Welcome to part 4 of the coaching taster blogs.  This blog is all about career or life purpose.  Are you in mid flow in your career, navigating some rapids or ready to seek a new one?  Again, go back to the beginning of this exercise and have a look at how you scored yourself on career satisfaction on a scale of 1 - 10, 10 being the most satisfied. 

Remember the old adage, 'find the things that you love to do and you will never work a day in your life again'.  It seems strange to some that that you could actually enjoy what you do and earn money at the same time.  For others, they have already reached that point and just want to accelerate the enjoyment, the success and the rewards.

I wonder if there are any glass ceilings on your career right now.  Here's what I mean.  Are there limits to the amount of money you can earn?  Is there only so far you can go up the promotion ladder?  Are these ceilings self imposed or are they dictated by the organisation that you work for?  Ask yourself "what do I have control of here?".  Where do I want to be a year from now?  Where do I want to be in 5 years and then 10?  How will you quantify that success and how will you qualify it?  Is it a salary, a title, a car or a combination of many of those things?

If you are considering changing career, then coaching is definitely something that you should consider.  Finding out about yourself and what you might like to do is undoubtedly a great way to 'unfold' and explore new avenues. 

I give my career clients an exercise called 'My Ideal Job'.  Over a period of a week you are given a table to populate that is divided into 3 columns as follows:-

• What do I have in my current job or in previous jobs that I wish to keep?
• What do I have in my current job or in previous jobs that I want to lose?"
• What have I never experienced in my current job or in previous jobs that I want in my next one?

Over a period of a week, you will be asked to populate each of the three columns and then to keep adding as you think of more things.  You will then be asked to prioritise them.  Mark items that you want more of with a + and items that you want less of with a - . 

Out of this you will probably find that there are some new skills that you may need to learn to help you move into your new field.  This is a great time to then make an action plan to 'install' the missing or desired components.  It may mean going on a training course or reading up on your desired knowledge area. 

You can also discover more about yourself with a Jung Typology test or doing a Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) that will reveal more about your preferences. 

I also offer all of my coaching clients a 'values elicitation' exercise, designed to uncover what is really important in life.  The clearer clients are about who they are and what they really want, the easier it is find a fulfilling career. 

There are also a host of psychometric tools that my associates are able to offer as well as self discovery tools such as EQi (Emotional Intelligence).

Like everything in life, you need a plan, particularly where your career is concerned.  When NOW would be a really great time to do something about it?

What hobbies do you have?  What kind of activities do you get lost in and don't even notice what time it is?  Now imagine making a lot of money out of doing that!