Episode 17 – Marc advises people in the second half of life to recognize and learn from moments of clarity, to pivot to their next career.
Description:
Description:In this episode, Marc shares the chapter, “When Clouds Part: Moments of Clarity,” from his upcoming book, Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide to the Second Half of Life, scheduled to be available for pre-order in March, and available on Amazon, in April, 2017.
Key Takeaways:
[2:03] Sam was in his late 50s when he was laid off for the second time. He went on walkabout for a month. In that time, he had a moment of clarity. He realized he didn’t need a lot. All he needed was food, drink, a place to sleep, and a place to work out.
[3:19] In moments of clarity, distractions vanish away in the face of something life-altering: illness, death, divorce, layoff, disaster, an inheritance, or an opportunity. Suddenly, the way you were living doesn’t make sense. It may touch on your career.
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[4:20] You might realize you went into a career under pressure, or that you are stopped in your career path. Because of a change, filters that prevented you from seeing things as they are have come down, and you have an opportunity to learn more about yourself.
[4:57] You learn what’s really important to you at those times. The problem is, those filters go back up quickly. If you don’t act in that moment of clarity, or set a change in place, you will go on as you were, with a nagging sense of a missed opportunity.
[5:25] Marc talks about his own walkabout in his 20s. Spending only $500.00 in a month made him realize he needed a lot less than he thought. It also was when he met his wife of 30 years. Marc mentions other moments of clarity around his family, health, and job.
[6:43] In a disability period after an accident, Marc found peace. His returning to work, when IBM was near bankruptcy, gave him purpose to change his career to preserve his contentment, rather than adopt the panic of his colleagues.
[7:46] Marc’s moment of clarity helped his career pivot to teaching high school. What Marc learned in his moment of clarity no longer had a front seat in his awareness, but it was still there. Marc asks clients to look back for moments of clarity, and chronicle them.
[8:27] Fill out a history of each job from its start to end. Note circumstances, duties, challenges, what you learned, how you felt, what you liked and didn’t like about your role, the team and management, the environment, and the conditions of your exit. Do this for every position you’ve ever had, and you will see a pattern.
[10:16] Career Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, but expecting a different outcome each time. In Sam’s case, he decided to look for another job, and take a couple of years to plan to pivot with his spouse to a more modest lifestyle.
[10:49] You’re likely to have a moment of clarity after reflecting back on your life and your career. You’re likely to see patterns and missed opportunities that have brought you to where you are today. What do you want to do, from today on?
[11:10] Action Steps: Retrace moments when you suddenly saw life differently, after a hardship, or a happy event. Write down what you learned, whether you followed the lessons, or ignored them, and the results. Retrace your job history. What did you learn about yourself and your needs from each job? Moments of clarity are, oh so valuable!
[11:45] Highlights to consider: (1) Marc’s bicycle accident, as related in episode 016, gave him clarity for his life. (2) Marc hated programming eight hours a day with a coding pad for IBM. When he followed his boss to a different position, he found he had made the same mistake. Looking back at his career changes, he sees several relapses.
Mentioned in This Episode:
Contact Marc, and ask questions at: Careerpivot.com/contact-me
Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide to the Second Half of Life, by Marc Miller with Susan Lahey, available in April 2017
Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for Baby Boomers, by Marc Miller with Susan Lahey
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After 40 years of selling, in three different industries, the last employer offered me a big check to just go away. Too good to say no, so here I am, 62, and somewhat bored shoveling snow the last two months. Found your website, and like reading the blogs.
Formed a sub-agency in my latest industry, and trying to put the pieces back together with previous clients.
Good advice about moment of clarity. Mine was when I was shoveling al that snow.
It is amazing when those moments happen and you go huh!
Marc