Are you are in a situation where you are enjoying your job, career or business and all the benefits it provides; however there is a growing feeling that you need to move onto the next level but you aren’t sure what that looks like? You know you’re not as happy as you could be; but at the same time you might be feeling guilty as your friends keep telling you you’re so lucky to ’have it all’. So how do you work out what you really want and what might be your viable options for the future?

It is a well understood fact that we all want and need to feel valued for what we do. When we are undertaking activities that align with our personal values and beliefs, we gain so much more enjoyment from them. Work doesn’t feel like work when we love what we do. But perhaps you have a job, a career or a business that once gave you what you needed, but it no longer meets all your needs. Perhaps your needs have changed, or your priorities have changed. Regardless, it’s obviously time to take stock of where you are currently, and to make some changes to get back your sense of enjoyment again.

The first steps are to recognise and acknowledge that what has worked for you in the past, may no longer work for you and that some things need to change. Needing to change is not an admission of failure – change is natural in all things. Nothing ever stays the same and we should not expect it to do so. Change is OK, and it’s OK to need to change aspects of what you do as your own needs change and evolve over time. Some change is within your sphere of influence (such as change in relationships or changes in your family situation); other changes are not (such as the political, financial or economic environment).

When looking at change, another thing to realise that we only have an ability to change ourselves; we cannot change others and they may not want to come on our new journey with us. So in recognising this, know that while change is inevitable, it may not be without some pain or readjustment in your personal situation.

The next step is to affirm your values and beliefs; to gain a better understanding of your own needs. Below are a few questions to get you thinking. When answering the following questions, answer them for each aspect of your life: spiritual, financial/prosperity, lifestyle, relationship/family, and health/wellbeing.

• What do you personally need to not just survive, but to thrive?

• What is holding you back?

• What do you want to be remembered for?

• What does your current job/career/business give you that you want to keep?

• What aspects of your current job/career/business would you rather do without?

The above exercise should provide you with a number of insights into what you need in your life to feel fulfilled. Your answers will help shape your plan of how to move to forward. If you have been able to develop a one sentence summary of the type of activity you want to undertake, regardless of what in life you do, then that will make developing your plan so much easier. For example, my own life purpose is: Inspiring, discovering, supporting – personal wisdom. For me that simple sentence provides me with a framework for all I do. I ask myself: does this activity support my life purpose? If not, then why am I doing it? Alongside my life purpose I have a number of other statements which are my values and guiding principles for all that I do. For example – I don’t support activities that do others harm. So I would choose not to buy shares in a company that manufactured war ammunition. It is useful to have a few guiding statements of your values that reflect your personal integrity to help guide your decision making. We all have personal values and beliefs, but few people take the time to really think about them or to write them down.

If you want some help working through the above exercise give me a call!