Sometimes we forget what it was like trying to manage your career in the “old days,” before the internet and career coaching. Andria reminds us that things are much better now! – InPower Editors
I spend a lot of time working with clients on ‘what’s next’, their next step, next career, or next business idea. Like me, most of these folks are future oriented and aspirational. They have lots of goals and dreams to achieve. This is great; being aspirational and future focused keeps us motivated. In fact, I’m typically the one to tell you to not look behind you because you aren’t going that way and instead look ahead, focus on where you want to be, act as if you’re already in that space. Looking behind you or even at your current situation tends to keep you stuck where you are, or even worse, stuck where you were. Yet, there are times when looking back is really important. Why? So you can appreciate how far you’ve come.
Sometimes when you’re working hard on your goals and dreams and taking steps each day to move forward you don’t realize how far you’ve come. You may not be exactly where you want, just yet, but you are a lot further along than you were six months ago. In fact, where you are today may be exactly where you wanted to be six months ago. But time has moved on, you’ve evolved, and now, six months later, the goal from six months ago has evolved and that’s where you’re focused now. You don’t even realize how far you’ve come because, often times by the time you get to where you wanted to be, you’re already refocused on the next thing.
That’s why it’s important to stop every so often and take stock. Look at how far you’ve come, appreciate the journey you’ve been on and the goals you’ve already achieved. I remember when I worked in the corporate world and started dreaming of my coaching business I would imaging myself spending hours on the phone coaching clients all day. Along with that I imagined living out in the country and having serene space to create products and service offerings that would help my clients plus have serene writing space to write all the books that are inside me. Those dreams and goals are six years old. Naturally, since then I’ve dreamed up many other things for my life and my business which I’m now focused on; yet, when I stop and look around I realize that I am 100% living the life I dreamed up six years ago.
It’s a wonderful feeling to stop and acknowledge how far you have come and to realize that there really is no final destination. By the time you reach your “destination” you will be onto the next dream; it’s all part of the way we grow and change throughout our lives. There is no final destination and you really won’t ever “arrive” because ultimately it’s all about the journey. So take a moment to stop, look back, look around and appreciate how far you come. Let it give you the confidence and inspiration to continue to move forward. By acknowledging how far you’ve come you realize how much more you’ll be able to accomplish in the future.
Take charge of your career development to get the job that supports your work and your life. Check out the tools and resources in the InPower Coaching Career Center.
