Why you want your people to be in the drivers seat of their career, and how to help them do it.

7 years ago, I left my job in media after I was signed off for stress. What followed was a period of great reflection for me—in particular, I wanted to get to the bottom of one question:

Where had it all gone so bloody wrong?

I’d recently been promoted, I loved the company and team, in fact, this is exactly what 21 year old me had always dreamt of—so why had it come crashing down?

And then I realised, that was the problem —I wasn’t that same 21 year old anymore. I was a decade older, and naturally, my priorities had changed. My values were no longer aligned with the industry I was in, and this niggling feeling that I wasn’t where I should be had grown into feelings of exhaustion and overwhelm, eventually becoming one of the major catalysts of my burnout.

For so long we’ve been so caught up in the rat race, rarely stopping to really think about what we’re doing and whether it’s still right for us. But 2020 provided us with a unique opportunity to evaluate our lives, and we need to transpose this reflective energy into 2021. Because being clear on what makes us tick, who we want to be and where we want to go, provides a clarity of purpose that has a transformative effect on our happiness, self-drive and sense of fulfilment. 

Helping your people to self-audit and find their purpose isn’t something to be afraid of, instead, it’s an opportunity to discover untapped areas of employee potential that can be brought to the table. In fact, empowering employees to identify what they need to be fulfilled in our new world of work will increase employee engagement (a vital metric) and job satisfaction, whilst reducing stress, burnout and turnover. 

Whether you’re the CEO or an intern, everyone can benefit from checking in with themselves and making sure that they’re creating a life that is designed on their terms, so below I have provided three easy to use frameworks that will help you and your people to do just that.

(Once your employees have worked through the frameworks below, invite them in to participate in a conversation about how to create a mutually beneficial way to work that supports both parties in achieving their goals. This is not only enriching them as employees, but will improve their sense of fulfilment and job satisfaction. For example, you can incorporate your people’s individual purpose into their role at work - if they want to work more within the community, offer ‘give a day for charity’ schemes, if they love to travel, allow them to work in abroad offices for 2 weeks a year etc.)

Run a Self-Audit 

Everyone benefits from a self-audit, but people-pleasers benefit the most, as it is they who often suffer by allowing others to dictate who they are and what they do. You might recognise ‘people pleaser’ traits amongst your team - they avoid conflict at all costs and in doing so hand power to those too willing to take it. They also often end up picking up too much work, will say yes to everyone, and as such, quickly burn out.

It’s a very easy trap to fall into, especially at work, but a self-audit can work wonders in rebuilding their sense of purpose, readjusting their focus to make sure they’re satisfying their own goals, and not just everyone else's.

Here’s how to audit your life:

1. Divide your life into ‘assets’ and ‘liabilities’.

Assets = hobbies, strengths at work, your personal and professional skills

Liabilities = the things which let you down.

See which of the assets you can boost, and which of the liabilities you can let of. 

2. Once you’ve done that, ask yourself a series of questions about each of the assets and liabilities.

For example, ask yourself who your work allies are, where your job is going, whether you should continue in it and how to carve out more ‘me time’ from it. 

3. When you’ve determined where you are currently, start to look at where you want to be. Set yourself goals, as big or as small as you’re comfortable with, and plot a path towards them. 

4. Carry out your plan!

Find your purpose in life 

Acknowledging that, over time, our priorities change, and that we don’t feel the same way about things now as we did back then, is healthy and normal. But that doesn’t mean to say we resign ourselves to a lifetime of dull routine and unfulfilled ambition. As we get into our 30s and 40s we realise that finding purpose in life – real purpose, not just thrill-seeking – is vital for our health and well-being.

So, how to find your true purpose?

1. Ask yourself ‘what do I love to do?’

‘What comes naturally to me?’ The answer could be anything from a creative activity to wanting to work with people, or help out in the community, or combine work and travel!

2. Now list the qualities and skills you feel you have which might turn your life purpose toward what you truly love and are naturally good at. 

3. Next tune into your intuition -  What is your heart saying about this renewed or new purpose? Feeling the love, or is there some hesitation? If the latter, write down and address it. Are your uncertainties rooted in reality or just based around fear? 

4. Make a plan - Don’t set it in tablets or stone, but be clear about your goals and realistic as to when you might be able to achieve them. If they are professional plans, speak to a mentor or your team leader about them, how can they help you to integrate this into your career path? 

5. Take small steps - go steady and work in increments towards your goal.

Understand that you’re a product of your daily behaviours 

Unsurprisingly, good habits make us feel like we’ve accomplished something and leads to positive self-perception. Bad habits do the exact opposite.

But habits can make us inflexible and boring, so every so often, it’s good to have a shakedown of our routine and check our daily behaviours are still

How to shakedown you’re routine:

1. Make a list of the habits you’d like to change 
2. Examine how the habit is affecting you
3. Discover a healthy replacement 
4. Try to avoid triggers
5. Accept that you’ll occasionally give in to temptation - (we’re all human!) 

This is just a snapshot of what’s inside PUSH’s new book ‘High Potential Hacks - The Positive Behaviours of The Highest Performing People.’   We’d love for you and your people to benefit from more of its magic, so download your free copy here… it might just change their life!