Are Your Goals a Treasure or a Compass?

I have a confession to make! I have coached many, many people on setting career goals, but I have always felt conflicted about the value of doing so because we live in an era when some of the top jobs didn't exist 5 years ago (from big data architect to Zumba instructor). How on earth do you create a five-year plan for your career when new jobs are emerging that no one knows about yet and when other jobs are disappearing?

I recently had a light bulb moment. Instead of thinking of our career goals as treasure chests to get, we need to start thinking of them as a compass. Instead of something we are always working towards that we will achieve someday, we need to think of our careers goals as a guide for our decision-making.

This new way of thinking has a major benefit. Instead of being constantly dissatisfied with our current state, you can suddenly enjoy exactly where you are in your career no matter where you are. Thomas Sterner, in The Practicing Mind, recounts the scene in The Natural when the main character expresses regret about what might have been if he had not been injured saying, "I coulda been better. I coulda broke every record in the book." His former girlfriend responds by saying simply, "And then?" His striving to break every record would quickly have been replaced with more striving to break the next record, and the next and the next. As Sterner says a little further on, "[high performers] idea of perfection is always moving away from them."

One way of thinking creates a state of constant dissatisfaction, frustration and striving for something that does not yet exist. The other creates a a state of present-moment awareness that creates peace and happiness. I challenge you to let go of the idea that your career goals are treasure chests for you to get and to use them as a compass to steer by instead.

Welcome to Mind the Gap

Welcome to my new blog, Mind the Gap!

I have been thinking for a while about how all the things I love to do - coach, speak, write, and teach - and all the topics I love - leadership development, career development and coaching - hang together in one coherent whole. It finally dawned on me that all of these focus on helping people identify and then close the gap between where they are and where they want to be. When I realized this, the phrase that immediately jumped out at me was "Mind the Gap."

I lived outside of London for a few years and rode the Underground thousands of times. If you have ever had the opportunity to ride the Underground, you will have heard "mind the gap" announcements and seen "mind the gap" signs reminding you to be careful of gap between the platform edge and the door of the subway car. No matter how big or small this gap is, it can really trip you up if you don't pay attention. My stiletto-wearing friends can attest to how dangerous even a tiny gap can be!

In the same way, when there is a gap - big or small - between where you are in your personal or professional life and where you want to be, that gap can be dangerous. If you are not aware of it, it can really trip you up; if you are aware of it, it creates discomfort. I have found that ignoring this discomfort only magnifies it, and the discomfort grows until it becomes dissatisfaction or worse. Instead of ignoring my discomfort, I have learned (sometimes after a lot of unhappiness) to use it as fuel for my journey to close the gap.

My personal mission and the purpose of this blog is to help people (myself included) close the gaps between where we are and where we want to be. I will post on a variety of topics, all of them intended to help us "mind the gap" in our personal and professional lives.

I would love to hear about topics of interest to you in the comments below, and please connect with me at www.susansalomone.com.