Building strong professional relationships doesn’t have to be a chore

Maintaining a strong professional network offers many benefits. You can learn something new, help others, exchange information, and even open the doors to your next big opportunity.

I’ve been a big believer in networking since the start of my career. One of my first jobs after college came through an alumnus from my university. Many years later, the first job I had after moving to London came through a colleague’s friend, who got my resume directly into the hands of the hiring manager. Even now, most of my client engagements come through my professional network.

Creating a strong network doesn’t just happen on its own. It requires time, effort, and intention to build and maintain healthy relationships. It starts with first understanding the different types of contacts in your network and then creating simple habits to stay in touch with them.

Three Types Of Contacts Exist

If you were to take a snapshot of every single person you’ve ever come across in your life, each person would fall into one of three, mutually exclusive categories at a time. First, cold contacts with whom you have no ongoing regular contact. Second, warm contacts-the people you’ve been in touch with recently. And finally, hot contacts-those you’re in active back-and-forth communication about something relevant to one or both of you.

It turns out most people in your life have become cold contacts. No one can stay in touch with every single person out there. But unfortunately, going from cold to hot is difficult. Just think about a long-lost colleague or friend who hasn’t been in touch with you for years but suddenly reaches out because they need something from you. This sort of behavior doesn’t tend to land well.

Make A Habit Of Keeping Key Contacts Warm

The reality is that you can’t keep every contact warm. However, certain categories of contacts should probably be at the top of your list, including former managers and colleagues, recruiters, those working at companies of interest, mentors, mentees, alumni, and other influential individuals in your sector with strong networks themselves. You need a way to keep these key contacts warm, especially when you don’t need anything from them.

One way to consistently keep certain contacts warm in your network is to make it a routine so you can do it without it involving too much effort or friction. Much research has been done on habit formation, and books like The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg or Atomic Habits by James Clear indicate that forming new habits involves a cue, routine, and payoff. It turns out that the cue is often the most important part of forming new habits.

If you’re not used to regularly keeping your contacts warm, creating clear cuing mechanisms can help you more effectively manage your network.

LinkedIn Notifications Can Trigger Reconnections

Some of the simplest ways to cue yourself to reconnect with people are built into LinkedIn with notification prompts, which you can turn on by doing the following:

1. Go to your Notifications settings and select “Connecting with others”
2. Toggle on “Allow connections related notifications.”
3. Turn on the types of notifications you want to receive. Three good places to start are: 1) Updates from your network, 2) Updates from people you know, 3) Birthdays and job anniversaries

Then, you’ll automatically receive notifications (push, in-app, and/or email) whenever someone posts or shares something, has a birthday, starts a new job, or crosses a work anniversary milestone. You can also set a recurring appointment with yourself with a direct link to your LinkedIn Notifications tab, when you see these updates from connections in your network.

If you’re like many people who feel awkward suddenly reconnecting with someone, these notifications give you excuses to reconnect with long-lost contacts in your network. Just make sure you take the time to personalize any attempts to reconnect. Simply saying, “happy birthday,” or “congrats on the new job” alone likely won’t cut it. Take a few minutes to ask a couple of questions, refer to something you recall about this person, and share a brief update on what you’re up to.

Focus On What You Can Control

When reconnecting with people, remember that some people will respond while others will not. Some relationships will get rekindled, while others will not. Be prepared for your attempts at warming up a contact to result in exchanging a few pleasantries, followed by the connection fizzling out again.

Don’t worry. It happens all the time, and it’s okay. Try not to take it too personally. In the worst-case scenario, you’ve done what you can to warm up a contact, which is all you can control. Whether the other person responds in kind is completely up to them. In my experience, most people are not the best at staying in touch.

Keeping your network warm doesn’t always amount to anything in the near term, but you never really know how things will pan out. Sure, you could get lucky when an opportunity suddenly arises after reconnecting with a cold contact for the first time in years. But more often, the best opportunities emerge from a series of consistent efforts you’ve made to stay in touch with someone over the years, often in ways you could never have predicted.

Originally published at Forbes.

Simple Ways To Maintain A Strong Professional Network was originally published in Career Relaunch on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Looking to take the next step in your career but afraid of making the wrong choice? The thought of changing careers can be overwhelming, especially if you’ve worked at the same place for a long period of time. However, despite the pressure to make the right decision, staying in the wrong job through fear of change can be just as risky as making a move.

Sometimes, a career move can be the best thing for you and will open doors to new opportunities and relationships. A study by St James’s Place found that 33% of UK workers are looking to switch careers in the next 12 months, demonstrating that despite the fear of making the wrong choice, there are plenty of people still open to exploring new avenues.

If you’re ready for a new challenge but nervous about the steps needed, this blog explores how to evaluate a career move and move forward with confidence and clarity!

How to recognise when it is time for a career move

Recognising when it is time for a career move is important to prevent burnout and ensure you are happy and fulfilled at work. However, knowing when you are truly ready for a change can be challenging.

If you are considering a career move, your feelings are important to acknowledge. Having such thoughts might mean that your current career choice is no longer fulfilling your expertise and it’s time for change. Recognising when to make a career move doesn’t mean you have to hand in your notice and quit tomorrow, but it should open your eyes to reevaluate your options.

According to Statista, in 2024, approximately 1.22 million people in the United Kingdom switched jobs from one industry to another, demonstrating how common it is for people to make a career move.

How to recognise when it’s time for a career move:

• You feel undervalued or appreciated.
• You no longer feel motivated, happy or fulfilled.
• You feel burnt out, exhausted or emotionally drained.
• You’re craving better opportunities.
• Your work environment has become toxic.
• You dread going to work every day.
• You’ve stopped learning or growing in your role.
• Your values no longer align with the company’s culture or mission.
• Your salary doesn’t match with your level of expertise.

How to assess the pros and cons of your decision

Assessing the pros and cons of staying in your role, or making a move, is the first step to take if something doesn’t feel right. Taking this step can feel overwhelming but it’s extremely important to ensure you’re making the right decision.

Breaking down the pros and cons of staying or leaving can help you put things into perspective. For example, you might feel like you’ve stopped growing in your role. Before taking action on this, you should ask yourself if you have taken any steps to approach this with your current employer. If you haven’t spoken to your manager in regards to career progression opportunities, it might be worth having this conversation and raising how you feel before rushing into any decisions you may later regret.

The pros and cons of making a career move will look different for everyone due to personal circumstances and differing situations, so you should create your own personalised list to effectively weigh up your options. Whilst one person’s decision to look for a new role may be driven by the desire for a new salary, another person may be looking for a better work-life balance.

To assess the pros and cons of a career move, you should weigh up:

The pros of staying

Job security — Job security can be a pro of staying in your current role as financial and professional stability is essential for fulfilment at work. Knowing you have a job to turn up to every day and a consistent paycheck is very reassuring, especially if you have financial or personal commitments, such as a family to feed or rent to pay.

Established relationships — Building long and trusting relationships with your colleagues can make your days at work more enjoyable. A pro of staying in your current role is having solid professional relationships to rely on and a team you feel familiar with. Established relationships mean you also know who to go to for specific support and how to effectively communicate with managers, directors and your colleagues.

Opportunities for internal growth — If there are opportunities for growth within your workplace, whether that’s through a promotion or joining a different department, it’s definitely worth considering staying. Sometimes the best opportunities will be undiscovered with your current company. It’s also a much easier way to progress professionally as you’re not having to completely start over.

The cons of staying

Stagnation — If you no longer feel excited or challenged by your job, you’re probably finding it hard to stay interested and motivated in your role. This can hold you back from progressing, advancing your skills and knowledge and can make coming to work feel like a chore. You spend so much of your time at work so it’s essential that you’re in a job you enjoy.

Feeling unfulfilled or undervalued — If you’re feeling undervalued, unfulfilled or that your hard work gets brushed under the carpet, it might be time to make a move. For your own mental health, you must be happy and fulfilled in your role and if you’re not, it’s clear that it’s not the job for you anymore. The Love2shop Employee Value Report found that around 6.5 million UK professionals who feel underappreciated by their bosses are actively looking to leave their job.

Toxic work culture or poor leadership — If your workplace has a toxic culture or you’re dealing with poor leadership, staying in your role can take a toll on your mental health, which should always be a priority. If your workplace has become toxic, the chances are it won’t improve, so leaving may be the best decision for your own wellbeing.

The pros of leaving

New opportunities and growth — A career move can bring new opportunities and growth. You can learn new skills, advance in your career, explore new industries and work with different people. With new opportunities can also come a better salary and benefits. You can negotiate your salary when applying for a new job, to ensure it reflects your expertise and skill-set.

Better alignment with your personal and professional goals — Finding a new job provides you with the opportunity to work somewhere that better aligns with your personal and professional goals. If you’re looking for more flexibility, a better work-life balance or somewhere that has more opportunities for professional development, a new job could provide you with exactly that.

A fresh start — Sometimes a fresh start is just what you need, especially if you’ve been in the same role or workplace for a long time. You become so comfortable in a routine that you may feel lost, stuck in a rut or worried that this job is all you know. Fresh perspectives, fresh spaces and a fresh routine can be great for your mental health!

The cons of leaving

Uncertainty and risk — Even if you’re excited for a new start, leaving a job and starting over can be risky. You don’t know what your new role will actually be like and if the grass is really greener on the other side. There is always the risk that your new role won’t satisfy you and you will regret your decision to make a career move.

Letting go of familiarity — Letting go of familiarity can be challenging. Stepping out of your comfort zone and letting go of what once was the ‘normal’ is often daunting. The routines, people, systems and even the hours or days you work will all be new and this can feel scary at first.

Starting from scratch — Starting from scratch can be a long, tedious process. You have to build new relationships, get to grips with new processes and prove yourself in a new role. At first it may feel overwhelming as you adjust to your new role, a new team and a new work culture.

The importance of exploring your options thoroughly

When evaluating a career move, it’s important to explore your options thoroughly to ensure you are making the right decision. The last thing you want to do is make a career move and end up in an unhappier situation than you were in before. You need to sit down and think about what you really want, do your research and explore your options.

If you’re still unsure, why not test the career path first? You could take part in a work experience day, volunteer somewhere, or speak to someone in the career or role you’re looking to move to for further advice.

How to move forward with confidence and clarity

Once you’ve assessed your pros and cons and made your final decision, it’s essential to move forward with confidence and clarity. Whether you’ve decided to stay in your current role or take the next step, you need to believe in your decision and not ponder on the ‘what ifs’. You’ve made the decision for a reason, so trust yourself!

Author bio

Eva Henderson is Marketing Assistant at Spencer Clarke Group, an award-winning recruitment agency, dedicated to assisting employers with their recruitment challenges and finding candidates their dream job. Eva writes content for Spencer Clarke Group’s Career Hub, providing expert insights and career advice for both employers and jobseekers.

How to Evaluate a Career Move When You’re Afraid of Making the Wrong Choice was originally published in Career Relaunch on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The people you surround yourself with can greatly affect your career trajectory. Individuals we regularly interact with can influence our decisions, perspectives, and even our happiness. The people in your network can energize or deplete you. Inspire or discourage you. Support or undermine you. With this in mind, you should be selective and intentional about the people with whom you spend your valuable time.

I’m a huge believer in certain people entering our lives at certain moments for certain reasons. Even seemingly random people I’ve crossed paths with have had an enormous impact on the professional choices I made. In fact, all my career pivots were set into motion from a conversation I had with an individual that tipped my perspectives in a different direction. Therefore, proactively taking the initiative to shape your network is a good investment of time.

Historical Connections Are Critical

As someone now in my mid-40s, the nature of my professional connections and personal relationships has radically evolved. These days, primarily due to my own time constraints as a working parent, I tend to be more selective about the people I spend my time with, both personally and professionally. As a result, my network of close professional colleagues and personal friends seems to have gotten smaller, not larger, over time, although higher quality.

Family and friends can play a unique role in your professional confidence. My mother, who has sacrificed so much to help me thrive, continues to be a source of unwavering encouragement. Loyal friends (chosen family) who entered my life decades ago consistently inspire me with their kindness, character, and ability to keep me grounded in what truly matters.

Consider which personal connections of yours align with your values. Which individuals help remind you of what’s most important? Prioritize these relationships to help you avoid distraction and focus on what truly matters to you in your career and life.

Surround Yourself With The “Right” Individuals

I’ll admit I’ve had my fair share of self-doubts and intensive self-critique throughout my career. I constantly re-evaluate whether I’m on the right path, whether I can approach things differently, or whether I’m doing everything I can to provide value to my clients.

I’ve found it useful to clearly define what I want my personal and professional circles to look like. These criteria vary from individual to individual, but these days, I tend to gravitate toward individuals with supportive attitudes, thoughtful input, and healthy perspectives. However, I try not to be too quicky to judge. I’ve often been surprised at who ends up being someone I want to connect with again.

Deciding what you want your professional community to look like is a critical part of supporting your career ambitions. As you think about the professional you want to be, what types of people do you want to spend more of your time with? Who makes you feel more confident about where you’re headed? Proactively connect with these individuals, one at a time.

Set Community Standards For Your Life

We hear about community standards for online groups, companies, and even countries. When was the last time you considered the community standards for your own professional network?

Set standards for the community of people you choose to have around you. Alongside selectively prioritizing people in your life, equally important is steering clear of people who consistently disempower, disrespect, or discredit you. You should also be wary of people who have preconceived notions of how your career should be because they may dissuade you from exploring other paths that could be better for your life.

Be intentional about the individuals you allow into your life and whose opinions you’ll allow to affect your self-perception, aspirations, and even your sense of self-worth. For example, I aim to avoid individuals who are disrespectful, negative, or overly judgmental. I avoid those who consistently misinterpret my actions, posture to prove themselves, or undermine my efforts. Fortunately, these people are few and far between.

Whenever possible, move away from people who don’t adhere to your own community standards. This difficult step is necessary to create more space for those who do belong. Has someone in your network been bringing you down instead of lifting you up? Is there someone who feels more like an enemy than an ally? While it may not be easy, you owe it to yourself to distance yourself if that individual brings more negativity rather than positivity into your life.

Diversity Is Still Useful

We’ve all received criticism, and I’m certainly no stranger to it. I’ve had plenty of people in my career question my choices, my ambitions, or whether my priorities are in the right place. I’ll admit, I sometimes allow those comments to affect me more than they should. I think most of us would agree being around like-minded individuals is way easier than being around a bunch of people who disagree with you.

I’m not suggesting you surround yourself only with those who agree with you or people who are exactly like you. Some of my most significant personal growth has come from interactions with those who challenged me to approach things differently. Diversity within your professional network is incredibly valuable.

However, I still recommend ensuring you spend ample time with people doing things you want to do, living a life you admire, and behaving in ways you hope to emulate. Doing this allows you to have the emotional reserve to not only tolerate but perhaps embrace and learn from people you find more challenging.

Fill Your Network With Intention

Too often, I, like many people I know, get sucked into just staying afloat with day-to-day tasks. If you’re like me, you may focus more on sustaining rather than abstaining. Or maintaining your existing connections rather than pausing to reassess whether those people still belong.

But periodically stopping to reassess and think critically about who should and should not fill your inner circle is critical. So take the time to regularly assess whether the relationships you have in your life are supporting your professional growth.

While you may not be able to choose your manager, direct report, or colleagues, you can make an effort to build a community of people outside of your workplace who truly uplift and inspire you. One that aligns with your values and aspirations. If you take the time to thoughtfully and intentionally shape your network, your future self will thank you for the additional support, motivation, and inspiration it provides over the years.

Originally published at https://www.forbes.com.

Build the Network You Need to Achieve Your Professional Aspirations was originally published in Career Relaunch on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Have you ever had this nagging feeling that you should be doing something else with your career? Do you feel like you’re just going through the motions of your job? Do you yearn to do work that fits more naturally with your strengths and interests?

The concept of a center of gravity is common in the context of movement. We have to find and maintain our center of gravity when learning to walk, when riding a bike, or when balancing anything in our hands. It represents a place of comfort, stability, and balance that feels natural when you find it.

The Impact of Being Off-Center

When you’re off balance, it’s hard to find your stride. Similar to carrying something very heavy and awkwardly shaped, feeling off-center in your professional life can prevent you from doing your best work. Being off-center in your career creates a feeling of longing. Almost like you’re going through the motions of your day job, but your mind is elsewhere.

You might catch yourself wishing you were using an untapped strength or skill you possess. Or feeling frustrated about the fact you’re not doing work that feels like a natural fit for who you are. This feeling suggests a disconnect between your work and your true “center of gravity.”

Identify Your Center of Gravity

Over the past decade of my work as a career change consultant, I’ve spoken to many professionals who feel a strong pull toward doing something else in their careers. That pull is often something they struggle to articulate in words, but a persistent feeling they should be spending their time and energies elsewhere.

This longing reminds me of something Ev Williams, co-founder of Twitter and founder of Blogger and Medium, discussed with LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman on his Masters of Scale podcast. They talked about finding your center of gravity in your career. For example, Ev Williams said his center of gravity relates to the discovery, distribution, and transmission of information. This aligns well with the social media platforms he’s launched.

To share other examples, I’ve had guests on my Career Relaunch®podcast describe a center of gravity around creation who pivoted from office work to artistic endeavors. Others describe a center of gravity around enterprising who went from full-time employees to entrepreneurs. Others feel geographical pulls toward regions of the world to which they eventually moved.

Recognize When Things Are Off

All of this got me thinking about my center of gravity in my career and how to tell when work doesn’t align with your center of gravity. One of the first internships I had was during college when I worked in a pharmacology lab one summer growing cancer cell cultures in Petri dishes.

Enveloped in the constant hum of laboratory equipment, I spent most days staring into microscopes to count cells on a grid. I found it repetitive and robotic, even miserable at times, because I was focused on things rather than people, which wasn’t my forte.

I recall the most enjoyable part of my day actually being lunchtimes with people. I heard about their careers as scientists, post-docs, and professors. The actual science wasn’t as interesting as the personal stories they shared about their challenges, work relationships, and even life stories.

How I Discovered My Career Path

Throughout my life, I’ve considered myself a good listener who enjoys hearing other people’s stories and reflections. I’ve found people’s honest struggles more interesting to hear about than their success stories. I also enjoyed the feeling of others confiding in me. This may be why people tend to open up around me, a pattern I noticed in my personal and professional life where people tend to divulge their issues, struggles, and challenges with me.

This became a unifying theme in my life and career. Listening to others and trying to help them gain some clarity when they’re struggling became one of my “centers of gravity.” As a manager, this was part of my job, but not the core focus of my work. And when listening or mentoring others was relegated to being only an ancillary part of my job, I found myself feeling off-center.

Eventually, I started my own business where my professional work was focused on listening to others as a career consultant and podcast host. This shift has enabled my work to now feel much more gratifying.

Align Your Career With Your Professional Center

Identifying your natural center of gravity in your life, your relationships, and your work is important. When you spend the majority of your time operating outside of this center, it can feel forced or unsettling.

However, finding your center of gravity takes time, especially if you have many different interests. The key is to figure out the common theme that unifies those interests. Identifying that unifying skill, interest, or consistent tug you’re feeling in your career can reveal the work you would find truly fulfilling.

Your center may not be blatantly obvious. It’s often subtle-a constant, whisper that continually nags you. Or a pattern you notice repeatedly emerging in your career. Pay attention to these signs. Pay attention to that pull you’re feeling. Finding and eventually spending more time working within your professional center of gravity is where you can do your most rewarding, gratifying work.

Watch this video below for more of my thoughts on finding your career’s true north.

Originally published at Forbes.

Uncover Your Career Center of Gravity was originally published in Career Relaunch on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Have you ever felt stuck in a job or career that no longer aligns with your values and goals? Maybe you’ve also had the experience of accepting conditions you once considered unacceptable. Or becoming desensitized to things you once considered intolerable. Or resigning yourself to the idea that your job is meant to bring in a paycheck rather than provide deeper gratification.

I’ve been in this boat myself, where I suddenly found myself doing work misaligned with my true values. I’ve found myself in work environments misaligned with my values, ethics, and character. I’ve found myself marketing products I never imagined I would market.

Feeling uncertain about whether to leave a job is a common dilemma. This often arises from not having a clear understanding of the boundaries you’re unwilling to cross, even if it means sacrificing your career growth. My discussion with Maddie Potvin on Career Relaunch® podcast episode 43, got me thinking about the importance of defining your walk-away point.

Draw Your Lines

One of the first concepts you learn about in any negotiations class is the importance of defining your “walkaway point.” A walkway point is where you decide to walk away. When the price goes beyond what you can afford. When the conditions reach a point where they’re no longer acceptable. Or when the other party is asking for more than you’re willing to offer.

Just as negotiators establish their bottom line, defining your career walkaway point can empower you to make decisions that align with those things that matter most, including those things you’re willing to tolerate in your career. This means defining what’s acceptable to you, like what you might do when negotiating a job offer. But it’s equally important to consider your walkaway point for moving on to something new.

The Toughest Negotiation Is Often With Yourself

In the context of formal negotiations, most of us are used to the idea of reviewing and agreeing to certain terms and conditions in legal documents or service agreements. However, we should be equally judicious when defining our own needs and desires so we can then communicate these to our managers, colleagues, and employers.

Negotiations are rarely straightforward. Getting clear on what is and is not acceptable is complicated. Interestingly, we’re also always in a negotiation with ourselves, which is perhaps even more complex. When I talk to clients and audiences torn about whether to make a career change, most of them are struggling to decide what they are and are not willing to tolerate in their jobs because leaving your job behind can have huge implications to your life, financial stability, and career trajectory.

Needless to say, the decision to take or leave a job is rarely straightforward.

Work Can Become A Moral Dilemma

I’ve experienced this confusion myself. For example, I think of myself as a healthy person. When I began my career in marketing, I told myself I would not market certain products that conflicted with my own values, including junk food. So when I decided to market desserts back in my days as a brand marketer, I felt very conflicted about it.

During that moment in my life, I was eager to quickly land a job in the UK shortly after I’d immigrated to the country from the US. So I negotiated with myself, deciding I was willing to market desserts so I could minimize my gap in employment, gain other important marketing skills, and have the experience of working on a rapidly growing brand.

I worked in the dessert industry for a few years, eventually shifting from marketing luxury desserts to marketing luxury ice cream. But spending my professional energies getting more people to eat unhealthy desserts started to eat away at me. Marketing a product that’s inherently unhealthy felt wrong. It almost felt irresponsible.

So I eventually had to consider my walkaway points. One walkaway point was when the work I was doing was no longer meaningful to me. Another was if my work was adversely affecting my family life, my physical health, or my emotional well-being. And a final point was marketing products I wouldn’t want my own loved ones to consume. When all of those lines were crossed, I decided to walk away.

Establish Your Walkaway Limits

Clarifying your walkaway point helps you recognize when it’s time to move on from your current line of work, whether it’s your role, function, location, or any other aspect of your job. Here are tow things you can do to start.

First, take stock of your values or key priorities in your life. Consider personal priorities like growth, health, emotional well-being, or family. Consider your professional priorities like fulfillment, work/life balance, finances, or impact.

Second, define the line that represents your walkaway point. For example, for personal growth, maybe your walkaway point is when you feel like you’re no longer learning anything. For well-being, maybe it’s when you are experiencing a certain amount of physical and emotional exhaustion from your work week. For work/life balance, maybe it’s when your work hours leave you with only X days during the week when you have dinner with your kids.

Whatever your limits are, define them. Write them down. Then, get clear with yourself on the lines you will not tolerate crossing or values you refuse to compromise.

Being Too Flexible Has Its Downsides

If you don’t take the time to define your walkaway points, you may find yourself just maintaining the momentum in your career, even if it doesn’t fill you with joy. You may drag your feet. You may tolerate a situation you know isn’t acceptable. If you haven’t defined a clear set of warning signs to watch for, you won’t know when to move on.

The most unhappy professionals I know are in these situations. They know things don’t feel right, but they just can’t quite bring themselves to make that leap to move on, partially because they haven’t gotten clear with themselves on what’s in bounds and out of bounds.

If you’re in that situation, just remember that you always have a choice about whether you want to continue.

Own Your Career Choices

When I talk to people thinking about making a career change, most of them are negotiating with themselves about what they’re willing to accept. By getting clear on your walkaway point, you empower yourself to make decisions aligned with your values and priorities.

So take the time to carefully reflect on your values, clearly define your boundaries, and proactively lay down the lines you won’t cross. These guideposts can inform your professional choices that enable you to follow a meaningful, fulfilling career path.

When you know where you stand, you empower yourself to make bold, transformative decisions — ones that can potentially reshape the trajectory of your entire professional life. So get clear on your boundaries. And more importantly, dare to honor them. Your fulfillment, happiness, and growth depend on it.

Learn More

Also, if you want to hear more about this topic of defining your tipping points in your career, check out Career Relaunch® podcast episode 43 with Maddie Potvin, where I discuss this in more detail. You can also watch my quick video summary about setting career boundaries below.

Share Your Thoughts

I’m curious to hear from you. What boundary are you considering setting at work? When has honoring a boundary made a positive difference in your career? Leave a comment below.

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Originally published at https://josephliu.co on November 1, 2024.

How to Define Your Career Walkaway Point and Why It Matters was originally published in Career Relaunch on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

If you’re considering a career change, you’re not alone. In my line of work as a career change consultant over the past decade, the vast majority of professionals I cross paths with are in the midst of a career transition, often driven by their desire to do work they find more fulfilling.

Having spoken personally with over 100 professionals who have shared their career change stories on my Career Relaunch ® podcast, those who successfully began new career chapters have had three things in common.

Accept the Imperfect Start

When it comes to making a change, many of us try to make the perfect move to try and achieve our big breakthrough or land that dream job in one fell swoop. However, getting where you want to go is often clunkier than we prefer.

Marketer turned editor Adrian Granzella Larssen explained that networking with people, even those not directly connected to her target opportunity is what ultimately led to her uncovering her dream role. “People tend to think [you] have to meet people doing exactly what [you] want to be doing, but the people who can help you reach your goals . . . could be anyone.” She reminds us that the person in your network who ultimately helps you may not necessarily be the one who least on the surface seems well-positioned to support your ambitions.

Similarly, Julian Mather, a former sniper turned children’s magician discussed how his career journey had many twists and turns. He used the metaphor of a bullet initially missing its mark to describe his nonlinear career. “[My career has been like] a bullet that was supposed to be heading toward a target, but it hit something along the way. The target is long gone, but I’m always going forward.” Mather explained how his path hit many detours, but he remained focused on eventually getting to where he wanted to go.

You don’t have to have a perfect start to make your career change. A willingness to have an “imperfect start” opens you up to the very opportunities that can ultimately lead you to your desired destination.

Repeatedly Bounce Back from Rejection

Your ability to achieve your career pivot will directly relate to your ability to deal with and quickly bounce back from rejection. Rejection is not a sign you’re on the wrong path. Instead, rejection is an inevitable part of the process. While rejection is something we often take personally, not letting it get you down for too long is critical to getting where you want to go.

Cover model turned entrepreneur Collette Russell Smith shared a useful reminder that rejection often may have nothing to do with you. “There are so many little things that can play a role in someone saying ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ You might catch someone at a bad time. They might be tired.” She says that even when you get ‘no’ as an answer, it may relate to factors outside of your control. The key is to avoid taking rejection too personally and instead focus on moving on.

On a related point, a former actor turned career coach Andy Whelan discussed the importance of self-care when bouncing back from setbacks. “Practice self-care. The things you can do to feel better about these lousy moments . . . will recharge you when you get rejected.” By making time for activities that nourish your mind and body, you can better equip yourself to deal with rejection and keep moving forward.

Both Russell Smith and Whelan emerged from industries where success is driven by one’s ability to not dwell on rejection because rejection is often a necessary part of the process. So rather than trying to avoid rejection, focus on how you can best manage it.

Adopt a Future-Focused Mindset

Perhaps the most essential principle of changing careers relates to adopting a mindset where you don’t allow your past to dictate your future. To move beyond your current career, you first must truly believe you can take your career in a different direction.

This is something a former secretary turned healer, Helen Wix, who spent three years being homeless on the streets of Washington, D.C., described. She had to first declare that she deserved more before she could move on. “I know that I was created for more than this. And I’m going to find out what it is,” she told herself. “Making that declaration was a turning point for me,” Wix stated that her belief is what enabled her to proactively seek out her true professional purpose.

Part of this future-focused mindset also involves forcing yourself to no longer cling to your past so you can make room for something new. Former banker turned couples counselor Erika Boissiere said she had to first shed her previous role as a banker to more fully and humbly immerse herself in her desired career as a counselor. “My banking days gave me unique skills,” Boissiere stated. “But I had to shelf those and realize I was new to working with couples and depression, and to come to terms with the fact that I’m at the beginning of a new career.”

In other words, before you can persuade others to buy into your new path, you have to first convince yourself that change can happen. By declaring what you deserve and letting go of your past identity, you create the space for something new to emerge.

Managing Challenges, Not Avoiding Them, Is Key

Navigating any major career change will rarely be an easy process. If it were, more people would likely step away from jobs they disliked and pursue something else. No two career career journeys are the same, and yet, certain patterns do emerge amongst those who manage to successfully make a desired career pivot.

By maintaining an open mind, resilience in the face of rejection, and a focus on the future, you at least put your dream career within reach with enough patience and persistence. Adopting these philosophies can assist you in navigating your career change journey with greater clarity, confidence, and courage. So remain open, stay resilient, and believe in your future. After all, you never know just how close you may be to turning your dream job into a reality.

Watch Video: 3 Career Change Challenges to Manage

Originally published at Forbes.

Navigating Career Change: 3 Keys to Overcoming Challenges was originally published in Career Relaunch on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Most of us would agree that setting clear goals is useful. After all, goals provide our lives with intention and focus. However, when it comes to the vision you have for your career, sometimes rigidly and relentlessly chasing a specific goal can also be limiting when the best path forward may be one you never imagined at the start.

When I thought about leaving my stable corporate marketing job behind to launch my career consultancy, I got different pieces of advice about how much planning I should do before leaping. The vast majority of my peers, many of whom had more of a business background, recommended I have some clear goals and a solid business plan in place, at least pinpointing potential income streams, client outreach, and growth plans.

Only a handful told me I should just start somewhere without needing to first have a clear plan in place, the approach I now tend to recommend to most of my clients navigating career pivots.

Things Rarely Go According To Plan

As someone who’s a planner by nature, and as someone who worked for many years in the corporate world where you generally need a buttoned-up plan in place before getting approval to proceed with any idea, having clear plans and goals made intuitive sense to me.

So while I didn’t end up writing out a full business plan per se, I did pore over plenty of spreadsheets, projected income streams, and mapped out service offerings — all in the name of having clear tactics and goals in place before making the leap.

By the time I was ready to turn my side gig of career consultancy into my full-time job, I had a specific vision of how I wanted my business to look. However, once I got my business off the ground, I quickly realized my plans didn’t align with reality.

Initial Ideas Are Often Enticing

While working toward a goal can feel productive, fixating on one can be time-consuming and costly. When I first started my business, plenty of ideas came and went. For example, I saw an opportunity and need to create a community to help people navigate career change, so I felt hosting networking events in London focused on providing information and fostering connections could assist people navigating career changes.

I invested a lot of time into trying to make this idea a reality. I found a convenient venue in central London, created invitation cards, advertised the event on my rudimentary website, told my network about the event, set up a LinkedIn group, organized a panel of featured speakers, and even arranged catering.

Vision Alone Is Not Enough

Creating this event became my singular focus during the initial months of my work. Unfortunately, the results were tepid in spite of my desire to create a set of vibrant events to connect like-minded professionals while also building my own visibility in the career change space. It turns out that my skills were rather misaligned with those required to successfully host an event.

After a ton of work, only about 20 people showed up to my first event, significantly fewer than I envisioned. When I looked out into the small audience awkwardly sat in the middle of what felt like a very large, empty room, I realized the event had flopped.

Working toward a singular goal can feel productive when in reality, it may be leading you astray.

Pivot Quickly To Cut Your Losses

At any given moment, you have a choice about whether to continue pursuing a goal. You can stubbornly cling to your original vision even when things flop, or you can be open to letting it go. Moving on doesn’t have to be viewed as a failure but rather an opportunity to adjust course. Allowing yourself to “fail” quickly can open up space to explore other avenues.

I never hosted another event after that evening. However, I didn’t let go of the community idea. I just tried to build it in other ways through content creation and public speaking at events others organized, which has allowed me to reach more people than I would have had I continued to plow forward with hosting those independent events.

Deviating From Plans Drives Expansion

It’s okay — and often necessary — to let go of your original plans and ideas. Maybe changing directions isn’t something you had originally planned to do. Or you feel like the timing to switch paths isn’t optimal. Or you wanted to first fulfill some sort of obligation before pursuing something else. Or you had just one more thing you wanted to cross off your to-do list before you moved on.

The timing of any change needs to work for you. However, when presented with a new opportunity that truly excites you, one that you feel holds much more promise and potential, you owe it to yourself to go after it, even if it means abandoning something you had worked hard on.

Only You Can Choose To Move On

I still have that LinkedIn group, which has a whopping five members. It’s a nice reminder that an initial idea gone awry can also plant the seed of alternative, more promising ideas worth pursuing.

Having any idea flop isn’t pleasant. No one likes to experience things not going according to plan. However, giving yourself the freedom to quickly pivot away from something allows you to focus your energies on pursuits that can be a better fit for you and ultimately lead to greater fulfillment and impact.

So if you notice yourself feeling like you’re following a career path just because it aligns with your original plans, consider being open to letting it go. Deviating from your original plans may feel unsettling at first, but better opportunities can emerge if you allow them to.

Originally published at Forbes.

Transform Your Career by Relaxing Your Goals — Here’s How was originally published in Career Relaunch on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

When I was a bright-eyed MBA student in business school, one of our professors warned us that a decent number of us would end up accepting professional roles that conflict with our character at some point in our careers. I always considered myself a highly ethical, principled individual with an unwavering set of morals guiding my choices. So at the time, I found this hard to believe. Surely, no one would invest the time, energy, and money in an advanced business degree only to later settle for a role that compromised one’s integrity. Right?

During our careers, pursuing promising professional opportunities can compromise our own personal values and vice versa. People always say you should be true to who you are. However, being 100% true to who you are isn’t always as easy as it sounds when your job opportunities, professional image, or career advancement are on the line. However, make no mistake, the choices you make and the opportunities you say yes and no to will have a direct impact on your personal brand for years to come.

You Must Draw Lines In The Sand

Establishing clear boundaries is an important part of shaping your career. In my own career, while I haven’t had a lot of instances where I’ve been asked to do things that compromised my integrity per se, I have been asked to take on roles that I ultimately decided were misaligned with the type of professional I wanted to be.

For example, when I was just getting started in my former career as a brand manager, one of my main concerns about working in the consumer packaged goods sector was marketing products I didn’t feel comfortable marketing. So before I started exploring roles, I decided to draw a few lines in the sand and promise myself I would never market certain types of products like junk food, cigarettes, and alcohol.

Without getting too deep into the rationale behind each one of those, in a nutshell, it came down to just feeling like these products weren’t ones that I would want to consume myself nor were they products I would feel good persuading others to consume.

Standing Your Ground Has Its Limits

Holding rigidly to a set of principles can feel like the right thing to do in theory, but being too inflexible also has its downsides. It can come across as narrow-minded or even arrogant.

Later on in my career, I was presented with opportunities that certainly touched those lines I thought I’d drawn. For example, in one of the first large companies where I worked, I explicitly told a head of marketing that I did not want to be considered for roles on one particular brand because the products contained a lot of fat.

I had a good relationship with her, and I remember her sitting down with me over lunch one day and candidly telling me that despite my solid performance, my unwillingness to work on that specific brand would adversely affect my trajectory in the company. Still, I didn’t budge because I just didn’t want to market a product some might consider unhealthy.

Flexing Your Principles Does Happen

The idea of staying within certain boundaries may seem easy enough, but in your career, you might be surprised how things change. Sometimes, you draw lines in the sand only to find yourself crossing them in the future.

A couple of years later, in my efforts to quickly land a job when I moved to London, I took a role where I was marketing luxury desserts. Then, another role where I was marketing luxury ice cream. Are luxury desserts or ice cream the same as junk food? Well, they’re not exactly good for you.

If you’d asked me a few years prior if I would ever market unhealthy products, I would have said I was categorically against it. However, taking on these roles opened doors for me geographically and professionally, which is why I suddenly found myself marketing products I previously swore against.

It happens.

You may opt for roles you never imagined you would because they serve some other important purpose in your life. And while there’s nothing necessarily wrong about that in the short term, compromising who you are in the long run can start to chip away at your conscience.

Walking Away Shapes Your Narrative

Even if you consider yourself someone with strong morals, ethics, and rules you strictly follow, you may take a professionally advantageous role that may not break your principles, but certainly require you to flex them.

Saying no to opportunities is hard. It might feel like you’re closing a door without the guarantee of another one opening. At the same time, you have to be able to look yourself in the mirror every single day and feel good about how you’re deploying your energy and how you’re building your professional reputation.

I eventually ended up leaving those roles marketing desserts rather quickly. Marketing those types of products just wasn’t in line with what I stood for in my career and my life. And I certainly did not want to build my entire professional narrative around it.

Authenticity Fuels Strong Personal Branding

What’s the personal brand you’re trying to create for yourself, either as an employee, a freelancer, a career changer, or an entrepreneur? You may have said yes to an opportunity because it benefits you in some way when actually. But maybe, you should have said no because deep down, you just know, it’s not right for you, the person you’re trying to become, and certainly not the personal brand you’re trying to build.

Sometimes you say no to open up space for you to say yes to another opportunity that better aligns with who you are. Saying no can be a powerful way to protect your integrity and build the professional brand you desire. So reflect on your values and the personal brand you’re trying to create. Then, make the tough choices necessary to stay true to that vision.

Originally published at Forbes.

Why Saying ‘No’ Is Critical To Protecting Your Personal Brand was originally published in Career Relaunch on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

These days, having a linear career is becoming less common. Career pivots and changes have not only become more acceptable but in many ways valuable because they can equip you with unique experiences and perspectives that differentiate you from professionals who follow more traditional paths.

When it comes to figuring out where to take your career next, all sorts of tactics exist. From career assessments to informational interviews to personality tests to interest inventories, there’s no shortage of ways to clarify which profession you may find most enjoyable. But that may be part of the reason why figuring out the right career path can be so confusing. Having too many ways of approaching a question can actually be paralyzing.

If you’re looking for one way to clarify which profession could provide you with more fulfillment, consider leveraging the Japanese concept of “ikigai,” related to a person’s reason for being, which can provide a useful framework for identifying where you can thrive in your career.

Ikigai’s Origins and Framework

I’ve always been fascinated with Japan. My mother did her Master’s degree there in the early 1970s, and I visited the country for the first time in 2005. The intersection of modern and traditional, the respectful culture, and the principle of duty and continuous improvement left a major impression on me.

The concept of Ikigai has been around for centuries in Japanese culture. Recent books that popularized the term more broadly include Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life by Héctor García and Francesc Miralles and Ikigai: The Japanese Art of Finding Purpose in Life by Ken Mogi.

While Ikigai traditionally focuses on where to find meaning and purpose in one’s life, the framework is extremely relevant to identifying a rewarding career path. In the context of careers, Ikigai is about understanding your reason for living and can be seen as the convergence of four elements:

1. What you love- activities and tasks you naturally enjoy that energize you.
2. What the world needs- relevant, unmet needs that need addressing.
3. What you’re good at- your unique skills, talents, and strengths.
4. What you can get paid for- an offering others are willing and able to pay for.

Answering these questions can help you identify your professional sweet spot.

An Example of How to Apply Ikigai to Your Career

So you can see an example of how this can work, here’s how I would answer these questions.

What do I love?

I love helping people clarify where they want to take their careers. I find this energizing and meaningful. I also like being my own boss and controlling my schedule so I can devote my time and energy toward personal and professional priorities that matter most to me.

What does the world need?

Accomplished professionals need to feel like they have permission to do work that really matters to them and fill their days doing work they find meaningful. They need to feel comfortable and at peace with stepping off the beaten path if that means they can do more energizing work.

What am I good at?

I’m a seasoned public speaker with a background in branding and professional coaching. I’m a critical listener who excels at empowering people by creating structures to help them work through their ideas. I also think of myself as being very committed & trustworthy.

What can I get paid for?

I can get paid to host workshops, give talks, coach clients, and create online content for those eager to start a new chapter in their careers.

Putting It All Together

After you’ve gone through the exercise of answering each of these questions, look at where these ideas converge. This intersection of passion, mission, vocation, and profession can be one way to shed light on what your career could look like moving forward as you clarify where you may be able to excel and thrive. For me, this ikigai exercise suggests my work should be focused on some sort of service-based career advisory work that’s a combination of speaking, coaching, and content creation.

Obviously, these may not be easy questions to answer off the top of your head. Knowing who you are, what you want, and where you want to head is a lifelong journey. However, if you’re looking for another way to clarify your place in the professional world, this Ikigai framework could be a good starting point.

Originally published at Forbes.

Using Ikigai To Find Career Fulfillment was originally published in Career Relaunch on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.