Sarah started our career coaching session on career planning with a common sentiment for early-career engineers, “I don’t know what I want to do. I don’t know all my options. So don’t ask me for a 5-year career plan; I don’t even know what I’m doing six months from now!”
And quite frankly, the issue of not knowing the future also impacts mid-career engineers. During a recent coaching session with Chris, he let it be known that he doesn’t believe in career plans. “How can you plan for an unknown future? I don’t want to be working on a plan and overlook an opportunity that I couldn’t have predicted.”
Although the names are fictitious, the questions and concerns raised are real. We don’t know the future. Innovations are continually changing our career landscape, and new opportunities arise daily. So how do I do career planning in this unpredictable and unknown environment with limitless options in front of me? Help!
As your coach, let’s bring some awareness and clarity to the present. What do you sense when you make this statement:
Today is my future!
In other words, what are you doing today?
· What are you doing today to bring value to your customer?
· What are you doing today to bring value to your business?
· What are you doing today to bring value to yourself?
To see the future, be present today. Having presence and focus on today brings awareness and clarity that supports tomorrow. By focusing on the present moment, we can ask the questions that will guide us:
· How am I creating opportunities for success?
· What does success look like for me?
· How will I measure my progress?
Career planning is a misnomer. Accurate career planning isn’t about more planning; it’s about more doing.