Would you call yourself an introvert or an extrovert? I don’t consider myself a complete introvert, but I am definitely not an extrovert. I started using the term ambivert because I thought that described me best, but I’ve since seen the term omnivert and that’s more appropriate for me. Ambiverts have a personality that is in between extroversion and introversion. The omnivert’s personality can be either at different times. There are sub-types within these categories too, so you can really get into the weeds if the topic is of interest.
If you are like me and lean more toward the introverted side, networking can be challenging.
How important is positive thinking in the ability to achieve success? What about manifestation – does that work? There are tons of articles out there that talk about the power of positivity and of manifesting the things you want in life. I’m sure you’ve seen them and probably are thinking that it’s a beautiful theory, but it doesn’t make any logical sense – especially the manifestation part. How in the world can you really believe that you’ve already accomplished or received something that clearly you haven’t? I get it, but I also see so much value in these beliefs. Let me explain.
Competitive athletes put in a lot of time – years of their lives working toward specific goals that they may or may not achieve. They absolutely must develop good habits and avoid bad ones to even come close to competing at the highest levels. They make sacrifices but in doing so, they are setting themselves up to be in a better position to achieve their goals and reap the rewards.
Habits have everything to do with how successful we are – or aren’t, in almost every aspect of our lives. When you think about it, most of our days are made up of habits – teeth brushing, drinking coffee, checking emails and the list goes on. Ritual might be the better terminology for some of those activities, but you get my drift.
Are you familiar with the term career alignment? It’s not a term I was always familiar with for sure, but I’m glad I know what it means and I want to make sure that you know about it too.
Career alignment, in the simplest terms is being in a career that aligns with your values. In other words, what you do for a living supports something that is deeply important to you or is something that you feel is valuable and should be valued by others. So, if you’re a vegetarian, you probably won’t be aligned with working in a meat packing plant or any other food service space where meat is produced or sold. It’s not that you couldn’t work in the industry, but it’s likely that you wouldn’t be very happy there for the long term. Remaining there long-term would be hard to reconcile in your mind and heart, even if you were working there because it was the best means of support you could find for your family.
Life circumstances can determine whether you’re in career alignment or not. Sometimes, people go to college and end up majoring in something they’re not that excited about, but it’s family tradition – doctors, lawyers, CPAs and it’s expected. You do the “right thing” and get your degree and you’re miserable in your career from the start. You try to be happy, but after a year or ten, you decide to leave to pursue something that aligns more with what you care about. Same thing can happen if you grow up in a family business situation. The family business is selling appliances, but you’re the happiest when you’re at the coffee shop working on your novel. You’re never going to be happy selling microwave ovens and working 6 or 7 days a week for 8 to 10 hours a day. Not going to happen.
If you’re working in a career or job somewhere and you feel restless, bored and frustrated you are likely out of career alignment. It doesn’t matter if you haven’t yet figured out what you want to do, you clearly know now what you don’t want to do. Especially if you’re struggling with performance, attendance or attitude issues in this environment, it could very well be that at the root of it all is this just isn’t the job or career for you. It’s nobody’s fault, but the longer you stay in this environment, the more likely you are to lose your job aka – get fired. No one really wants that, but it’s sometimes the kick in the pants we need to change course.
If this is you but you’re not certain what it is that you want to do, it’s time to do some exploring. When I work with clients, I recommend testing that can help you determine your strengths and your natural gifts and tendencies. I think that too many of us feel like we need to be or do a certain thing for work and we forget what we naturally gravitate to. Most of us, probably as kids figure out where our strengths lie – math, reading, art, athletic ability, etc., but we start to be influenced by parents, media, friends and get thrown off course.
Another question to explore is what kind of lifestyle matters to you? What does your work environment look like? Do you like to collaborate? Do you prefer working onsite or are you ok working with others remotely? Do you work better on projects all by yourself? There are a multitude of questions to ask and things to think about in planning for your career.
Anybody out there get a little nervous before a job interview? What about being on camera – anyone out there a little bit camera-shy? What’s going to happen if your answer is yes to both of these questions and you’re asked to do a video interview? Anxiety attack? Not an option!
