I’m so excited…and I just can’t hide it…I’m about to lose control and I think I like it...you are required to sing this section of my blog, aka Pointer Sisters from the 80’s.

Why am I excited?  Because interesting things are happening with my work at the moment, the project I am working on is reaching an important milestone, I’ve been given the opportunity to travel and I’m engaging with other people who have the same interests and goals.   It’s really nice to feel this way.

So how did this happen, how did I get here?  A few years ago I wasn’t feeling this way at all with my work, infact, I was feeling flat and uninspired.   At the time, I also couldn’t see what the future might hold.  I wasn’t sure where I wanted to go to next but I knew I needed to move.  But where?

I started searching for ideas and a couple of things stick in my mind from that time.

The first thing I remember learning at the time,  is to try to visualise yourself in the future,  make a vision board with things you like or that inspire you.   Even if you can’t clearly articulate the end goal (I had no idea what I actually wanted), you can still articulate the pieces that interest you (it doesn’t matter if they don’t come together in a picture that makes sense…yet).    Write down what you like doing, what you don’t.  What gets you excited.  Think BIG.   If you do this…these things are much more likely to happen to you.   What, by Witchcraft??  I thought.   But I made a vision board anyway (I was feeling desperate) and guess what,  it did work.   It has adapted and changed as much as I have now,  adding new ideas, thoughts, pictures, quotes to it as I go along.   I think that it works because it opens your eyes to what your interested in,  so suddenly you can see the opportunities when they pop up that match your ideas.  Then you take small steps towards them…and bang, suddenly you’re doing it

So…the second thing is that you have to be willing to take one step first,  even if you don’t know exactly where you are going. Someone described it in a blog (sorry I can’t attribute because I can’t remember where),  to think of it like holding a candle in the dark,  you can only see as far as the light is shining…but if you step forward, the light moves a little bit further forward too….so you can take another step.   My first step was to speak to my Manager at the time and tell her that I didn’t think the role I was in was right for me.  I didn’t know what I did want but I wanted her support in exploring ideas, potentially building new skills and thinking about future directions.  I was happy to keep doing my role but I needed to start takings steps. I was a bit nervous that this might put my head on the chopping block for other changes, or that she might then start treating me differently and give me bad ratings.  I guess those things could have happened,  but it was a risk I needed to take in order to move forward.   However, she didn’t do those things. She was disappointed because she wanted me to stay but she suggested some people in the business I could talk to and we discussed potential courses I might be able to do over the next few years.    That discussion led to others, which ultimately scored me a new job in a new area within a few months.   SCORE.  Since then I’ve kept moving forward, one step at a time, to finally find myself where I am today…excited and engaged.

Are you happy with where you are today?   Have you mapped out your own vision board?  And what tiny step forward can you take today…and every day…to get you closer to your goals?

Yep…tonight’s the night we are going to make it happen (I don’t think that is quite what the Pointer Sisters meant but lets roll with it)