What do you really want? What is your https://premier-pharmacy.com/product/adipex/ life’s passion? Many people find it hard to know where to start thinking. I certainly do, and if I am not careful I will just spend endless time wondering what it really is I want to do, not ever getting anywhere.
What really helped me, when I was re-inventing myself once again, was a simple framework that I would like to share with you. Just listing the options of what I could do, limited them and made the process easier to grasp and control. I found I could eliminate some rather quickly, which gave me a feeling that I at least did have some idea of what I wanted and did know what I was doing. It also opened up my mind to some of the options I hadn’t thought of initially.
Your options:
- Work: Full-time, part-time, self-employed, voluntary.
Continue in your field of experience. This might be easier than you think, many of us find that going back to your old employer and having a chat on what might work for both of you is a good start. Develop further in a new field, based on your current interests and skills. Do your old job from home, partly from home or freelance. Find a job-share. Start your own business. Consider online, web-based versions of your job. Find voluntary organisations in your area desperate for some help, or just start your own charity.
- Education: Full-time, Part-time, Distance learning, Short workshops or Certification courses.
Brush up on your skills, knowledge and credentials. It could help boost your confidence, get your mind back to ‘work’ mode or build a network. Also having a specific title or certificate could give you an extra edge in the job-market. Develop yourself in an area that offers more part-time options or flexibility. Develop yourself in an area that you have a newly discovered interest in, or have always wanted to do but never got around to. Check out whether a new area is something for you indeed by joining a related course. Focus on making your hobby or key interest your work and develop in this area. Or don’t focus on work-outcomes at all and just develop yourself, find a place to meet new people and stretch your mind.
- Time out/Sabbatical: Spend time on your own body, mind and soul. Develop one of your hobbies further, embark on a new hobby.
Take a well-deserved rest. Pick up sports, music or arts & crafts again. Improve your social life, join new clubs, networks or organise more parties. Start a spiritual journey, take yoga or mindfulness classes. Go out in nature, go for walks, go cycling or running for charity. Make paintings, sculptures, design objects or create anything that takes your fancy. Collect memorabilia, paintings, antiques or dried flowers. Work on improving areas of your life that need some attention, such as your garden, your home or your finances. Go on a diet. Get your IT, TV and phone to work the way you like. Read books you have never had time to read. Listen to music. Go away somewhere: Go on a trip, visit friends, or take a retreat.
- Caring : Look after someone who needs extra help and support such as family members, parents or neighbours.
- Being a parent: Educate, nurture and develop your child(ren), or have another one.
Be there to organise their educational and social life. Be emotionally available. Develop yourself to better support your children. Become active in school, clubs or church. Do homework with them, organise play-dates, organise holiday and after-school activities, tidy-up and clean, provide good food, teach them about every-day life (personal hygiene, enjoying nature, helping out in the house), organise appropriate toys and games. This can take a lot of work, especially if you want to do it well. Many parents feel that, even when their children are in full-time school, only 10-20 hours per week are left to do anything else. This is especially true if you are doing most of the parenting on your own or have a child with additional needs. Parents hiring a nanny to do this job will find that, if done well, it can indeed be a full-time job.
Now imagine you could do anything, let go of any practical considerations for the moment. Look at each option separately and fill it in further, so you will have a ‘box’ under each heading that applies to you. Make it personal, add your own options. What is it you would do if you would work (more)? Which sort of work are you thinking about? What sort of activities would you be doing more of? What kind of jobs would work for you? What have you see others do that you liked? What have you always fancied doing?
These are your options! All neatly listed, and perhaps already narrowed down, with some options being much more attractive than others. Perhaps you found more options than you thought of. Or perhaps you were actually rather shocked by finding how limited your options are.
When I did this several years ago I was relieved to find I actually had so many options, and some were much more attractive than I had imagined after spending some time on them. I found that any of my options could become my plan B: if my preferred option wouldn’t work out, this is what I could do. It gave me a sense of security that my life would not be ended if my plans wouldn’t happen.
I would love to hear what you found too, do let me know. What did you discover, where did you get?
Author: Inge Woudstra, founder of Mum & Career
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