My family recently enjoy some time in Rocky Mountain National Park. What a gift we have in our national parks! We felt that a national park experience shouldn’t require the kind of planning you do for a Disney trip, so we showed up without much of a plan and this wasn’t smart.
We did do enough research to get a time entry pass for Bear Lake though. We arrived at the correct time and dutifully got on the bus. As we sat elbow to elbow with other nature enthusiasts, our spirits started to sink. While Bear Lake and its trails are pretty, it lost some luster as we found ourselves in the middle of other people’s observations and conversations. There wasn’t a chance we’d see wildlife with this crowd.
So for Day 2, we decided to do our own thing and we planned a sunrise hike from our room around Sprague Lake to increase our chances of seeing wildlife. Now we were out in nature and it was silent and so peaceful. It paid off when we saw this Moose mama and her calf.
But the trail wasn’t marked well. And, … it was actually really confusing. We needed to get to check out that do so we couldn’t wander around. We decided to mark our own trail for the return so we could check out on time. This got me thinking, this same situation happens with our careers too. It's familiar and comfortable to be where the people are, they ‘beat down a path’ and tell us where we should go.
We need quiet to find our own clarity, to make space for something unexpected to appear, to listen to what is in our hearts and where we want to go next.
When we are still, we see the wonder around us like this sunset and it can inspire our next steps.
We can create our own career path markers and know we are going in the right direction when we have clear guiding criteria and values.
Doing the work to define them gives you the compass you need to get where you want to go. Even when it's foggy or the trail isn’t marked.
What are your career guiding criteria?
How are you preparing for your next role?
What do you need to do to market yourself for where you want to go next?
Do you want to create your trail guide? Check out this career growth planner, copy it and start to build your map.
Reach out and explore how you can Lead Your Career.
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