Why tough times allow us to reboot our career

Contrary to popular belief, tough times are not all that bad; they can strip us all of distraction, allowing solid focus on career repositioning, rebooting or redesigning. Situations such as COVID lockdowns can give you quality time in one space.

Times such as last decade’s Global Financial Crisis can result in the loss of jobs, reducing the possibility of spending up big on leisure and entertainment in the malls. Natural disasters like typhoons and tsunamis can strip us back to our core, forcing our hand to decide ‘what matters most’ When we are less ‘decorated’ as a result of fewer gadgets, less ‘busy’ with more homely experiences and less scattered through reduced commitments, there’s space for the following steps in your bid to move from career frustration to career fulfillment.

Step 1: Broaden the context

When you broaden the context, it is possible to recognize a current situation is not ideal yet also acknowledge that you are still standing just as millions have over centuries of historic evolution. Appreciating the current reality from a higher viewpoint brings new perspectives that provide hope. You start seeing it will be possible to come through this challenge, and be stronger for it too. tunnel allows you to stretch into the future, if at the very least only in your imagination. Dream, dream, dream into a new reality – one you previously would never have thought of, or given time to.

Step 2: Move out of your comfort zone

With this more-informed perspective and greater hope, you become aware of two options that exist for immediate implementation: a. embrace and accept the change and take appropriate action or b. accept mediocrity and slide into stagnation and redundancy.

Another way to express this is to defy the verdict* and reverse the negative reality’s fate! It’s time to accept that what got you into this state of frustration in your career will not get you success with the new world, your new dream or career fulfillment.

Change things up, approach your career with a different outlook and most importantly, act on any impulse or intuitive flash that comes through you fleetingly. If that dream is clear and compelling, start affirming in words and action your dream as if it is under formation, and eventually it will be. *(Kouzes and Posner: Turning Adversity into Opportunity)

Step 3: Adopt a process orientation towards life and career

While processes are seen to be appropriate for manufacturing and design industries, they also offer potential value to any career that is in dire need of repurposing,

Staring directly into career frustration, you will find yourself deep in a quagmire, unable to identify anything but a desperate mess. Rather, breaking your career into a series of inputs which each carry qualities, order and impact allows your career to be dissected, understood and changed. Blockages can be easily identified and eradicated, and tough decisions become prioritized because it becomes quite clear what you must keep doing, stop doing and start doing.

Tough times, when combined with process-based approach allow continuous career shifts and tweaks, placing you at the center of choice.

Step 4: Surround yourself with growth

Know that you become what you are surrounded with. Surround yourself with growth and that’s what you’ll drive, attract and create. Expand your receptors; slow down, look at, listen to and feel with those who are genuinely happy and aligned in their career. Agitate every input of your career in order to create growth and change; approach this task with curiosity and watch what emerges. How great it is that you have time for this right now.

It sounds simple but is not always easy. When you can’t find growth, revert to Step 2.

Step 5: Prioritize selfcare to prioritize career fulfillment

Never ever take yourself for granted. Nurture and nourish – always! Recognize that a move from frustration to fulfillment will not happen in the blink of an eye and will require quite a lot of effort. Always recognize and celebrate every action and small win that you achieve. If you don’t, others won’t either.

When we spend time with ourselves in a less distracting environment, we open the opportunity for our senses to inform us that ‘this doesn’t feel good’. We all know when a career or company or boss or task is not in alignment, bringing us little joy or engagement. So why do we often wait to hit rock bottom before we choose to bring change to our career? Just as some experience a heart attack before changing their diet, why do some wait for the worst-case worklife scenario before attempting to repurpose, reposition or recreate to a more appropriate work situation. Shouldn’t we be driving our own career change before an unexpected or unwanted career change drives us?

Recognize reality for what it is

Harsh times can result in job loss. If job loss comes your way, recognize it for what it is (a job loss) and demonstrate grace for the time and space this job loss has given you to recreate. Many have faced and survived job loss and many will again. World recessions can result in you doing the job of two people; recognize that change against your career goals to ascertain if this is the push you needed to move out into a new reality. Tough times can bring sickness and hardship into the home life, placing unexpected demands and duties in your domain; recognize that as a subtle nudge to find a new and flexible approach to work-life balance.

Tough times take us out of our career comfort zone to a place ‘on the edge’ where urgency, focus and precision reside. Facing tough times from the edge will have you stripped of distractions such as spare hours, an attitude of invincibility and a lack of focus. When you are in this raw and vulnerable state during tough times, robust change can occur. The world of work can become your oyster. Oysters do cultivate pearls. The pearl you receive can be the pearl you desire, only if you are truly at the edge of change. Let’s give tough times the credibility they deserve!

Debbie Nicol, managing director of ‘business en motion’, builds org systems, frameworks and cultures through the services of training, coaching and solutions, helping move businesses and leaders ahead through change. ‘learning en motion’, a niche brand of ‘business en motion’ is a contemporary response for those leaders who feel frustrated in the workplace, enabling them to be part of the solution.