Making A Decision? Do This...

Time to read: less than 1 minute

People are making big decisions these days. Among my friends and clients people are relocating, changing careers, quitting jobs, choosing colleges, and starting businesses. Are you among those who are weighing options and trying to decide the right path to take? If yes, read on. If not, forward this to all the people you know who are making big decisions.

I'll come clean. I'm not a fan of a pros/cons list. That data can be helpful, and it only gets you so far. When I'm working with someone to make a decision, here are the three strategies we use:

1. Go up 10,000 feet. Let the details go for a while and focus on the big picture. What are your values? What criteria is most important to you? What do you actually want?   Example: If you are choosing a college, decide which 2-3 criteria are crucial, like location, specific programs, size, the presence of sports or choir.
2. Be honest with yourself. You can easily be tempted by things like prestige, money, and comparison to others. Those are recipes for bad decisions.   Example: Early in my corporate career, I was offered a supervisor position in IT helping the company figure out procedures and processes for cell phones. (I'm dating myself here.) The position was a leadership role, and I would have received a $1,000 raise - a month! I said no. No amount of money was worth doing something I didn't care about.
3. Do a gut check. You have all the facts. You've weighed your values and what you want. Now, check your gut. Does the decision feel right? If you're afraid, does the fear feel like the unknown or a good stretch or does it feel like toxic waste? Trust your gut.

Please write to me and tell me all about big decisions you're making. I love to hear from you.

If you are one of the many people who forward these articles to your friends and colleagues, please make sure they know they can sign up for my newsletter here.

Be well.

Take This Quiz to Help You Get Back On Track

Time to take the quiz: 15 seconds. Time to read: 1.5 minutes. Time to refine your life: forever

Hey Corporate Rebels!

Before you read further, please take this quiz. Answer yes/no. Consider how you spend most of your time.

Do you feel well used at the end of the day? (This question considers a sense of purpose.)

Do you spend your day on things that are important to you? (This question highlights values and priorities.)

Do you spend your time with people who matter to you? (This question points to balance and connection.)

Do you enjoy yourself? (This question considers energy.)

Hold on to your answers for a second.

In the past few weeks, I have talked with professionals across industries and age-groups, from young scientists to seasoned real estate mavens to recent college graduates. In a word, people are restless. The past year stripped away most things (dating, sports, travel) and left many people with work, laundry, homeschooling, and if you were lucky, roommates you like.

When life was reduced to work and Netflix, many people starting asking, is this enough? When you just spent a year staring your mortality in the face, is this how you want to spend the next 10-20-50 years?

Most of you are probably not planning to quit your job and head out on the open road (although I have talked to quite a few in all age groups who are doing some version of that).

Some well timed and considered refinements will bring your work and life back into alignment with what you want.

Now back to the quiz.

If you answered yes to all four questions, awesome. You have crafted work and life on your terms.

If you answered no to any of the questions or if the questions made you wonder, consider what it would take to bring your work and life back on your terms. What can you refine? What can you ask for? What do you want to change?

Here are some ideas to start your thinking:

• fire up an old hobby
• ask to go part-time
• ask for summer hours (Fridays off?)
• teach a class
• be home for bedtime every night
• rest
• quit your job and head out on the open road

My partner, Anne and I are doing a free 4-session live event in May, June and July to help you recover from the past year and get your work and life realigned with where you are now. The Corporate Rebel Rebooting U: Recover, Refresh, Re-emerge starts May 21. You can get more information and sign up here.

Please join us!

Love to you!

What Is "Reasonable?" Does It Matter?

Time to read: Take a 30-second break and read on!

I was working with a client recently and in the course of our coaching, she said, "It's reasonable that I quit that committee."

Well... yes... and no.

I paused her so we could examine the word "reasonable." She had committed to quitting. (You know you who are. Yay for quitting!) And, instead of owning her values and priorities, she was hiding behind comparison to others and the benchmark of "reasonable."

Reasonable doesn't matter.

Try this on:

You're driving down the highway at 70-miles-per-hour (speed limit = 55mph). So is everyone else. You think to yourself, "it's reasonable that I'm driving 70 miles per hour. I'm keeping pace with the other drivers."

Not really.

You are choosing to drive 70. The fact that everyone else is also driving 70 is irrelevant. You may feel like "reasonable" gives you cover, and it's simply hiding behind other people to justify your choices.

So, notice the next time you make a choice and call it "reasonable." Are you giving yourself a pass for something that feels out of integrity to you? Are you missing an opportunity to take a stand for your values and priorities?

My client took a powerful stand for her values and dropped any comparison to "reasonable."

What's the stand you want to take?

Comment on the Corporate Rebel Facebook Page and tell me all about it. I love to hear from you.

Christina

P.S. If you love the Corporate Rebel newsletter, share it with your friends and colleagues. They can join the fun by clicking here.

From Discouraged to National Stage

Time to Read: 48.3 seconds

The National Stage Theater in Bergen, Norway

Hello Rebels!

One of my clients* came to me discouraged and ready to throw in the towel on her multi-year career. She had a strained relationship with her boss and felt like it was impossible to create forward movement on her projects. (*All client stories are told with permission.)

In coaching, sometimes things feel better and sometimes worse. We looked for the things that were most important to her and where her work stifled her gifts. We uncovered that she had collapsed her values of community and service with an imperative to sacrifice herself for the cause. We focused on the strategies and tactics that would change her situation and the beliefs and choices that held her back.

Fast forward in our coaching, and she started job hunting (tactics and strategies). We uncovered the thing that was most important to her in her career (choices). We focused on her drive to please others and put their needs ahead of her own (beliefs). We worked through a courageous decision to change jobs and take a pay cut (beliefs and tactics).

This multi-pronged approach resulted in a job where she led a massive public project around the topic she values most. The project received a lot of attention, not all of it pretty or easy. She is now being sought out by other organizations and cities to share her expertise. She is consulting. She is speaking nationally and contributing to the issue she cares most about. Her career has exploded. She's on the path of her purpose and leaving a lasting legacy.

What's the message here? Strategies and tactics are important and will only get you so far. You also have to look for the things you value most and replace the beliefs, choices and patterns that hold you back with expansive ones that propel you forward.

I hope this helps!

Christina

P.S. Would you like your career to become a path for your purpose? Let's talk! Click this link to choose a 30-minute spot on my calendar for a virtual coffee date. We'll talk about what's going on, create a solution or two and help you discern what will help you get where you want to go - whether that's working with me (1:1 or in The Corporate Rebel Clarity U coaching group) or doing something else.

P.P.S. Do you know someone who craves deeper purpose and meaning in their work life? Invite them to explore the possibilities by forwarding this email to them. They can sign up to chat about what's going on here.