Your Green Career Journey: Winning and Enjoying Rewards

This post is the eighth in a series on Green trends and foresight in support of our forthcoming GreenSenses Workshop: Practical Strategies for Career Pivots

Photo by Jackson David on Unsplash

What do you do when you begin to realize the gifts of your journey? How do you avoid the trap of success sabotage?

Summary:

• We will begin to realize the rewards of the journey well before it is over

• Awareness and gratitude are key to receiving the rewards

• We may sometimes doubt ourselves and wonder if we deserve the gifts

• We are invited to recognize that the rewards are real, that we deserve them, and we can maintain the focus on our career goals and calling.

Congratulations, you are doing great and you know it. You are refining your career goals, engaging with life to achieve them, and becoming aware that you are receiving some unexpected rewards. It is a time to recognize and enjoy the fruits of your journey, even as you continue on your journey. Typically, those include a better focus on your goals and deeper presence and awareness in your day-to-day activities. It isn’t that life is suddenly perfect and no problems arise—shoestrings still break—but you realize that you have learned from those earlier toe-stubbings and are much better able to put things in context.

“Be present in all things and thankful for all things.” - Maya Angelou

We suggest that if you are journaling, set aside some space to create a regular gratitude list, those things that happen that bring insight and joy into your life. It could be appreciation for the call-back from a potential client or employer, a warm spring morning, or a friend offering support and encouragement for your journey. There are no rules for a gratitude list and you may be surprised at the events that seemed troublesome turning up in your reflections.

You may find that your intuition is more refined and you are learning how to better trust your judgment and more openly engage with your mentor and cheerleaders about ways to get the answers to your questions.

So, what could possibly go wrong? It is all coming together and, where it is not a perfect fit, you have learned resilience and agility, to adapt to changing circumstances and emerging opportunities. So, why is that inner voice, the inner critic, raising its annoying voice again? Why is it telling you that, sure you are doing pretty well, but you know that you are an impostor and that you don’t deserve the coming success? That voice may lead you to procrastination which delays progress and produces more doubt.

Or, the voice may be especially devious and say that because you have been working so hard that you should not make any mistakes. When you do make an error, rather than accepting and building from it, the voice tries to convince you of the many fallacies that accompany growth, like the illusion that you are a failure, instead of realizing that the voice is only trying to protect you from the satisfaction of living into your dream. The voice likes the status quo, after all, and you have grown beyond it.

This is the invitation to sharpen your senses and be continually aware of the fruits of the journey. You have made mistakes and learned from them; why would this be any different? This is one of the rewards from your journey, not that you don’t make mistakes, but that you can learn from them. Do this and you may not commit fewer mistakes, but certainly, you will likely not repeat the same mistakes.

“There’s no way that you can live an adequate life without many mistakes. In fact, one trick in life is to get so you can handle mistakes.” - Charlie Munger

At the same time, recognize and celebrate your progress. We suggest that you ask your mentor and cheerleaders to share with you the ways you have grown and achieved. Likely, they will offer positive insights and observations that you did not notice. It is ok to take time to reflect and enjoy these, perhaps even reward yourself. The journey continues and you can be part of it with new-found confidence and capability.

Some questions to ponder:

• Is your gratitude list a combination of personal and professional?

• What achievement and reward on this journey are you most proud of?

• How have you learned from your mistakes? And successes?

Learn more about our upcoming GreenSenses Workshop: Practical Strategies for Career Pivots

Can we help with building and sustaining the skills you or your team need to advance professionally? Reach out to Beth Offenbacker, PhD, CPCC, ACC, at beth@waterfordinc.com or via phone or text at 703-623-4811 to discuss if our Green Career, Executive/Leadership Coaching, Small Group Coaching and Mentoring, or Learning & Development services are right for you. We work with professionals and organizations that have a sustainability focus in their work. All services are customized to your needs.