25 Aug Toni’s Client Story: Navigating Career Change
“In any given moment we have two options: to step forward into growth or step back into safety.” Abraham Maslow
GOAL: CAREER CHANGE
*Toni came for coaching two years after graduating from university with a business degree. She was working as a trainee accountant with a media firm. Toni considered herself fortunate to land such a good opportunity relatively quickly after graduating, as many of her peers had not been so lucky.
Toni was a young, intelligent professional on her way to a lucrative career in finance. The company was paying for all of her training and there were even free overseas trips thrown in. Friends and family – her father in particular – were extremely proud of her career choice. For the first year, Toni almost enjoyed her role, but then things started to change.
Every day began to feel like Groundhog Day, Toni was no longer thriving. She found the repetitive tasks and even the environment of her workplace suffocating and soul destroying. She began failing a particular accountancy exam over and over again. Slowly, the lights were going out and depression was setting in. Toni felt trapped and unable to see a way out, and so she plodded on with the job that was slowly sucking the life and vibrancy out of her.
Toni was experiencing an identity crisis. There was incongruency between who she thought she SHOULD be and who she really was. The problem was that Toni didn’t know who she really was: she only knew something wasn’t right about the career path she was on, and it was impacting all areas of her life. This was a void that could not be filled with other activities and diversions. Beneath the surface there were many subconscious limiting beliefs that were directing Toni’s choices. But before she could tackle what seemed like the daunting and frightening task of changing her career path, she had to discover who she was and face head on the limiting beliefs that were stifling her.
THE CORE IDENTITY COACHING MODEL
My style of coaching focuses on the whole person and delivers results in a holistic manner. It’s essential to address not only the external actions but also what’s occurring within the client to achieve sustainable success in a professional role. A key emphasis lies in unlocking the core identity to attain and surpass desired results.
My signature model for unlocking the core identity enables clients to connect with who they REALLY are and create alignment with what they TRULY want, eliminating stress, burnout and inner conflict. Women gain the insight and confidence to step into their unique purpose. The process involves breaking free from the mask of acceptance, challenging limiting beliefs, and tuning into their core values to foster confidence, personal growth, impact and healing. To be at one with yourself (inside and out) is the springboard to fulfilling your true potential and enjoying it.
DIGGING DEEPER
Through coaching Toni was able to uncover the most damaging limiting beliefs that were holding her back. She had spent so much of her childhood, teenage and young adult years fulfilling other people’s expectations of herself, that she hadn’t stopped long enough to discover if their expectations and values were also her own. As a result, she was not connecting with her true self. The cost of limiting beliefs:
- I cannot live the life I want without a high paying job caused Toni to focus on material things above happiness and fulfilment
- I cannot start a new career or go back to university caused Toni to be sad, angry and demotivated at work
- I cannot apply for a job I don’t have experience in caused Toni to miss out on opportunities that were possible through transferable skills
- I cannot disappoint my father, he may reject me, caused Toni to deny her own needs and not pursue her interests, becoming increasingly lost
When Toni uncovered the beliefs holding her back – exposing what they were costing her on a daily basis – she was motivated to embark on the process of career change, understanding that those beliefs could be challenged and replaced with more authentic and accurate ones. Challenging those long-held beliefs and values would also contribute to knowing herself.
What did Toni learn?
- Her talents would be wasted and she wouldn’t be utilising her strengths
- Without challenging herself, she’d be stuck in her comfort zone
- She might miss out on what matters most if she was constantly chasing money
- Opportunities would pass her by
- The fear of rejection and need for approval was NOT worth more than her happiness and fulfilment.
THE CAREER CHANGE PROCESS IS LINKED TO YOUR CORE IDENTITY
For Toni and many others embarking on a career change, or any other type of major change, understanding your core identity is the impetus you need to find your authentic purpose. Your core values, guiding beliefs, personality, strengths and natural talents, and your passion and motivation is the guide to connect with your true self and fill in the missing pieces of your own puzzle.
DISCOVERY PHASE: CONNECTING THE PIECES OF TONI’S PUZZLE
The discovery process enabled Toni to harness parts of her core identity to provide an insightful and stable basis for transition, and connect with her own beliefs and values, not just the inherited or dysfunctional ones.
Toni created a vision board that represented her ideas, interests and inspirations. This provided a visual picture to begin to see patterns linked to her identity and what was most important to her in life. This gave her the freedom to explore her interests in a relaxed way and pinpoint what areas ignited the passion and motivation within her.
Personality
Toni completed a variety of personality tests to enable her to understand her motivation and behaviour and the optimum environments and situations where she would thrive. Being aware of her specific personality traits and preferences enabled her to understand how she communicates and perceives the world, in addition to how she understands and connects with others.
Strengths and natural talents
Toni took a deeper look into her strengths and natural talents. She looked beyond what she had done in her career to who she had been in what she had done. This gave Toni an understanding of her natural abilities, the things she did without effort that she enjoyed and executed with ease.
Shifting your identity from what you do, to who you are is key. You will get a sense of your natural abilities in terms of who you are and feel more of a sense of purpose that can propel you to turn your work into something you love, step by step.
Passions and interests
Analysing the messages and patterns from her vision board enabled Toni to actively pursue interests and activities that aligned with her values and personality. She set challenges and stepped out of her comfort zone to experience new things including competing in an all-terrain obstacle course, presenting in a company meeting, leading an exercise class and being more assertive.
Toni paid attention to what ignited a passion and energy within her and used the learning from these activities to fine tune her chosen areas of focus and then set meaningful goals. This new awareness also enabled her to discount and say “no” to what did not align with her authentic interests and direction. She was understanding her WHY.
Values
When Toni was living out other people’s values and not consciously connecting with her own, she experienced incongruence and was deeply unhappy and dissatisfied. But when she connected with her core values and understood what they gave her on a daily basis when utilised; she was motivated to make the required changes to honour them in her future choices and endeavours. Toni gave herself permission to display authentic behaviours and attitudes she would have previously subdued in order to please or align with other people’s expectations and priorities. Toni could exhale!
Through this process Toni was able to define her mission and used this as a guide to direct her authentic career change.
Voila! From finance to PE teacher
Toni was able to make the transition from a career in finance to teaching PE and finding true purpose in her career by going through the Discovery Process. At the heart of this was uncovering her core identity and building a new foundation from this authentic place. The process was not overnight, but gained through a detailed introspection, full of new learning and revelation. The result was a young woman who was more comfortable in her own skin with genuine confidence and excitement about the future. A woman who was clear about her purpose and excited about the journey to fulfil it.
*This client story is an abridged version of Toni’s Career Change Case Study, contained in my book: Who Am I? Swap Your Straight Jacket for a Bespoke Suit.
CAREER COACHING HELPS YOU TO:
Unlock your potential and increase performance in a range of career-related areas from grooming for promotion, raising your profile, career transition and developing leadership skills to performance management, communication, stress management, work-life balance and finding clarity and purpose in work.
WORK WITH SUZANNE FOR A PERSONALISED APPROACH TO YOUR TRANSFORMATION JOURNEY
Eliminate stress, burnout and inner conflict and connect with who you really are. Register for my six-month intensive coaching programme to gain the insight and confidence needed to reinvent with intent, creating a roadmap to fulfil your unique purpose.
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