Year-End Reflections: The Career Edition

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Ah, here we are. The last post in the Year in Review series, just in time to ring the bell for midnight! (No one ever said that I don’t make my completely arbitrary, self-imposed deadlines)

So on a day when no one should be thinking about work, here I am on a train back from DC to New York, contemplating right alongside you what happened with my worklife this year as well as the big picture of where I see my work taking me in the next decade and then backing up to what I envision for this upcoming year that will help get me where I want to go.

As with Relationships and Personal Finances, there is always a “current” and a “destination”. The current in this situation is that I work in consulting with the Firm and, overall, I love it. The destination picture is made up a lot of different images – partnership, motherhood, speaker, writer, blogger, artist – which can and will take a lot of different forms and also imply a “moving target” vibe.

I think it’s impossible to know where you’re going to be for sure. Only the Big Guy knows that! And yet, I think there is a lot you can come up with that will prepare you for what you hope for and could be transferable to wherever you end up.

Looking back at 2016

There are a lot of things to consider here, but I would start with the following questions to get the juices flowing and see where you go from there:

• What was the best work moment or day this past year?
• Whether it was big or small, what was a major highlight? How did it make you feel?
• What was the biggest obstacle you overcame this year? What did it take to persevere?
• Who are your biggest champions in your work environment? In what ways do these people support you?
• Did you mentor anyone this year? What was the biggest lesson you saw them learn? What were you surprised to have learned from them (directly or indirectly)?
• What did you do a lot this year that you loved?
• What did you do this year that you did not like?
• What was your biggest struggle this year with work?
• What was your biggest source of tension? How did you deal with it?
• What project/assignment did you most/lease enjoy?
• Where was God in your work life this year?

If it isn’t already clear based on the other posts I’ve done in this years, reflecting back on the past year is so powerful for me and I love it.

Often times life is moving as such a quick speed that trying to keep up consumes our energy and we don’t even think to take a moment to take stock in our successes. If we did, I think the reflection would create substantial power and strength to propel us faster towards our goals.  

This was my first full year at my current level and it was great. I felt like I hit my stride on the project I was running and it felt like the culmination of a lot of different skills I’ve acquired the past couple of years.

And yet, the “hard” project that followed was actually was created my “best day” moment. I think the excitement of the moment is due to the fact that the engagement had been so hard. It felt like a huge victory to sit at that table with senior leadership at the client and chime in on findings I contributed to. Likewise, I felt good about the fact that the Firm’s partners also viewed me as a key member of the conversation and not only as a worker bee getting the project done.

To address a separate question, I have been aware of the people that I have in my corner at the Firm, but I saw them rally for me this fall. I was coming off the “hard” project and was about to start on something new. In a surprising turn of events, there ended up being a conflict of interest and then I ended up on a couple of different projects for a day or two before I was moved to something else.

Safe to say a few weeks of that - with no end or settling down in sight - led to an unhappy Sarah. Rather than allow my unhappiness to fester and irreplaceably deteriorate my view of the firm and work, I decided to voice my concern and frustration to a few key relationships. This resulted in a few more conversations with others in my circle.

In the midst of it, it felt like a huge risk and drama-city to be talking so much about my feelings about work rather than the results of my work, which is not my jam. However, looking back. I am so thankful for that tribulation because I felt heard and action was taken to ensure that my work was aligned with leadership and my superiors were knowledgeable about my efforts.

I came out stronger and more sure of my place in the big picture than I knew prior to my struggle.

Dreaming about the finish line

Gosh, I love big picture thinking! I would argue that it is the flip side of the same coin as reflection. I think God shows up in both so powerfully. Here are a few questions I contemplate to get myself in the posture to think big:

• When you imagine your tombstone or eulogy, how do you hope people will describe you? Where does your work/career come into it?
• What kind of impact do you want to make with your life? (i.e. build, create, design, empower, etc.)
• When you think about ten, twenty, or thirty years from now, what are you most afraid of?
• What do you think will be the biggest challenge to realizing whatever you are dreaming?
• What qualities do you imagine welding in the act of living out your dream?

When I went to the School of Ministry, I heard two things. The first was if you can imagine doing your goal yourself (aka without God) it’s not big enough. The second was in the form of a received word. The man told me that I am a visionary and it is one of my gifts.

I think my belief in both of these things has allowed me to really expand my capacity for imagining the craziest things and believing that they could become reality someday.

So a glimpse into my dreaming:

• I can see myself as a partner at the Firm.
• I can also see myself as a traveling career coach and motivational speaker.
• I can equally see myself as an author and global ambassador for women-related causes.
• I can see myself as a mother and wife.

And here’s the thing about dreaming: I have no idea if any of these or all of these will become a reality.

That part is not my job.

My job is to dream and then lay it all down at the cross. To say: these are the desires of my heart, Lord, but it is your will be done.

My life is God’s and I aspire to follow His lead to the ends of the earth. I will do this blog as long as I feel like He’s asking me to. Same with my job.

However, as much as I am meant to dream, I am also meant to act and do.

This happens in the present.

Stepping into the new year

The new year is imminent. Now is the time to take the lessons and wisdom from this past year and, in light of your hopes and dreams, figure out what you can do now to well position yourself to achieve what you’ve set out for whilst staying flexible, as I said earlier.

• What can I do now to help me become the person I want to be? What steps do I need to take now to address any potential roadblocks?
• Who do I need to learn from more this year? What kind of skills do I need to acquire and who can help me achieve it?
• How can I invite God into the journey and present?
• What kinds of projects/assignments do I want to tackle this year?
• What will make me happier at my job? What can I do to make it happen?

This is where the grind happens. This is where you decide if you really want to put in the time and effort to get to where you want to go or not. There tends to be quite a chasm between where you currently are and your God-sized goals.

When I think about this next year, I see a lot of uncertainty. Not because I’m unsure of what I want to do, but rather my current work life has yet to unfold. I am actually waiting for the client sign off on a pretty life-changing engagement.

That’s the thing about consulting. I could be working in New York, in rural Pennsylvania, or somewhere else entirely. One means sleeping in my bed every night and the others means seeing the city eight days a month, if I’m lucky.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. It’s just a fact of my life. I won’t know what’s coming until it’s here. I am anticipating good things and I know I will work hard at whatever comes.

That is my reality and truth for this year in particular. I aspire to be present, quick thinking, additive, and optimistic. I hope to see the upside in challenges and to soak up my experiences because I know life is short.

I want to seek God in every circumstance. I have a particular feeling that there will be a lot of quality time with Him this year. He is preparing us for some big teamwork tasks and journeys.

S+B gals, I am so hopeful for where God is taking you. I cannot stop believing in the purposefulness of your lives.

He loves you so much.

He made you with a purpose.

He is inviting you into deeper relationship with Him, through your work among other things!

May you each have the happiest New Year’s ever and your best year yet!!