In a rapidly changing world, the key to finding stability is to hold on to what you know and can control. This means calibrating to your own internal wisdom system before, instead of, or as an equal measure to external markers. The reason this is necessary is that the systems of the world must also redefine their identity to catch up to what the rest of the world needs.
With an eye toward this, I’ve been thinking less about career development and more about career discernment as a way to make sense of the now when the future is still in flux. Based on the conversations I am having with leaders (and you are a leader if anyone looks to you for guidance), I organized the topics into a model for discernment I would call our wisdom system:
DISCERNMENT = ATTENTION + TIME + ENERGY
Discernment, in this case, comes from the attention and time we spend and the energy that is converted. In other words, what you attend to plus how you spend time creates the energy available to you.
For example, I know that energy powers discernment because I see how a low energy tank creates impatience for what I deal with or a lack of motivation to make the changes in my life that I need to find myself in a better situation. This is why, when I had jobs that drained me, I still found I had nothing left in my tank at the end of the day to look for something better suited to my time and talents.
Better Decisions
By specializing in career satisfaction, I tend to focus on making informed decisions with the information I have. With a focus on being a better steward of our attention, time, and energy, we can position ourselves for greater impact even in a rapidly changing world.
No one else can be an expert on you and what you can do. This means their vote in your purpose, direction, and capability should carry less weight than your own. Said another way, ensure you have a priority vote on your own Discernment Committee.
If I had listened to the Department Director who told me I was a slow learner, I would not have negotiated an additional bonus when she came back to offer me a job that her original candidate had bailed on.
The Wisdom System
When I refine my conversations to focus on career discernment, I’m asking someone to save the D.A.T.E.
D = Discernment, the light to guide your way
A = Attention, the focus to set your course
T = Time, the container for your resources
E = Energy, to fuel you as the vehicle of impact and change
Whether you are evaluating or troubleshooting your situation, you can ask yourself these questions:
What has my attention?
What gets my time?
What receives my energy?
From this, you can discern your priorities and whether or not they should shift from supporting who you’ve been to who you are becoming. This process can be done quarterly or biannually to ensure that when you look up at the end of every year, you’ve already recalculated your route so that you can stay on course. For job seekers, I recommend recalibrating monthly so that you are not waiting six months or a year to know you already had the power to change things.
You Are Worthy
In my talk and course on Leveraging AI, I share how I created an opportunity filter to help me determine which opportunities are worth pursuing. This was made possible when I realized I was making some decisions based on a sense of lack (limited attention, time, energy) rather than abundance that simply needed more focus so that I could maximize my capacity. The maturity of my work and business has transformed from “am I worthy” to “is this worthy of my attention, time, or energy?”
Deepen Your Commitment to the Life You Want
With a focus on creating the career you actually want, start by first recognizing if you’ve been “dating” around. Some I’ve talked to have been dating businesses, roles, responsibilities, and even identities for years. Eventually, discernment arrives and asks you to deepen your commitment to your future or renegotiate it.
When you use these keys to career discernment, what do you feel
called to commit to?
