So why is it so hard to keep still for long enough to explore the inner you?
May be there’s a fear of emptiness, that if we look inside ourselves we won’t find a life purpose or career purpose or whatever it is that makes getting out of bed in the morning worthwhile.
It may feel scary and the familiar rut of a de-energising career may feel more comfortable. Ruts, by their nature, take a bit of hard work to get out of and the bigger the rut the more work is required.
So where might we draw the strength from to work through this fear?
Here are some suggestions:
1.Allow yourself plenty of time to discover what’s important to you. Don’t expect to work it out in a couple of hours. There’s no pressure to act on your thoughts or to make big changes… just allow yourself to be aware of your career values and what’s important to you.
2. Read biographies of people you admire. As you read think about what resonates with you… their values, their approach to adversity, their approach to success. What does this mean for you? What values do you share with them? What does their journey through life tell you about what’s important for you?
3. Do the Life Wheel exercise (see Resources page of http://www.aspirecc.co.uk) and consider what’s important in each area of your life, what have you appreciated the most, what are your dreams
4.Use 30 post-it notes to write things about yourself eg 2 kids, live in London, chartered psychologist, run 3 times per week, blond hair, re-married, in good health. Pick out 10 post-it notes that represent the 10 things that you would find very difficult to give up. What do these 10 things say about what’s important to you?
5. Keep a private journal of your reflections, thoughts, feelings and dreams.
Quotes from Victor Frankl, Man’s search for meaning:
“this striving to find a meaning in one’s life is the primary motivational force in man”
“What man actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for a worthwhile goal”
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