Need a new job?

Maybe you just need a new perspective?

Don't get me wrong, if you're in a toxic workplace environment. Don't walk, RUN outta that place.

Now that we got that out, let's say it's just an annoying or unfulfilling workplace. What's a person to do? A lot of them reach out to a career coach like me to talk through options and strategies for change.

My first question tends to be "What's up?" In that, I want to know what the current situation is. Often my clients are in what they thought was a dream job. And either their goals have shifted, their life situations have changed (hello, babies and sick days), or the day-to-day has just gotten out of hand.

My next question is "How do you manage your boundaries?" or "What boundaries do you have in place?" Here's the usual response:

So if you find yourself in this position, don't worry. It's pretty dang common. Ask yourself - What are your boundaries? Where have you let them slide? Where can you start putting them back into place? Start there. First because it will make the day-to-day of your current job at least tolerable during the job search. Second because you might find that you were starting to take on projects that didn't align with your goals, thus that feeling like you are "spinning your wheels" but in fact, other than those boundary creeps, you actually like your current field of employment.

Ok, that's the easy part. Boundaries...check. Wait, how do I actually do that? Well it might look different for a lot of us. But it begins with an assessment of your current situation. What's working, what's not. Then it gets harder. It requires getting out of your comfort zone and possibly pushing boundaries back impacting people around you. Now there's a friendly way to do this and a not-so-friendly way to do this. Your approach all depends on your needs to keep a professional image. Did you just win the lottery? Push those suckers back, like now! Might still need a good reference? Maybe gently inform and ask and repeat. More on this subject.

Its always fun, too, how when you start erecting boundaries in one area of your life, how they become easier and more import to erect in other areas (hello division of chores at home!), because we flex those muscles and let's face it. The more we do it the stronger we become.

So get to work!