Defining My Work & Life Vision – Food for thought
Unfortunately, we were unable to run our planned workshop for Energy UK as part of their 2020 International Women’s Day celebrations focusing on “Defining My Work & Life Vision”. We hope to be able to run it again in the future but for now here are a few tasters and some practical ideas for you to try.
Being a woman – food for thought
What does it mean to be a woman? At any one time you might be thinking about some or many of the areas captured in the image below….whether it’s about having your voice heard, trying to be your authentic self, balancing home and work, trying to find a role model or mentor to support your development, dealing with limiting beliefs, imposter syndrome or your internal self-talk, confidence issues or health challenges….whatever you are thinking, feeling or facing there are many factors that are common issues for many women. What does that mean for you as an individual? What stands out or resonates with you when thinking about your work and life vision?
Thinking about all of these areas is a useful starting point to knowing ourselves and what is important to us right now, and it can provide a helpful backdrop to then start thinking about your individual work life vision.
My work life vision
One way to consider what you want your work life to look like is to go through this three-stage funnelling exercise which is designed to stimulate ideas and possibilities. Don’t worry if you haven’t got a clear goal in mind, this exercise will help to inspire your thinking, so just have a go and put all of your thoughts down.
Think about your goals & aspirations for your working life and then…
First – quick fire – write down all of the goals/ideas that come to mind – as many as you can think of including things you may have rejected or that seem impossible.
Next – describe what does success – personal and professional / happiness / job satisfaction look like for you right now AND for your future.
Then – take time to really think and focus on what’s most important to you and start to define 1-3 goals for your working life.
It may be that you are happy with where you are now, and your goal is to maximise your current situation – this exercise will reaffirm that for you. Or it may be that you want to focus on personal development rather than a role change, or it may be that you have aspiration for a particular role. Your goal could be to have more confidence or to have a voice at work and in general.
Make a note of whatever comes to mind.It can be helpful to talk through this exercise with someone else, share ideas and support each other.
Authentic me
Once you have a clearer picture of what success looks like for you and you have defined your 1-3 goals, it is helpful to consider what characteristics, strengths and skills you have, or you will need, to help you to achieve your vision. Here is a self-coaching tool to help; Achievements – “Transferable skills – defining me”.
- List in the circles in the diagram below, 5 significant achievements in your life that you are most proud of. These achievements can be from your work or personal life.
- Next to each achievement identify what were the key characteristics,strengths & skills from these achievements that you demonstrated that made you feel proud?
- Consider all of the characteristics, strengths and skills you have listed foreach achievement and write a summary list of the key aspects that define you.
- How could you use these characteristics, strengths & skills to support youin your work / life vision
Happy International Women’s Day.
Emma & Jenny,
Founders, Directors & Coaches, Women to Work
www.womentowork.co.uk
Working with women to define and create fulfilling personal and professional lives
