is also perfect for self-coaching. It’s summed up in an easy-to-remember acronym (who doesn’t love a good acronym?!):

Strengths and Skills: Acknowledge and celebrate your existing strengths, skills, and experiences so that you can stand confidently in your superpowers.

Heart-Led: Gain clarity and awareness of who you are, who you want to be, and what you want to achieve. Align your career decisions with your passions and values.

Action and Accountability: Create an action plan to activate long-term career development.

Knowledge: Understand the neuroscience and psychological insights behind why we do what we do and why it can be so hard to make and sustain change.

Embed: Introduce new systems, mindsets, and behaviours into your daily life to unlock lasting transformational change.

Over the next few blog posts, I'll dive deeper into each of these five areas, explaining what they mean, what they might look like, and offering practical tips for applying them to your own career development.

Being Heart-Led: The Core of SHAKE It Up

Let's start with the H - Heart-Led. At the core of the SHAKE It Up Coaching System is the emphasis on aligning your career decisions with your passions and values. 

Contrary to the belief that being heart-led is all fluff and no substance, the reality is quite the opposite. Following your heart isn’t about avoiding the tough stuff. It’s about aligning your career with your values and seeing your work as part of a fulfilling journey where you feel engaged and motivated by what you are doing. Research shows that feeling engaged and motivated at work reduces stress, anxiety, and burnout, and increases stamina and energy levels - great news for your productivity, health, and well-being both in and out of work.

Key Questions to Guide Your Heart-Led Journey

So, to start listening to your heart, ask yourself:

- Who am I now?

- What do I value?

- What drives me?

- What do I want?

- How can I make this happen?

Use the answers to guide your decision-making, whether that involves a complete career change, pursuing a well-deserved promotion, or making adjustments in your current role.

Exercise: Nirvana Letter

Try this practical exercise to help you listen to your heart and clarify your career aspirations:

1. Picture yourself in the future. This could be after retirement, at a milestone age, or at the end of a fulfilling life. You have lived the life you wanted, achieved everything you hoped to achieve, and are truly satisfied.

2. Write a letter to someone you love and trust - a partner, best friend, or family member - from the perspective of this future you. In your letter, describe in detail:

Your Day in the Future: Describe your surroundings, daily life, and the people you cherish. What do you enjoy doing?

Your Journey: Outline the major milestones, decisions, and achievements that led you to this fulfilling life.

Overcoming Challenges: Reflect on the obstacles you faced along the way. Focus on how you approached and overcame these challenges with bravery and resilience.

Find a quiet place to enjoy this exercise, and as always, feel free to share the highlights of your letters with me. You can email me at kate@katelewiscoaching.com. I’d love to hear from you and support you on your heart-led career journey.

If you would like to explore the Heart-Led approach, and what it could look like for you, join me at my free webinar on Wednesday 24th July. Find out more details and sign up here. (And if you’re seeing this after the 24th July, don’t worry! Email me and I’ll let you know the details of the next one!)

Stay tuned for more insights into the SHAKE It Up system, and start your journey toward a more fulfilling and joy-filled career today!

Speak soon!
Kate