I hope you all have a moment, or many moments, in your life where you outgrow your current situation. Regardless of whether you are an athlete or an executive.
Sometimes this revolution is obvious, and the next step is equally obvious. Other times the path is less clear.
If you are in a leadership role, the strengths that got you to your current position might not be the strengths you need to get you to where you want to go. Understanding the path, and the tools you will need can take time and guidance.
If you are an athlete, you may know the path you want to take but the journey may not be so direct. Sometimes talent only gets you so far and then a bit of luck, perseverance, sponsorship, and grit is required to go the extra mile. Sometimes even that isn’t enough.
Today I want to talk about that friction point where you understand or even suspect it might be time to jump, or at least start planning for the jump.
FORGET THE CROWD
First things first. This is about personal development and growth. So, I want you to forget about what your parents have invested in your career (athletes) and what your friends and family will think when you reach x title (executives).
Why do I start here? Because I see more pressure being put on people from the perceived expectations of others than often, they put on themselves. If you don’t want this for yourself, if this isn’t your dream, then please stop now.
This is my only real soapbox but please don’t chase podiums and titles to please others. Do it because you love it.
FIND YOUR PURPOSE
If you want to be a CEO, awesome. Why? If you want to race F1, amazing. Why? When I work with clients, I ask a ton of questions aimed at getting to the root of their motivation and what drives them.
Understanding what you truly love is priceless. Ask me to talk about coaching and motorsports. Watch how my face lights up. I’m animated, smiling, gesturing with my hands. Then ask me to talk about taxes. Not the same reaction at all.
Your purpose and the thing that sets your soul on fire should be that clear. Because not every day is going to be fun, or easy.
TIME FOR CHANGE
Most of you that are overachievers know what it feels like to outgrow a situation. You aren’t experiencing any real growth any longer. Things are too easy. This is usually a good indication that it might be time for some additional challenge or for you to move up.
If you are in leadership this will likely require some new skills. Maybe some increased work on executive presence, more delegation, pulling back on other parts of your role.
For those that are athletes you may look to your next opportunity. A new team, series, etc. There are personal development opportunities for you here as well. Emotional intelligence work, conflict resolution, communication skill building.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR GROWTH
If you are an athlete or executive that is at that friction point, I want to challenge you to work on some of the areas that I pointed out above. There are countless things that come up during coaching through a change, these are just a few.
An easy way to do some self-reflection on these is to do a stop/start/continue exercise. Take three sheets of paper. Write stop at the top of one, start and continue.
Take 30-45 minutes and reflect on your current role. What things would you want to stop doing if you were to move into the next version of you? What would you want to start? What would you want to continue? What would help you to become the next level of yourself you are trying to achieve?
Use this as an action plan to help guide you to move towards that version of yourself.
NEXT STEPS
The next version of you will require more work and more effort. I’d love to help. I am taking on a few new clients during the month of December. Click here to schedule your complimentary call to discuss!