What you will get today (10 min read)

1. Updates from our community

2. The content of the month

3. The framework of the month

4. The illustration of the month

5. Zoom on The Slim Method

1. Updates from our community

When I was a kid, I wanted to be an astronaut.

I remember reading books about galaxies, stars and planets picturing myself floating in space in a spacesuit. I was fascinated by space. What keeps blowing my mind is how tiny we are in comparison to the scale of the universe.

Look at the picture below: Planet Saturn is in the foreground and the tiny little dot on the right side of the arrow is where we live (and complain from time to time): Planet Earth.

Back to the present moment, you probably noticed I didn't become an astronaut.

Am I sad about it? No.

Am I going to move my career towards becoming an astronaut? Probably not.

Am I fulfilled and happy with the career trajectory I have so far? Very much so.

Do I still want to go to space? Absolutely!

What was once a career goal shifted to an unreachable dream and now has become a goal I want to accomplish. True story, in my top 10 life goals, I wrote down "travel to space".

Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, if you read this newsletter, I volunteer!

In the meantime, opportunities, skills & passions dear to my heart took me in different and unexpected directions.

That's the theme of the newsletter today: how to build, develop and master your professional career.

As always, some gratitude for the existing readers and the new joiners: the community continues to grow and currently sits at 126 readers, +7% growth compared to last month.

Thank you for subscribing and for being the pioneers of this community!

Feel free to share the content with your friends & colleagues :) 

Cassini captured its own version in 2013, with Saturn in the foreground. Source link here.

2. The content of the month

Goal setting by Brian Tracy

When I ask the question "what are your career goals?", most people I've coached or mentored give a vague answer:

• "I want to have some impact."

  • Usually people forget to add "positive" by the way, which often goes without saying.

• "I want to become a CEO."

  • In which industry?

  • Of what company?

  • CEO what for? To serve a specific purpose? Or for your social status/ego? I was that guy at some point by the way...

In the book Goals! How to get everything you want, Brian Tracy shows us how to specifically set goals for your career and even for your personal life. He refers to a framework called mindstorming which is the ability to brainstorm with yourself.

And if you just want to get a glimpse of his book, I shared a short clip below.

3. The Framework of the month

IDP Framework

I noticed more and more coachees and mentees seeking guidance on their professional career. Most professionals, especially at the end of a nourishing career experience a limbo and struggle to bounce back.

Some individuals I helped tried 2 or 3 different jobs without finding the spark we are all looking for.

I decided to build a step by step framework to help each individual to be fulfilled and happy at work (see screenshot below).

To make this framework relevant and practical, there is one key element to have in mind: accomplishment is the combination of passion AND skills.

If you have the passion but not the skills, you will be happy until you realize you are stagnating. And that will slowly reduce your happiness level.

If you have the skills but not the passion, you will get promoted or move up the ladder, until you realize this is not what you want.

The combination of both makes you unstoppable. Trust me. I have seen clients completely transformed and fully energized applying this framework.

If you are currently reflecting on your career progression and need a hand, reply to this email and I will be happy to help ;)

4. The Illustration of the month

5. Zoom on The Slim Method

Today we are going to zoom in on Section 3: Master your Professional Career.

Topic #1 in this section: CREATE AND EXECUTE YOUR CAREER PLAN.

I/ One single vision to feel accomplished: to be of service to people around you

• We all share the same vision

  • I recently listened to Sadghuru on The Diary of a CEO, podcast hosted by Steven Bartlett. Sadghuru is an Indian spiritual teacher. At some point, Steven asked Sadghuru "what is your mission on earth?". Sadghuru laughed and with a kind yet sarcastic tone replied: "this mission quest seems to give a big headache to people nowadays. Our mission is very simple: to be of service! The real question you have to ask yourself is how. By knowing the way, you will get fulfilled and accomplished."

     

  • I anticipate skeptics people arguing they don't care about people. They want fame, social status, money and power. Well, let me ask you something: if money or fame is fulfilling, how come countless rich and/or famous people are so unhappy?

     

  • No matter the job you have, wether it is waiter, designer, salesperson, gardener or consultant: what you produced is meant to be passed on to someone else or at least shared with someone else.

     

  • Now, being of service in any shape or form doesn't mean you're fulfilled. There has to be some passion in there. As Sadghuru said, the real question is how to be of service AND enjoy it?

II/ How to be of service and feel empowered? Bottom Up Approach

• 1: Diagnosis

  • Skills diagnosis: first thing to do is to assess your skill set. Take the time to list your skills. You can either do it yourself through online assessments or self retrospective. You can also get external help through coaches or 360 feedback. Few tips to help you:

    • What technical skills do you master?

    • What human skills do you naturally leverage?

    • What skill do you have and you don't use as much?

       

  • Passion Diagnosis: as well as skills, reflect on what you love doing. And please, do not censor yourself. There is no ranking in passions: sewing is as fulfilling as playing chess. Few tips to share:

    • What activities make you completely lose track of time?

    • What were the games you loved playing as a kid?

    • What activities or hobbies brings you joy?
       

• 2: The Non-negotiable conditions

  • Now that you have done your diagnosis, list all the aspects of your current life that have to be taken into account. There are elements that you cannot put away:

    • Do you have any financial responsibilities ie mortgages or significant expenses?

    • Do you have family responsibilities such as taking care of kids or family member?

    • What about your mobility? Are you able to travel for work? If so, how far? Or do you have to work remotely?

      This is not a wish list, rather few conditions that are very important to you based on your current life.
       

• 3: Your environment

  • This step is about connecting your assets to your environment. It will already help you narrow down your options.

  • For example, if one of your passion is gardening and you live in a studio in Manhattan, either you put gardening aside or you move.

  • Take the time to assess the current situation you are in on the following topics:

    • Locations

    • Industries more likely to suit your passions/skills

    • Type of job: full time, contractor, part time etc.

    • Company culture & values
       

III/ How to be of service and feel empowered? Top Down Approach

While going through this exercise, do not forget to "try" the market. It's great to reflect and do the theoretical job. It will be even more powerful if you adjust your reflections and ideas with the reality of life.

Here are couple of actions you could take to narrow down your career path:

• Training: feel free to sign up to trainings, even if it is for a day or two. That will give you a rough idea of the job you are exploring

• Shadow day: one of the most concrete experience to have is to ask someone who is already doing the job you are thinking will suit you and observe this individual for a full day.

• Sign up to a hobby. If you believe manual work is the dream job and you want to make pottery for a living, take a baby step and sign up for classes first.

  By testing and practicing you will connect the theory you worked on with the reality of the filed.

Do you want to deep dive into this topic?

Do you want to leverage The Slim Method?

That's it for this month!

I hope you enjoyed the content. Feel free to share it around you and spread the word :)

If you have a question or feedback to share : theslimethod@gmail.com