Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to figure out what you want to do first.
Speaker 1: Only then do you need to put a lot of
Speaker 1: energy into figuring out how you are going to do it.
Speaker 1: Today's tip comes from career coach Jenny Blake in her
Speaker 1: book Pivot, The Only Move that Matters as Your Next One.
Speaker 1: She offers guidance for thinking about what is next professionally,
Speaker 1: but a lot of her advice is relevant even if
Speaker 1: you are not considering a career switch. For instance, she
Speaker 1: advises that people avoid the tyranny of the how. She
Speaker 1: attributes the phrase tyranny of the hows to coach Jeff Jacobsen.
Speaker 1: Blake says that when people are approaching a big decision,
Speaker 1: they tend to focus in immediately on how, which can
Speaker 1: lead to what she calls panic mode. She gives the
Speaker 1: example of a person who is unhappy at work and
Speaker 1: thinking about changing jobs. The person wonders how she is
Speaker 1: going to tell her manager, I mean really playing through
Speaker 1: that whole conversation, and how she might go about finding
Speaker 1: a new role within her company, or how to look
Speaker 1: for a job elsewhere while still in her current role,
Speaker 1: how to respond if various things go wrong, etc. But
Speaker 1: Blake says that how is dangerous to ask too early
Speaker 1: in the process of pivoting. First, you need to get clarity,
Speaker 1: she says, on what your vision is. In other words,
Speaker 1: before you think about breaking the news that you're leaving
Speaker 1: to your manager or figuring out a schedule for structuring
Speaker 1: a job search while also doing your full time job,
Speaker 1: you need to figure out what it is that you
Speaker 1: actually want, define what you want to do before you
Speaker 1: focus on the process of job change. When the time comes,
Speaker 1: my guess is you'll figure out a way to tell
Speaker 1: your boss. You don't need to figure out how to
Speaker 1: word the email requesting a meeting just yet. But avoiding
Speaker 1: the tyranny of the how isn't just important for job pivots.
Speaker 1: It's relevant for all sorts of other decisions too. For instance,
Speaker 1: if you are deciding whether or not you and your
Speaker 1: family can go to your aunt and uncle's anniversary celebration,
Speaker 1: don't get distracted by how you'll explain your decision one
Speaker 1: way or the other, or how you'll tell your parents
Speaker 1: that you don't want to share an airbnb with them,
Speaker 1: or where the rental car counter is at that particular airport,
Speaker 1: and what you'll say when your cousin Marty asks about
Speaker 1: your teen's nose ring. First, decide whether you have the
Speaker 1: time and money to go and whether it is an
Speaker 1: experience that you, your immediate family, and your aunt and
Speaker 1: uncle would value. Only after you have decided whether you
Speaker 1: want to go and could afford to do so, do
Speaker 1: you need to get into the hows of communication and
Speaker 1: planning and how you will deal with everyone who is there,
Speaker 1: whatever big decision you are facing. First figure out what
Speaker 1: you want to do or feel is the right thing.
Speaker 1: Only then do you need to get into how when
Speaker 1: we think about how too soon we may be focusing
Speaker 1: on the process but end up aiming for the wrong outcome.
Speaker 1: Much better to make sure we are headed in the
Speaker 1: right direction first, and then figure out the route to
Speaker 1: get there in the meantime. This is Laura, Thanks for listening,
Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our time. Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas,
Speaker 1: or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura
Speaker 1: vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.
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