Don’t Keep Your Vision a Secret. Tell the World.
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Career Tip:
Don’t Keep Your Vision a Secret. Tell the World . Once we’ve made a major career decision we have a tendency to keep our ideas inside our own heads. Whether we want to switch divisions in the same company or seek a new industry all together, we’re apprehensive to share this. We think we’ll be judged or even get in trouble. This is the opposite of what we should be doing. In fact, the first thing you should do once you’ve made a major career decision is to be open and honest with your manager and anyone else who will listen.
By sharing our vision openly we can create more force behind the idea and have a collection of people who are working to help you realize this vision. Here are notes from a meeting I had with my managerback in 2016 when I told him I wanted to leave the company. Everything I wrote on the page and and shared with him came to fruition. Shoutout to my former manager and STL member Jeff Giddings for being a huge advocate for me then and now!
Life Hack:
Immersive Travel: An Escape & a Catalyst for Your Career. I write to you now sitting poolside at a hostel in Colombia. For the next ten days I’ll be exploring Cartagena and Medellin with my friend Corey. Both Colombia and the hostel are intentional. Over the last few years I’ve taken a number of trips to countries where I cannot speak the language and know no one. I love immersive travel because it not only provides an escape from my American life but also has served as a catalyst for my career. Traveling to countries such as Peru, Japan and now Colombia has improved my communication skills and taught me how to live uncomfortably. Both skills have proven invaluable in my sales career and as a blogger where I’m constantly forced to communicate effectively push myself beyond my limits.
Book to Read:
Designing Your Life by Dave Evans and Bill Burnett. I’ve featured this book on this newsletter once before but I feel like it’s worth reiterating how good it is. If you’re in the middle of a career crisis, and need to find out what job is designed to fit your lifestyle, this is the book for you. Bill Burnett and Dave Evans are Stanford professors who teach a class on Lifestyle Design. I use a lot of their resources in my career coaching sessions. Check out their website and book here.
Podcast to Check Out:
Disgraceland by Jake Brennan. While this podcast definitely falls outside of the personal development or career genre I think it’s worth noting this week. It’s a new true crime drama that documents the murders, deaths and infidelity of some of entertainment’s most notorious figures. The first episode documents the life of singer Jerry Lee Lewis who’s personal life has been a “disgrace.” He’s had seven wives, one of whom was 13 when they married and two of whom died from “accidents” while he was married to them. Check out that gripping first episode here.
Quote of the Week:
“Everyone you meet always asks if you have a career, are married or own a house as if it was some kind of grocery list. But nobody ever asks if you are happy.” – Heath Ledger
(Hello from Cartagena!)
