If you could get more out of your professional life, what would it be? What are the missing ingredients to feel more engaged in your work?
There are patterns in how we feel at the end of work. It wasn’t long ago that frustration consumed me. That job was missing an important element for me. How I felt affected my marriage, my children, and my overall well-being. I worked on incorporating some of these into my work, but ultimately decided I needed to create my own environment. So we made a change.
Inventory check question
what is your pattern? At this point in your professional journey, are you in the right place and doing the right job?
I phrased my question with modifiers.
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Work: work focus, content, tasks, levels
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Place: structure, environment, culture, people
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Timing: What stage of your career are you in and how long have you been in this role?
If your answer is yes, that’s good.
Anything less than this full level of engagement is a gap. The gap between contentment, interest and fulfillment.
So what are the gaps?
Core question: What am I missing?
If you could get more out of your professional life, what would it be? What are the missing ingredients to feel more engaged in your work?
The question of what’s missing really deserves consideration.
If you often come home feeling irritable, angry, or mentally exhausted, something is wrong.
If you’re no longer interested in your work, or if you’re feeling stuck but ready to tackle what’s next, action may be required.
Main Ingredient Type
When thinking about what’s missing, the following categories will help sort it out.
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values: Something really important to you. If you are out of sync with your core values, you will be affected.
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success factor: In my experience, we all have a set of requirements to do our best work and be satisfied.
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growth: As professionals, we go through cycles of learning, mastery and boredom. Occasionally, you may find professional updates in your current job. Often that means moving.
The advantage of asking what’s missing is that it leads you in a positive direction. Instead of blaming, complaining, or giving away your personal power to others, identify what is important to you.
Other questions will follow once I can pinpoint exactly what I’m missing
What’s going wrong?
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What are the personal costs if these needs are not met?
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Are other people suffering because you got off track?
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What are the strategic implications for your career trajectory?
Do you have any control?
Often, simply shedding light on an issue can bring in more of what your current job lacks. Alternatively, you may be able to work with your manager to adjust your work portfolio. However, when it is out of your control, you choose to stay and accept it or act deliberately.
How long have you endured a shortage of these ingredients?
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If you are sitting upside down, why is that?
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How important is your health and feeling that you are working on your career and making good progress?
What is your perception of professional agencies?
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How prepared and confident are you to do something to close the gap? what am i missing This question isn’t a complete answer, but it sheds light on your position as a professional and creates the potential for re-engagement in your current job or a proactive and empowered approach to making change.
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What is missing in your professional life?
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Have you ever identified an issue in your career that caused you to make a change?
take it from me From my painful personal experience and the experiences of hundreds of clients we have worked with who have faced the same situation.
What matters most? To take a step forward and move forward.
