Here at Cardy Career Coaching we have the pleasure of supporting smart, educated professionals like yourself with career decisions every day. One thing I’ve noticed over the years is that while it is a blessing to have a good head on your shoulders and the world at your fingertips, there are also some hazards that come with these gifts.
In fact, many of our clients deal with one or more of the following five issues that stem from their abilities. The professional winds up feeling stuck, confused, and in a less-than-ideal career situation.
#1 You are capable of doing most anything.
This one is tricky. Because you are good at figuring things out and because you can do a lot, you can get overwhelmed by all the possibilities that are available to you. How do you choose from all these options? Add to that the fact that people around you may admire skills you have that you don’t really enjoy using and you get a whole lot of stuck in the muck.
#2 Your imagination can create particularly vivid doomsday scenarios that paralyze you from moving forward.
That beautiful mind of yours can bring to life an entire world from a book. It can also concoct some pretty crazy stories about your career future. In technicolor! Imagination is a wonderful thing to possess, but used in the wrong ways it can actually become a roadblock that scares you into staying where you are.
#3 You are so good at research that you get stuck in analysis paralysis.
Many of our clients are excellent sleuths. They can follow bread crumbs of links to a hit a gold mine of information. They can then organize all the information into a beautiful, color coded spreadsheet. And they can do all of this from the comfort of their own home. There’s just one problem. They get so lost in all the information that they don’t move forward. So they keep researching and adding information, but they aren’t getting anywhere with it.
#4 You can think yourself in circles and miss out on what your heart is telling you.
Because you have good analytical powers you are able to find an argument for almost any career decision that is on the table. You see all the pros and cons. And you can get ensnared in your own webs of logic. If there are reasons that support everything, how do you know which thing to choose? You might be so over reliant on your brain that you drown out one of the most important cues, your gut reaction.
#5 You are so capable that you’re not used to asking for help.
You’re a smart cookie. You’re able to figure out most things on your own (or with the help of your smart phone). One result of this independence is that when you face an issue that you’re not sure how to handle your default is to probably to double down and try harder. To keep trying new search terms until you find the answer. As one of our former clients noted about trying to figure out her career on her own, “I tried googling the answer. It didn’t work.”
Did you see yourself in any of these 5 hazards? Are you having trouble identifying what would be a good fit for you, sorting through your options, getting lost in research, feeling overwhelmed by your pro and con lists, and not making progress on your own?
I recognize that the last thing on your mind is to reach out for help. But this means that you cut yourself off from resources, perspectives, and information that you need to progress.
Career decisions are so personal that they really need a personal touch. You need to add someone who has the right skills into the mix to get the best results.
We are here to help. Please fill out an application at cardycareercoaching.com today, and we’ll get in there and clear out all the muck, so that you can find a path forward with your career that you love.
Leave a Reply