So often new career coaching clients come to us, overwhelmed by choice, lack of direction, lacking in confidence and feeling beaten up and down, so much so that they truly believe that to find their ideal career is out of reach, almost impossible.

The truth is, this stuff isn’t that complicated, once you know where to look and have the patience and commitment to see it through. It’s really just all about one thing, your perspective! Your view at any one time is a mere fraction of the 360 degrees viewpoint of the fullness of your skills, talents and opportunities around you. That’s what the early stages of Career Coaching is all about, helping you to see yourself and your situation differently and fully. The only movement needed is in your mind’s view.

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We can only agree!

Thanks to Fortune for this clip.

A new career coaching client I had a phone consultation with this morning, one of our many on the usual Monday, asked a great question. Something we get asked a lot and something I thought made for quite an interesting subject to speak about here. It also shows an integral part of our approach here at SEVEN and is something we’ve not covered directly, so let’s do it today.

We are regularly asked by new clients if we conduct psychometric testing or personality testing to help in the achievement of clarity and direction.

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The rise in the use of informational interviews over the past few years is really no surprise, in light of the dramatic and rapid changes we have seen in the jobs market, not to mention the ever-shifting sands of job and economic security. The traditional routes of job-finding and career development are now almost defunct. Statistics show, and most people are amazed, that applying online is the least effective way to land a job, so much so that it is almost useless now as a route to a new job, using recruitment agencies is even less successful and internal sourcing and word-of-mouth referrals dominate how jobs are filled.

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It seems a tall order to pin down only 1 secret to determine career success, but I’m confident this is it! We see clients every day who want to change careers, accelerate their career development, want more work/life balance, to improve their work satisfaction levels and this is, again and again, the common key to achieving it all.

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Changing careers is the path less taken. It takes courage, it takes honesty, it takes strength, but boy oh boy is it worth every single step on that journey to finding what you really love to do. It’s important to be honest about the reality of it and I’ve outlined the most common truths we experience with our career changing clients to give you the heads up.

Listen here: The 7 Truths of Changing Career

1. Discomfort will be part of it.

Deciding you are ready to leave your current role and or industry is or will be uncomfortable. It’s a step into the unknown. It’s going against what you used to go with and all those around you. No gain without pain.

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Ponder this - what would reaching your career potential look like?

Imagine what your life would be like if you were performing at your optimum? How would your day to day work life be different? How would your longer term career prospects differ? How would you, specifically, benefit from greater focus, clarity, deeper confidence, more creativity, balance and intuition at work? Take some time to really think about this.

Reaching your potential is about investing in HOW you do things; working smarter, not harder. It is possible in 7 simple daily steps to transform HOW you work, but the magic happens through the ‘consistent’ use of these 7 steps. Integrate this habit into your daily life and within 30 days or less, you’ll soon see yourself operating at a different level, performing more and more to your true potential, until that new level becomes your new norm.

Enter your secret weapon to reaching your career potential:

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The SEVEN Career Coaching system is simple, streamlined and we’ve divided it into 3 stages. For clients who want to change career or people wanting to start from scratch to ensure their next career move is the best one, we work through each stage. For people who are looking for clarity or have big decisions to make or need resolution around the past, clients often succeed within Stage 2.

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Describe why you initially came to see a Career Coach?

I had too many options for the future and I couldn’t decipher what was most important and how to come to a decision. I was very stressed and couldn’t make sense of the factors in my mind.

Why did you choose SEVEN Career Coaching?
It was recommended by a friend.

What were your initial impressions following your first session with your Career Coach?
My initial impressions were that Evelyn had done this kind of thing before with people like me. This gave me confidence that I was with the right person to eventually uncover the best decision.

Describe Evelyn’s style of coaching?
Flexible. Fun. She is a great listener with an effective method for getting to the heart of the issue.

What did you enjoy most about the 1-1 career coaching sessions?
I could say whatever popped into my head without fear of judgement and furthermore, I was allowed to change my mind without the same fear. It was great to be able to go somewhere that was neutral and unbiased to really clear my thoughts and get the clarity I needed.

What did you enjoy most about the coaching exercises given in between the sessions?
The exercised forced me to think about myself and what I was doing from a different perspective. They weren’t too difficult and were very relevant. The most effective was definitely the values exercise.

What were the 3 key differences you notice in yourself between now and before you started coaching?
I’m nowhere near as stressed about the decisions I’m facing.
I have a heightened sense of self awareness.
I am more confident and content in the decision I have made and will make.

What was your objective from coaching and was that achieved?
My objective was to decide what actions I was going to take in the next 12 months to set me up for the next few years. I still haven’t decided what I’m going to do but more importantly I have the confidence and the knowledge to make the right decision when the time comes. I’m no longer walking around with permanent anxiety that I don’t know what the future holds.

How could we improve what we do?
More self awareness exercises? Eg. Values exercise

If you would, why would you recommend Evelyn’s coaching to a friend or colleague?
I would recommend SEVEN Career Coaching because I know it will be a fun, safe environment for them to clear their head and get some clarity on any problems they have. It gets to the point while being light-hearted.

Can we include your words for our testimonials page on our website?
Of course J

Sarah Hinch, Business Analyst, Banking.
Received on February 25th 2013.

If you’re interested in discussing how we could work with you - click HERE to book your free phone consultation and speak to one of our Career Coaches directly.

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