Generally, I don’t remember my dreams, but last night I remembered a fragment of a punctured hourglass so that sand leaked out of the bottom bulb. I woke up with the strong impression that time is finite—not to mention extremely valuable.
Remember all of the things you do every day that you take for granted. That first cup of coffee, for example, always tastes better than the second, or third… The smile you receive from a friend or loved one. Your cat purring. Your dog wagging a tail. The sky overhead. A rain shower. The joy of being able to move freely, to stretch, to rotate your head, and loosen your cramped neck muscles…
One day all of those things will cease. So value them now.
And so it is with your working life. If you are not actually enjoying what you do for a living, there is no time like the present to make a change. Postponing a change of career may be the same thing as accepting a subpar life. Is that really what you want to do with that invaluable asset of which you only have a finite amount… your time?
One of the many reasons clients come to us is our Clarity Program©, the Targeting Step in our Five-Step Career Change Program. Using a psychographic tool to capture your behavioral preferences, your Clarity Coach will help you realize why it is you like or don’t like certain aspects of your work, your interactions with clients, colleagues, and supervisors, and your overall professional circumstances.
Next the process helps you step outside yourself and take stock of how you feel about your life right now from four specific vantage points: your career, your financial situation, your social environment, and your health. Once you have honestly assessed where you stand on each of these, we then ask you to consider what would have to change for you to feel better about each of those elements.
Lastly, your Clarity Coach will help you build a plan to make those changes and achieve a more comprehensive satisfaction with your whole life—including your work.
Here’s what one recently landed client had to say about his experience:
“The Clarity Program was good. Everyone should go through this experience as a checkpoint in their career. I really wanted to find a job that I could stay with for the rest of my career. It made me dig deep and think about what would excite me and what I might want to avoid in a new employer.” [Mike, Financial Services, 2021 – Read More]
With this roadmap in hand, it is so much easier to take the next step and actively pursue the change of career you have been wanting but postponing because you simply did not know how to get started.
We have been guiding executive clients on this journey now for more than 30 years, helping them clarify their career objectives, package themselves so as to make those targets achievable, enter the three principal markets where the executive jobs can be found (the Recruiter Market, The Published Market, and the Unpublished Market—the latter where more than 75% of our clients regularly land), succeed in interviews, obtain offers and even negotiate those offers advantageously, and lastly, prepare for a successful onboarding in your new job, complete with plans for your first raise and/or promotion.
Here’s an excerpt from another client’s Success Story [Robert Hukshorn, 2020 – Read More]
Robert’s first “Aha!” moment came during the Clarity Program.
“It was really good – way better than I expected!” said Robert. “I expected everything to be focused on the career path, but you also focus on personal goals, like work-life balance, health and fitness, and 5-year targets.”
The greatest benefit Robert got from Clarity (including the motivation to lose 25 kilos) was that it became very clear that a position of general manager, impressive though the title may be, was not for him.
“I realize that I derive my energy from the commercial and technical side of business and less so from the operational side,” he said. “That focused my job search. I put that and other goals on my wall so every day it would remind me: These are my 5-year goals!”
“Greg [his Career Consultant] was a critical co-thinker during my job search. He is someone I can brainstorm with and has been an extremely good sparring partner for me – asking the right questions, like, How will this opportunity help my long-term goals?” said Robert. “With the help of Greg and The Barrett Group, I didn’t get nervous. I stayed focused on my goals and made a conscious choice about where I wanted to be. All this has been tremendous value.”
Robert realized that he could change his life consciously and make better use of his time. How does he feel about his life now?
“It’s absolutely fantastic! I wake up with a big smile in the morning and I go to work singing,” said Robert. “My new colleagues have been extremely welcoming. It’s been one of the best onboarding experiences I’ve ever had.”
So consider that hourglass image and the sand slipping inexorably away.
One day it will be empty and what will you have done with your life? I’m not talking about carpe diem—a frivolous decision to throw it all away. I’m suggesting that you can, like Robert, have your cake and eat it too… make a conscious decision to use your limited time in this life wisely.
We can help you with that, as we have helped thousands of executives over the last three decades.
Let’s get started on the better half of your life today. Give us a call.
Peter Irish
CEO
The Barrett Group
