According to Microsoft’s Work Trend Index, 46% of the global workforce is thinking about leaving their current job during this year — a number that has increased by approximately 30% in just one year.
The lockdown has taken away many things from our daily life, but it has also brought some new ones along, like the time to think and to ask ourselves whether the professional path we’re following is a fulfilling one or if our heart is guiding us down new roads. Adam Grant, a psychologist from Wharton University and a columnist for the New York Times, says that this feeling is common and it has a name: Languishing. “Languishing is a sense of stagnation and emptiness. It feels as if you're muddling through your days, looking at your life through a foggy windshield. And it might be the dominant emotion of 2021”.
This lack of motivation is what’s making so many people consider turning their life around at this moment. But reality isn’t that easy. Walking away from the comfort and safety of our jobs to delve into a new world may cause fear in us and stop us from moving forwards. In order to stop fear from winning the battle for what your heart wants, we’ve gotten help from Eleonora Giampieri — Expert in Professional and Academic Change Management. She showed us the keys to starting our professional —or life— change in the best way possible!
1. Knowing Ourselves
“A crisis often helps us develop a wider perspective on our lives and that allows us to reframe what we see”
— Amit Sood, Doctor and Executive Director of the Global Center for Resiliency and Wellbeing in Rochester, Minnesota.
Many of us have made the most of the lockdown and the new life that came with the pandemic in order to satisfy our interests or pick up old hobbies. We’ve moved on from the old “from home to work and back” and we started giving value to feeling well and balancing our passions with our daily life.
Eleonora thinks that knowing ourselves is one of the keys to getting started with change. She points out that we’re but a mix of all of our experiences — our present and our past, our success and our failure. Asking ourselves what we’re good at, what makes us feel passionate, what makes us different, what we have chosen in life and what has been chosen for us… These are some questions that will help us discover our true self and what we can bring to the world.
Eleonora tells us that this first step can be hard and that we should take it easy, paper and pen in hand, writing our strengths and weaknesses.
2. Knowing Where We’re Standing
“I think this fresh start is really a big opportunity”
Katy Milkman, author of How to Change: The Science of Getting From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be.
At this point we may know what we want, but there’s still something that is equally important: knowing what the world wants. Knowing this will allow us to change our professional path in a sustainable way. We must look up and around — knowing what’s around us and our environment will make it easier for us to uncover the possible dangers but also every opportunity.
“If you’re looking for a change in your professional career, you must update yourself”, Eleonora points out. It’s important to know the environment that surrounds us. This map of knowledge will help us draw our path in order to find better opportunities and avoid any trouble. “The more we know ourselves and our environment, the easier it will be to overcome the obstacles that may come our way”.
It’s also very important to understand that the environment is responsible for many of the elements that will affect our journey and you shouldn’t blame yourselves for all of them. “It’s important to know every element and not make the mistake of thinking we’ll do everything great”. Stop drinking from your “You Can Do Anything” mug, because it isn’t true. The pandemic has caused thousands of workers to lose their job and it had nothing to do with their performance.
3. Finding Balance
“Enjoying success requires the ability to adapt. Only by being open to change will you have a true opportunity to get the most from your talent”
-Nolan Ryan, former Major League Baseball player
Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman, an athlete and student of journalism and his coach, had one passion in common: running. Together they found a gap in the sports shoes industry and decided to make their own brand. Putting together their shared passion, their knowledge and the opportunity that the environment presented, they created Nike.
This is the third key in our road to change: finding a balance between who we are and where we’re standing. “We must spot those strengths and that experience in order to take them to the different areas of the sector and see where they fit best”, Eleonora points out. Regardless of what we’ve dedicated our time to during this whole time, we must be able to find some common ground between all of our knowledge and our passion.
4.At the Edge of Our Comfort Zone
"Threatening situations prompt us to behave conservatively — the opposite of what is required when we’re considering a career change. It’s hard to dive wholeheartedly into reinventing your career if you’re feeling risk-averse or are worried about your prospects”
- Herminia Ibarra, Expert in Professional Career Changes and author of Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader.
Fear becomes the greatest factor holding us in our comfort zone. This presents a challenge for everyone. But there are some tips in order to face that fear more lightly. “It’s not necessary to change your whole life in order to get out of your comfort zone”. Eleonora invites us to take this step lightly in order to make it easier. The truth is, we can get out of our comfort zone by making small changes in our daily life, like facing problems with one of your courses and talking to the professor — stepping up for little things… Those little steps will make us feel much more confident and comforted with where we’re standing and will help us flow with the life that surrounds us.
There’s no guarantee that everything will go well. Things can work or not. But one thing is certain: we’ll always regret not having tried and Eleonora explains it with a final quote:
“The only constant in life is change. That’s why we must always live in the present”
Speaker: Eleonora Giampieri, Expert in Professional and Academic Change Management.