Are you a procrastinator?

Or a sleepwalker maybe?

After I had my first son, I returned to work when he was a 5 month old. I cannot remember a time in my life when I felt more disconnected from myself, my truth and values.

My work felt unfulfilling, so I procrastinated. I would waste so much time fluffing about shuffling papers. I was in this tug-of-war against having to work and leaving my son. I vividly remember driving to work feeling guilty for leaving him and driving home from work feeling guilty for being unproductive. 

It was awful. 

It was also my wake up call that something needed to change.

I had this strong sense that I did not want to leave my son for a job that was simply ‘meh’ so I set myself on a path of finding what I was good at and what I enjoyed doing. This particular time I would call a pivotal moment in my career.

I had two choices, I could apply for the same role in a different organization, maybe one that felt more in alignment. Or I could completely change my career.

I’ll be honest, I applied for a few marketing roles that sounded exciting… I mean that were new and looked fresh and would have been exciting for the interim. 

When I actually took a step back and analyzed myself elements of gold started pouring out. This was in ways of really identifying and understanding my strengths and being honest with myself about my interests, my desire and what success meant to me.

It was an identity shift to move out of the marketing space. I was on marketing committees, I coordinated marketing mentor program, and I branded myself as a marketing professional. Now, I was going to completely turn a corner and do it all again in a different space. To me, it was a no brainer, that identity did not feel connected to me at all.

With this in mind, I then started looking for roles that aligned to that criteria. And I found a role in student engagement and that is what I got and that is what I worked in alongside building my business for four years before moving into a Career Adviser role.

I now have complete life coach training and a Grad Cert in Career Counseling and Development as well as three years’ experience as a career adviser. My career transition has not ended yet – I know there are more dots that will connect in time. My job now is to continue to move in the direction of alignment. To notice when things feel off and make the changes to support myself. To be really clear on my boundaries, strengths as they develop and grow and values.

You may be interested to know that over 70% of people are not engaged in their job – they simply tolerate it. 

If you are keen to move from a place of ‘meh’ to feeling like you have a plan. Reach out HERE or email me at claire@whiteblankpages.com.au and see how we can work together.