How to keep showing up
As I sat down to a Brave Work blog, the first of the New Year, the topic I was going to write about was something along the lines of “5 Top Reasons to Work With a Career Coach in 2022”.
And then it felt flat, and inauthentic, and so I didn’t.
Because here’s the thing: I know the services we offer our Brave Work clients are useful. We provide ideas, support, accountability, ways forward, and practical tools to support goal achievement and professional growth. And I feel excited about helping people find clarity in what they want to do and create a roadmap to get there.
I know all of that. But right now, telling you about why career coaching can help you doesn’t feel like the most important thing.
We have all been pushing through in survival mode for almost two years. While some folks are thriving, many of us feel overdrawn, overstretched, and overtired, personally and professionally. The idea of instigating major career changes and using limited resources to focus on personal growth feels overwhelming and maybe even impossible.
So many conversations I’m having right now centre around the question “Why are we all pretending everything is fine?”. With clients, with coworkers, with siblings, with friends… the theme is the same. Boiled down, I think we are tired. We are tired of the no-longer-new-normal. Tired of turning on the news and hearing about another catastrophe. Tired of signing in to Zoom meetings and pushing away big feelings and talking about next steps and deliverables and KPIs when it seems like there are so many big picture events pulling our attention and keeping us up at night.
Honestly, it can be hard right now to show up in a professional capacity the way we want to, much less consider a job hunt, career change, or even growth in a current role.
I get it.
And it can be easy to wallow right there, to feel stuck and stay stuck. I’ve done it. And it’s totally understandable. So hang out in your sweats and watch Netflix and drink tea and do the bare minimum and take care of yourself because all of this – COVID, fires, floods, earthquakes – is tough stuff. If you need it, here’s your permission as we head into the new year. I dare you to let yourself rest. I dare you to be so gentle.
And then…
Once you’ve put your oxygen mask on, I dare you to get back in there and show up again. I invite you to consider the possibility that the ways you show up and leave a mark is important.
Because what if, in our tiny corner of the universe, what we are doing to contribute actually matters quite a bit? What if the energy we create and express in small ways actually gets reflected back and magnified by others? If we can dig deep, what if we decide that being happy in our lives and happy in the work we do to sustain our lives actually does make a difference on a bigger scale?
That possibility feels brave to consider.
So, for 2022, I have committed to trying to show up for myself, in life and in work. I have committed to trying to keep showing up for family, friends, colleagues, and clients, too. I have committed to keep being hopeful and seeing the connection to the big picture in my contributions. I want to keep connection-building, I want to keep synapses firing, I want to keep pursuing growth, and I want to keep engaging in my life and in my work. Maybe you do, too?
Being bold, hoping, dreaming, showing up, and moving forward matters. Setting intentions and creating roadmaps to make those intentions reality matters.
So, as we move forward into the next year, instead of the plug for the New Year, New Job Program we’ve put together at Brave Work, I want to leave you with this invitation for reflection.
This year, who do you want to become?
This year, what energy do you want to bring with you?
This year, how do you want to make an impact?
And if, when you feel ready, you want to talk about your answers, or you want an ear, or you need a gentle push to make your intentions for next steps a reality, let us know.