At the core of my Career Mapping philosophy and methodology is a willingness to explore possibilities. As I continue to grow and experience the growth and change among my clients and others I encounter on their career journeys, I find that beliefs can be a real impediment to progress.
Our beliefs are not always facts, nor are they always rational or well founded. They often are passed down by family members, revered advisors or religious leaders. They are often accepted as truths or facts that should go unquestioned.
Let’s say you are actively looking for a new job and believe that “it’s who you know,” suggesting that being well networked trumps skill or competency. You might spend countless hours broadcasting your needs to people in your network without regard for their relevance to what you really want or are suited for. Because of your belief, you might not place any importance to typical job-hunting tools and skills – résumés, elevator pitch, reference list, etc. You have likely wasted precious time with your approach because of your belief.
Had you prepared a series of résumés customized to specific roles, rehearsed your elevator pitch and broadened your network to include people in specific companies where you are interested in working, you would have been in final interviews for your dream job.
Another example. As part of your Career Mapping process, let’s say you dream of being a restaurant owner. However, your belief system says that they don’t make enough money, that it would be a waste of your education to go that route or that it is just plain hard, undesirable work. Your dream is at odds with your belief. Which one will win out?
I suggest you hold your beliefs up to the light to see which are valid. Don’t ask others for their opinions, just trust your intelligence and intuition. Consider the millionaire restaurant owners out there, the advantage your advanced education can provide, and how working smart and doing work you love, doesn’t equal “hard work.”
Time to knock down old beliefs to make way for your goals and dreams. What have you got to lose?
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