RESET
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what should you do
​with your life?

Choose an option below to start your reset TODAY
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The easiest way to make a decision.

1/26/2017

 
Twice in the past two weeks I’ve had clients ask me how to make a decision about their next step.

"How do I make sure I’m making the right choice?”

In both instances, each client identified the pros of the positions -- the salary, benefits, people, culture, location, etc. I call these “extrinsic” factors, meaning factors outside of yourself.

The trick with extrinsic factors is that they cease to provide satisfaction the moment they are fulfilled; meaning that if you choose a job because you want to make six figures then the moment you make six figures it ceases to be motivating.

Extrinsic factors are important, but should never be in the first position.

On the other hand, intrinsic factors have a slow burn rate. Choosing something based on internal alignment generates energy and satisfaction.


Based on this, let me share the clearest question I’ve found for making a decision about your next career move:

Does that move get you closer to, or further from, your authentic self?

In other words, by taking that role, do you move from a “70% me” job to an “80% me” job?

If you’ll be less authentic more of the time, don’t take it.

In both instances, the clients I was working with said, "No, I will not become more authentic."

Done.

The bitterness of dentistry.

1/11/2017

 
I coached a friend yesterday who initially came to me because he couldn’t take another day of being a dentist and wanted to be a park ranger instead.

We took a few weeks to work through his Profile of Self, analyze career options that might fit, and do some informational interviews with folks in the fields he was interested in.

He came to me yesterday a new man.

He was bright, happy, and energized. He’d discovered through his process that he wanted to be a professor of dentistry. He didn’t enjoy fixing molars and extracting teeth but he does love to teach, mentor, coach, empathize and help people work through the struggles of being a dentist as they learn the craft.


The most interesting statement he made was this:

“This had crossed my mind for the past five years that maybe I’d do better teaching.”


"Why didn’t you ever pursue it then?!” I asked (already knowing the answer, because I’d had the same thought about publishing RESET for 7 years).

“The bitterness of dentistry,” he said.

He was so de-energized and dissatisfied with his experience as a dentist that he had shut down the whole industry. He couldn’t even see clearly the auxiliary options that existed in dentistry.

And yet, the answer was right in front of him all along.

Industries are more dynamic than we sometimes recognize, meaning that Accounting is about more than numbers, Law isn’t just standing in a courtroom, and Psychology doesn’t entail only ink blots, couches and therapists.

Every business needs a salesperson, a marketer, a finance person, someone focused on technology, and leader or manager, etc.

Don’t foreclose an option because of one bad experience.

Fight the instinct to generalize your experience across an entire industry.

Look to the branches of the tree for your next RESET before jumping to a whole new tree.

How bad do you want it?

1/2/2017

 
Picture
I work with people all the time to RESET their careers, and what I’ve found is those people fall somewhere along the continuum above. Take a look at the descriptions and plot yourself along the line. The further to the right, the more likely your efforts will result in actual change. Stuck on the left? Keep reading books and articles, talking with your friends, and gearing up for the day when you’re really ready to RESET.

Where are you?

  • The Tourist — Appears to be interested, but asks almost no questions. Just talks about miserable situation they’re in. More interested in a listening ear than actual change.
  • The Fear-stricken — Is interested, but so bogged down by fear and anxiety that conversations are redundant. Lots of time passes and nothing changes. Has good intentions, but doesn’t move. Easily caught in the space of faux-progress — talking about it feels like progress but doesn’t manifest in change.
  • The Firework — Starts with a bang then fizzles out. Gung-ho at first by developing self-awareness and taking some initial steps but falters when the majority of the work requires time and effort that would jeopardize the pre-8am or post-6pm routine.
  • The Steady Eddie — Committed. Does the work to develop self-awareness and takes some action to generate opportunities. Doesn’t lose steam but also flatlines on progress. The reason, by the way, is typically a result of a lack of focus and/or subtle fear. Continues to drive, but doesn’t arrive.
  • The All-In Resetter — Fed up, both with self and situation. Recognizes need to change and that change only comes through own efforts. Completes assignments, asks tons of questions, takes risks, and gets it done.

NOTE: The most common factor separating the first four types from the All-In Resetter is fear. At some level, fear works in the life of the first four types, causing a lack of action.

Lots of intent, no real impact.

It’s not that the All-In Resetter doesn’t experience fear, it’s that they’ve chosen to acknowledge it, punch fear in the gut, and move anyway.

The only antidote for fear is action.

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    Hi! I'm Dustin.

    I post here once a week on Tuesdays, every week, at 4:59am. You can also sign up below to have these posts magically air-dropped straight to your inbox.

    I help people figure out what they do best and do more of it. I'm a full-time leadership trainer and coach who writes about how to dominate your career and win in life. I help people RESET their careers to do more of what they love. Sometimes that means a total career-path reset, other times it's simply finding ways to do more of what they love in their current career.

    Read more HERE.


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