Have you ever seen a large, fully grown elephant?  They’re absolutely enormous!  But one of the interesting facts about them is that their owners keep them under control by tying them down with a flimsy rope.  When you consider the incredible power of a fully grown elephant then their timidity in being restricted by a normal sized rope seems bizarre.  But it’s all to do with how they are trained.  When they are young, a normal rope is adequate for keeping baby elephants tied in place.  Even when they try to pull against them.  If they try to run off, they won’t be strong enough to break free.  The reason why it still works years later is that the elephants still believe they can’t break free.  Despite them obviously being big enough to pull away if they wanted to.

This same natural limitation of abilities can be seen in people’s careers.  Something that someone was told as a child, e.g. “you’re no good at maths”, can still be hanging around years later.  Completely unchallenged.  This is particularly pertinent when assessing your career options.  I had this discovery when I overcome my phobia of public speaking.  To say I was daunted by speaking in public was an understatement.  I used to go to networking breakfast meetings, and as it came closer to my turn to do a 1 minute elevator pitch, I used to feel quite queasy!  But to overcome this, I started going to the public speaking group Toastmasters.  Practising in a supportive environment really helped me overcome these nerves.

I still get nervous when I do public speeches.  But I’m no longer petrified.  The feedback I got from Toastmasters was great as well, and within a few weeks I was able to deliver 10 minute talks in front of groups of 30+ people.

This changed not only the way I looked at public speaking, but also the way I looked at myself.  If I could overcome something that had frightened me for so many years , what else could I achieve?  It doesn’t mean that I’ll become a massive extrovert (I’m naturally an introvert), but it does mean that on the occasions I need to put myself in the spotlight, I’m more prepared to push myself forward.

So what limiting beliefs do you have about yourself?  And how are they restricting your career choices?  Take a good look at your beliefs to see how true they really are and if they are still relevant to you now.  You might be missing out on some exciting career opportunities.

When was the last time you saw a really tall, really big horse racing jockey? I bet the answer is, “Never”. They would simply be too big to compete, not on the same level as someone much lighter.

When was the last time you saw a really short basketball player? Someone about 5 foot tall?  Again, I would reckon the answer is, “Never”. You need skill to play basketball, but if your skill level is roughly the same level as someone else and they’re much taller than you, then chances are they will be better than you at basketball.

So what’s the point in these sporting analogies? Well, it’s raising the point about being a good fit for your job. Being a naturally good fit. I’m assuming that most of you reading this won’t have aspirations of becoming jockeys or basketball players. But how does being a good fit translate into the world of ‘normal’ jobs?

Well, a good starting point is to get clues from your core personality. This involves looking at more than just what your abilities are, where your interests lie and what you truly value. Your personality type goes further than that and gives you a deeper understanding of who you are. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, developed on the basis of the work of Carl Jung, has 16 distinct personality types. Now these are really interesting, because they are based upon aspects of the human personality that will obviously affect how we like to work:

- Are you naturally introverted or extraverted?

- Do you like to rely on your intuition, or do you like to see lots of facts before making a decision?

- Do you make decisions based solely on facts, or do you look more to your own personal values before coming to a conclusion?

- Do you like to be very structured in what you do, or do you need to have more flexibility?

Answering these questions will have some bearing on what kind of work and what kind of environment will bring out the best in you. For instance, if you are an introvert, would you want to work in an office where everyone is extremely extravert? Would that make you feel a bit uncomfortable?

Do you like to do work which is very regimented, with lots of procedures? Or is that too suffocating for you, not giving you enough of a free rein? Your core personality will give you an idea as to whether you want to be allowed to get on with work on your own, with quite a bit of freedom. Or whether you like having constant feedback and discussions about how you’re doing.

Your personality type does not have to be rigid, e.g. there are different degrees to which you are introverted or extraverted. So not everyone in the same personality type is exactly the same. But looking at your core personality does get you asking some important questions about what is a good, natural fit for you at work. And when you have more clarity on the work you are more suited for, and the environments you are more likely to flourish in, then you are able to make better decisions on which direction to point your career in.

Have you ever had that inner voice telling you that there’s more to you than your current career?  That you’re not living your full potential?  Or that you’re hiding your real self away and sticking with what you know?

Well you’re not the only one!

“It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure

It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?”

Marianne Williamson

There can be a pull in people between going for what they truly want but then also sticking with the security of having what they’ve always had.  This can extend to leading a life that fits in with conventional wisdom, rather than daring to stand out and be a bit different.

For myself, personally I’d always played the safe option.  Sticking to a safe career in legal admin that I was barely average at and that frankly left me feeling miserable.  It wasn’t the people that I worked with, rather the work itself.  Very rigid, completely rules based and no creativity whatsoever.  Which is perfectly fine, if that’s what you enjoy.  But when you have enough thoughts, enough occasions where you feel deep down that you're genuinely not suited to this, then I believe you need to explore those feelings.

Through having coaching myself, I have found out not just would make me fulfilled in my professional life, but also in my life full stop.  And deeply thinking about what  I would consider would be the best version of me.  Who am I?  What am I genuinely passionate about?

Well, it’s not a routine 9 to 5 job doing database entry work.  That’s not what gets me fired up.

That’s why I would recommend hiring a career coach and looking into what constitutes your ideal career.  And if what you would love to do is a bit unconventional or weird, then so what?  Wouldn’t you rather be the best version of yourself, than a second rate version of someone else you’re pretending to be.