So many ideas, so little time. When making the right decision is critical for success. (Iona’s story)
Some clients are stuck because they have too many ideas and don’t know how to narrow them down. This is just as painful as having zero ideas.
But it’s a different kind of pain - these clients carry with them the burden of confidence in their potential to make a difference, if only they could narrow the field of ideas. The drifting through time combined with the wasted opportunity is often a heavy load to carry.
Iona was one such client.
“I felt like I could absolutely do anything. I was confident that if I pointed my skills and experience at one thing that I could make a real impact. But I could never make a decision on the right thing to focus on - and that lack of direction and focus had begun to weigh very heavily on me.”
The challenge
Iona possessed a growing, driving motivation to make a difference in the world. But her inability to decide exactly where to focus her attention was leaving her feeling stuck.
In her quest to discover how to make her impact on the world, Iona had tried all sorts of things that had uncovered an ocean's worth of possible ideas for her career future.
These ideas touched on so many possible directions the search had begun to consume her every spare moment - and there weren't many of those with two children, a husband who travelled a lot with work and a consulting career of her own!
Nevertheless in her spare moments, she devoured huge volumes of information across a range of absorbingly-tantalising topics including world politics, economic inequality, gender inequality, climate change, environmental issues and poverty…to name but a few.
She possessed a rich bag of talents including fluency in several languages, experience in multiple industries, team management, change project leadership and strategy consulting.
These, combined with a resilience and adaptability crafted while growing up in the Balkans, meant that her potential felt limitless - if only she could only decide on a new direction.
ONE new definitive direction - not 454 potential directions!
The big worry
She worried that time was running out.
That she'd waste another few years not running in the right direction.
And instead, waste her potential wondering which was her right direction.
And waste irked Iona to the core.
She'd already invested time and energy falling down research rabbit holes.
She'd joined a group programme on entrepreneurialism.
She’d invested in courses galore.
She'd even joined forces with trusted business friends to generate social enterprise ideas.
No stone had been left unturned.
Yet, she still didn't know which way to focus.
Finding the right method to get the right results
A friend recommended she look at the Midlife Unstuck blog.
Half an hour later, she'd devoured every article and had booked in a call to figure out if Lucia had something special, something different that would help her find her focus.
Lucia listened to the long list of Iona's efforts in her attempts to discover her new direction - one that would bring focus to all her energy, intellect and desire for change.
Lucia sensed that the group programme would take too long for Iona and form yet another distraction - as she understood Iona's appetite for learning was huge.
Instead, she suggested the one-to-one programme and explained how it worked.
It began with finding Superpowers and nailing down Kryptonite.
And then progressed to her proven Fierce method that takes the guess-work out of deciding new directions.
After sharing client stories, Lucia guaranteed that if Iona did what she asked her to do, that by the end of the programme - Iona would have chosen her best new direction.
And would be sprinting towards it - at a speed that was right for her busy life. At a pace she could squeeze into her spare moments.
Personality fit was important - Iona knew she was strong and she wanted to be challenged. And channelled.
And she wondered if it was also possible to have fun at the same time?
Their laughter during the introductory call suggested it would be a good fit and Iona always trusted her gut.
“I already had a pretty good idea of my strengths but narrowing them down into just 4 unique Superpowers took a bit of work. So now, I know that these four ultra-strengths make me feel great and allow me to do fast, light work. I can guesstimate how much of these I can use in any future role.”
The process
At the end of their first month of working together, a week after their three hour deep-dive session, Lucia presented Iona with a draft of her unique Superpowers and Kryptonite - which they then finalised together.
Then, it was time for the direction-finder process.
Week by week, small step by small step, Iona was encouraged to empty her brain of every single problem that interested her. Unsurprisingly, the list was long. Really long.
Then each problem was categorised.
And narrowed down in analytical and logical ways to a smaller number.
Then Iona was encouraged to tap into her strong gut instinct to further shorten the list.
After a couple of weeks of research and deliberation, Iona had decided the problem she wanted to focus the remainder of her career working on.
The Big Reveal
The new arena that Iona chose was the one that dominated her spare moments and her brain power.
It was the one that got her excited most about the potential difference she could make in the world with her unique Superpowers.
Along the way, there were other thinking assignments and masterclasses on fear of failure, networking, values and the behaviour/thought processes that might hinder progress - including silencing her inner critical voice.
Actions in her new arena
After Iona decided that her new arena is the circular economy, she prepared for action.
She mapped out her garden network - including any known links to or within her new arena.
She attended Lucia's foundational Network like a Midlife Human training, and began to engage (Iona-style) with relevant people in her new arena and make new genuine, human connections.
A job-search strategy is required.
Iona researched and drew out a market-map of players in the new arena and analysed segments and potential gaps for her.
Then began to focus on her personal brand.
Lucia helped Iona design her Superpowers into her CV and her Linkedin profile - in ways that would prompt potential connections and interviewers to ask her the right questions.
So Iona is now using her spare moments to take many mini-steps within her new arena.
Her potential in sharp focus
Without the distraction of 100s or other potential ideas, she knows what needs to be done and is in a position to take advantage of any opportunity that she creates or comes her way.
Using her limited time valuably, she selects events to attend within her new arena and has signed up to courses on artificial intelligence - which she discovered is a huge growth area within the circular economy.
“What a relief to have decided upon my new direction. I know it’s early days but I have a strategy and a plan that I can invest my spare moments in. And I feel very confident that I’m going in the right direction.”
She also supports and connects with voices in her new arena and keeps an eye out for roles that suit her Superpowers.
It's early days but she has found a couple of roles that, on the face of it, match her Superpowers and she's investigating them.
And she continues to networking fiercely - having valuable conversations in her new arena - getting to know it from the out-side in. Until the time she becomes an insider and a voice herself in the circular economy.
“Working with Lucia is hard work. It’s important work. And it’s often fun. Put simply, her methods work. I’m left without a shadow of a doubt that my new direction is where I want to be. Watch this space.”
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Find out more about the Midlife Unstuck career design programmes:
Personalised Career Redesign - there are two options to work one-to-one with Lucia which vary depending on desire for speed and depth of guidance.
DIY career redesign programme with group support - The Fierce Emporium.
