Navigating Career, Business and Life Transitions Faster with Better Questions

TUNE IN TO LEARN: 
How-to to navigating career and life transitions with purpose and intention. 
 
We'll explore the essential questions you need to ask yourself when facing new career or business transitions and challenges. 
 
Learn how to achieve work-life integration while making critical career or business decisions. We'll examine whether your career aligns with your vision of a fulfilling life and how to balance professional responsibilities with personal goals.  
 
Join me on this enlightening journey to finding purpose and making smart career, business and life choices.  
 

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:00

Hey, guys, and welcome back to another episode of your Brains Coach podcast. My name is Angela Sharina, I'm your host, I'm your Brains Coach, brain Body Coach, as I like to call myself on Instagram, and that's actually my handle, angela Brain Body Coach. And here, guys, today we are exploring, learning, sharing, getting excited about and applying all the different brain-body tools from different branches of research. We have neuroscience, we have psychology, the science of change or behavioral psychology, psychology, fitness, nutrition, high performance, productivity. All of that with one single purpose to help you change into the person that lives your best life experience, expressing your fullest potential or as close to that as possible. So that is our aspiration here and I need your help to make it happen. So we reach more ears and so, one person at a time, we create a better world for more positive impact.

Speaker 1 1:21

Okay, guys, I'm going to talk to you about transitions, specifically career transitions, business transitions, anything that has to do with the work you do in the world, with the service you want to provide, with value you want to provide to people and into the world. You see, I personally truly believe that each of you, each of us, every single person, is like a cell in the body, created or born into existence for a very specific function. Just like in the body, no cell is made for no purpose. If you know anything about the universe, you know how it hates waste. So why would it waste resources on you if you were not born and created for a very specific function that you need to fulfill? And that inner voice that keeps you going for things and pushing and keeps you on this journey of figuring things out, that inner voice might somehow be a way of the universe to keep you on track with the mission you are supposed to fulfill. I personally believe and from my life's experience, nobody is without a reason. You're here for a very specific purpose. I think the purpose of life and the journey of life and the comedy of life is that nobody gave us exact user manuals. So you kind of have to figure it out by building deeper, stronger connection with your intuition, which will tell you what's closer to that purpose and mission and what's further away. And if you really tune into that inner voice more often and you tune up this connection with practices like meditation and reflection, then you'll really start hearing it loud and clear when you're on the right path and when you're on the wrong path and, just like compass, you can use it to navigate all the possible choices in your life.

Speaker 1 3:34

So transitions career transitions it is very complicating in this ever-evolving, changing really fast world. Very often the clients that I work with these days didn't even know how to put a name on what they're trying to do in the world. And I'm actually in the same position. Like well, I'm a servant of change I don't really know how to call it, so let me call myself this, but that this is also changing. We are all in this together figuring it out, and the faster the world is changing, the harder it is to say exactly what we are all about. But this podcast episode will give you a better roadmap or toolkit so you could navigate that transition between different careers or choosing perhaps a new path or creating new business, whatever that is helping you to navigate that path of service, adding value to the work you're doing in the world easier, by asking the right questions and thinking about them deeper and in advance before you decide to jump into something.

Speaker 1 4:36

So let's begin. The best way to figure things out is to figure out better questions to ask yourself If you are in the moment of transition and I believe many of us either are in one or about to jump into one and again. The faster this change is going to happen, the more transitions, more frequently we're going to go through. So the first, better question to figure out whether that's the right career or business move for you or not is are you equally almost equally excited about the bad stuff that that career choice or business choice brings as you're excited about the good stuff you see? To give you a personal example, you might think well, being a coach is so amazing and well, I don't know at least I think you might think so. You get to work with amazing individuals. You help them to change their lives and to get amazing results and to transform and da-da-da-da-da. But yes, that's good stuff.

Speaker 1 5:43

But also, very often, between all these moments of celebrations, clients would ask you questions that you have no idea how to answer, or you'll need to learn and read a ton because you don't understand how to help your client to go through this transition. Coaching doesn't have answers. In fact, the job of the coach is to help your client to figure out their own answer, and you're not an expert on their life and very often they're smarter than you. They're more successful in many areas than you are. And you have to also sit in that discomfort and come to each and every session with this understanding that you have no idea how this one's going to go. And still you have to somehow deliver progress, movement forward, deliver results.

Speaker 1 6:28

And when you start with this client, with every single client, you don't know how the journey is going to go and what the whole process is going to look like. You don't know what kind of internal battles you'll have to help them battle through to get to the other side, and very often they would bring you emotions that are uncomfortable even for them. And then you have to sit with them with these emotions, helping them without having a clue how to figure that out. And it's constant learning, because the better clients you get, the better you have to be, and that's never-ending learning and commitment. And coaching also about this blended boundaries. Sometimes clients will ask you to support them when it's not 9 to 5. And maybe it's your sleep time or your eating time and that might be the crucial moment of support that they need at this moment.

Speaker 1 7:28

Coaching is an act of service and, yes, there should be some boundaries, but also it's a very human experience and it's very muddy and uncertain. And so when you sign up for a job as a coach, you got to realize that that is also that, and if you don't love this whole process, then you're not going to survive as a coach. And that's where, also, you got to know yourself. Are you the kind of person who's going to get too involved to the point that you can't live your own life, or you're okay with okay, my client is going through this difficult time, but I still have my life and having some sort of lightness about that and being able to compartmentalize your own life and the life of your clients and being in different mental and emotional space at work, and then, when you close your laptop or you turn off your Zoom, get into your life, living that life experience completely separately. The good and the bad. Are you in for both sides?

Speaker 1 8:30

When you're considering different career moves or businesses, list out the good and the bad to the best of your ability. If you don't exactly know what this job title includes or this business, then ask people who are on this journey. Ask this question like what is the bad stuff that you have to go through to be really good at that? The more experience and years of experience the person has in this career, the more insights they will have. And that's how you might reconsider your career, your business move. Am I really going to enjoy it, the good and the bad? Because actually there is going to be a lot more bad than the good and the moment of celebrations. So that is the first really great question when considering career move or business move.

Speaker 1 9:21

The next one good to consider is back to this idea of that exciting stuff in that career move. It's going to be here and there and most of the time you're going to be working on the boring stuff, Like with business. Yes, there is a lot of upside and you're going to be solving some cool problems and issues and you're going to have some moments of celebration and putting it together and maybe some moments of fame, depending on what you do, but then most of the time it together and maybe some moments of fame, depending on what you do, but then most of the time it's going to be boring stuff, I don't know, from figuring out payroll to taxes, to working on sales and lead generation and solving problems every day for your clients. Most of it is that boring stuff, these problems that you have to solve the ones that you're not going to choose. So are you going to enjoy the exciting moments, the highlights, as much as you're going to enjoy the boring stuff? That's another question you have to ask yourself when considering career move or business move. The same with relationship Are you going to enjoy the highs relationship? Are you going to enjoy the highs of this with this person as much as lows and the boring day-to-day when you just have to I don't know cook meals and do the cleaning and take care of rent and when something doesn't work in your house and just going through again through the boring day-to-day? Are you going to enjoy that as much as all the excitement? And if the answer is yes, then you might keep considering that career or business choice.

Speaker 1 11:03

And then the next one is the question, and something to consider before making the move is work-life. You can talk all day long about your work-life balance and how you're going to create it, and your work is going to be separate from your life, or maybe you're more on my side of the world where my work is a huge part of my life, is part of who I am. I am interpersonal development and growth as a person, and that's why I chose this career to be an extension of who I am and I don't mind my work bleeding into my life. That's what keeps me learning and feeling inspired and growing and moving. So that's for me. But for you, what is that work-life? And does your career choice or your new business fit into ideal picture of this work-life integration? And, most importantly, will you be able to last long enough in that career choice? Because it will affect how you live your life? Is the schedule compatible to what good life means to you? The responsibilities at work can you integrate them so they affect your life in the way that works for you?

Speaker 1 12:30

This work-life integration, you always have to consider the lifestyle your work will create. And again, you want to look at your work, not just the ideal scenario, but good and bad and all the problems you have to figure out and all the stuff that you have to fix and all the shit that you have to deal with. How is it going to affect your life and the life that you want to live? You want to consider this 360 experience, what family aspirations you might have and how your career might affect that and what it means for you to be a great, either a business person, an entrepreneur or a career person and delivering high quality work. Like, how are you going to deal with that work-life integration? Consider that what's the ideal scenario you know about your new career choice or your new position? Maybe you are considering becoming a CEO or a partner in a firm.

Speaker 1 13:38

Does this career choice and delivering a great job on that does it align with what you want to have in your life? You see, with more leadership or higher leadership position comes more responsibility. You don't get something for nothing. The higher you are, the higher you go as a leader, the more responsibility is going to land on your plate and, chances are, the more they're going to affect your life. So are you ready to embrace this career, this business choice, 360? That's another great question to consider before jumping somewhere. And again, a hack here if you know someone, or maybe someone you know knows someone else who has this career choice, or maybe on social media, people are very approachable there or on LinkedIn, for example, right, you can search for a certain position and maybe find a person in your city and look at their career and get them out for a coffee or for a walk and ask about, like, what does their day-to-day look like, what does their life look like? So you have a more realistic picture of work life that this choice creates. So, before jumping into and spending more time in it, you actually have a real-life example and have more information than less.

Speaker 1 15:13

And the last but not least at least not the least for me, someone for whom purpose is very fundamental, primary and essential I read a post on Instagram from Harvard Business Review, and they actually said that it is important for every single person to have a purpose why they do things what they do, and so it's important for every single person to have a purpose why they do things what they do, and so it's meaningful for them. And then there is autonomy, or being able to make your own choices, have the freedom, and then mastery, improving yourself in some form or fashion, and so purpose seems to be fundamental for every single human being. And the last but again, definitely not least because of that, I would also consider, before making any move which might last, I don't know, a few years, a few decades, till the rest of your life. You just never know. So you might consider will that this or has this a potential to bring me the feeling of purpose, of service, impact, in the world that I want to create, that I see myself doing or I'm inspired to deliver Like, will this bring the sense of purpose, meaning, fulfillment into my life? Has it this potential? And if it doesn't have this potential at all and you're just going to jump into it because you don't know what else to do, well, doing something, probably better than nothing.

Speaker 1 16:45

But the faster you figure out the purpose that drives you and whether your new career choice or business choice can contribute to that, can make your life meaningful and fulfillment. The faster you figure that out, the easier a lot of choices are going to get and the lesser is chance that you're going to be stuck in a career that is totally unfulfilling, making you feel like your life has no meaning, like it has no purpose and you're just going through the motions. So first figure out as soon as possible, if you haven't yet, what's your purpose, what gives you meaning, what gives you the sense of fulfillment. It is fundamental for your well being and the quality of your life as a human being, at least from everything that I know of and what seems to be Harvard Business Review knowledge as well. So figure out what's the purpose, the impact, the fulfillment you're going to be optimizing for. And then does this career move?

Speaker 1 17:49

Career choice or business choice has the potential to give you that sense of purpose, meaning and fulfillment, and it's not that it has to be directly related, but in some way it has to contribute to that. And when you do your work, when you do your service, when you add value into the world in some form or fashion, you add value into the world in some form of fashion. You kind of have this feeling that this is aligned with the purpose of my life, with what gives me meaning and fulfillment, and that's how your job or your career, your business, stop being something you paid for, being something you paid for, and start being something that you do because of who you are, and that's a very rewarding feeling. It's how you end up not working a day in your life and being paid well, but feeling like you do it for free. The closer to that feeling you get, but feeling like you do it for free, the closer to that feeling you get, the happier you're going to be on a daily basis. After all the work that you do, you're probably going to be spending quite some hours in your week and if you're going to get into that in the upcoming decades, majority of your lifetime is going to be spent doing that. So you definitely want to figure out something that's going to give you that sense of purpose, fulfillment and meaning.

Speaker 1 19:24

And again circling back to how we started this podcast, I personally believe and it seems to be true for everyone I talk to who created good life for them. So it seems to be the case that we're all created for a purpose, with a very specific agenda from the universe, and the closer to that we get with the work we do, the faster, the sooner we'll figure it out at. With the work we do, the faster, the sooner we'll figure it out, the happier we're going to be, no matter how much money we make or where we live or what we have in terms of possessions and even relationships and all the other stuff in life. So that's sort of a guide how to live a fulfilling, purposeful life and how to make a better choice when it comes to your career, to the business that you choose. Again, to reiterate it, to recap it ask better questions.

Speaker 1 20:27

When you're choosing that career, that new business, are you equally excited about the shit that you have to deal with as about the good that you think this career has? Are you equally excited about the boring day-to-day stuff as you are about the highlights and work-life integration? Is it going to help you to create that lifestyle that you seek for yourself? Good questions to consider. I hope this helps you to navigate your next transition, and don't forget to share this podcast with at least one other person to make sure that we all get through transitions faster and better and create together more positive impact for a better world for all of us. Talk to you soon, have an awesome day and stay tuned for more.