Be it until you see it, don’t fake it until you make it

With a world in flux, people are seemingly less fulfilled - less in the moment and constantly looking for the next thing career or business wise - and constantly feeling in between.

Quiet Quitting, Quiet Firing and The Great Resignation are buzzwords less whispered and more roared this year. Whilst too many people (management included) are making rash decisions, many others are spending their time waiting and unsure what their next move should be, or deciding whether they are inclined to move at all.

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If you're feeling like this, rest assured, you are certainly not alone. Where the supposed ‘great resignation’ stemmed from exactly is up for debate. What we do know is that a global pandemic and lockdowns certainly left many with time to reassess their life choices. People are looking for something different, but evidently do not know what it is, and even if they do know, the perceived risk of change paralyses them into that middle stage. If only they could figure out what that next step might be.

Confusion stems from having less clarity in who you are and placing more emphasis on where you want to be. The unease, where ambitious thoughts feel less achievable, comes from the instability of the pillars you are standing on.

When we ask ourselves ‘who am I?’ - the answer is usually associated with a job role or employment status.

It’s vital to consider inner wants or needs and not simply categorize ourselves based on where society has placed us. Jobs and career status, historically, were nothing more than vehicles for economic stability. Now, that status seems to stem directly from that job or sometimes only the title. People become bound by the paycheck or the power, but restlessly, they often realize that neither is enough.

When we strip titles we have, such as a CEO, manager, spouse, parent, son, or daughter and summarize ourselves as an individual, we often struggle and are unable to do so.

Identities are too often lost when we attach them to the tasks we do when our true self is only defined by our values and actions. In enabling ourselves to ‘figure it out’ we must work out exactly who we are and what it is we want.

To remove yourself from this ‘uneasy feeling,’ it is vital to do the groundwork and create clarity in who we are now, versus who you were or who you want to become.

To know where you’re heading, you need to know where you are now.

To gain true clarity on your potential next steps, you need to define the ‘why’ and then move onto defining the ‘how.’ If you are struggling, it is time to take an honest look at yourself.

When you have had this honest conversation with yourself, you will have built clarity and comfort in who you are, and only then will you grow the confidence in your true, ‘unlabeled’ self.

The key is to be it until you see it, not fake it until you make it. This also creates confidence amongst those around you to build credibility and trustworthiness. Building your ‘career credit’ is not just about that next promotion or job role. Instead, it comes from the ability to understand yourself to be able to comfortably make decisions in your workplace life to be able to move forwards and create opportunities and scenarios from now, that will benefit you in the future from a place of experience.

The benefit of a world seemingly in a post-pandemic revolution, is that there is no better time than now to define and reinvent yourself. As a society we need to stop thinking and start doing, with most people staying right there in the ideation phase - waiting for a moment that will never arrive without clarity and action.

Figuring it out, isn’t about a comparison of skills, it’s about understanding your strengths, owning them, and making them stronger. You will always be your own best asset, and by discovering your genuine wants and desires for your future career or relationships the clarity of thought you will gain will make your next focus the right one for you.

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