Get Career Fit : healthcheck your career, reignite your passion, leap into your future

Future-proof your career and plan your leap forward Gone are the days of slowly making your way up the corporate ladder to retirement. Now, with the rise of freelancing and the gig economy, the workplace is becoming more flexible and independent — which can leave hardworking people scrambling to find a way to stay relevant. Author Michelle Gibbings addresses your worries and gives you a way forward. This book sheds light on what you can do to reignite, reshape and liberate your career and offers a fool-proof plan for getting your career back on track. With Get Career Fit, you can build a career ready for any change the future may bring. Cover 1 Title page 9 Half title page 11 Copyright page 12 Dedication page 13 Contents 15 Foreword 17 About the author 19 Acknowledgements 21 Preface 23 Get career fit online 27 Introduction 29 Phase 1 Assess: Where are you in your career now? 43 CHAPTER 1 Check: Are you future fit? 47 Find new cheese 50 Is a robot coming for your cheese? 52 How fit is your career? 52 Your zone of health 56 ZONE 1: APATHETIC (PASSIVE APPROACH, PAST FOCUSED) 57 ZONE 2: ANXIOUS (PASSIVE APPROACH, FUTURE FOCUSED) 58 ZONE 3: ARROGANT (ACTIVE APPROACH, PAST FOCUSED) 58 ZONE 4: LIBERATED (ACTIVE APPROACH, FUTURE FOCUSED) 58 Get liberated 60 Career checkpoint 63 CHAPTER 2 Realise: What is your potential? 65 Should versus could 66 Pop the passion bubble 67 If you could do anything ... 69 Swallow the purpose pill 70 Find your rhythm of life 73 What’s holding you back? 76 Get in the driver’s seat 77 Growth mindset 77 Intentional thinker 80 Courageous actions 82 Are you willing to leap? 85 F—k you money 89 Career checkpoint 91 Phase 2 Architect: Where do you want to be? 93 CHAPTER 3 Explore: What are your options? 95 Navigator, Surveyor or Pioneer? 96 NAVIGATOR 97 SURVEYOR 97 PIONEER 98 Where are you now? 98 Where could you be? 99 Don’t be a dodo 101 Skills matter, but competencies matter more 104 You are not Usain Bolt (sorry!) 105 What strengths can you take with you? 108 Turn up the heat 109 Get real 111 Career checkpoint 114 CHAPTER 4 Choose: What will you progress? 115 Find the sweet spot 117 You can’t have it all 118 Decisions, decisions 119 Career specifications 119 Level of risk 121 Level of effort 123 Sink or swim? 127 Career checkpoint 130 CHAPTER 5 Construct: What plan will you follow? 131 Do you want a side with your main? 132 Do you tell your boss? 133 All or nothing 134 Give it life 137 Knowledge is power 140 Be a master planner 144 Mind map it 146 Target and track 147 Career checkpoint 150 Phase 3 Activate: How will you get there? 151 CHAPTER 6 Shape: What is your new career identity? 153 Identity crisis 154 Look in the mirror 155 How do others see you? 156 Get real 158 A Cinderella fit 160 Write your new narrative 163 A work in progress 167 Career checkpoint 168 CHAPTER 7 Influence: How will you enter the market? 169 Impressions first 170 Link in 171 Looking good 173 Extend your reach 173 When you believe 174 Power your position 175 Search, scrutinise or shift 178 1. SEARCH 179 Taker, faker or maker? 180 2. SCRUTINISE YOURSELF 183 3. SHIFT YOUR NETWORK 184 Career checkpoint 188 CHAPTER 8 Focus: How can you make each day matter? 189 The tyrannies of progress 190 1. DIALOGUE 191 Affirm and learn 193 2. TIME 194 Make each day count 196 3. ENERGY 198 Make it work 200 Negotiate your leap 201 GET READY 202 THINK LONG-TERM RELATIONSHIPS 203 SEE IT THROUGH WITH RESOLVE 204 Manage your exit 206 Career checkpoint 209 Phase 4 Accelerate: How will you leap quickly and successfully? 211 CHAPTER 9 Launch: How will you transition and land? 213 Pre-flight check 214 In midair 216 Turbulence and what to do about it 218 Embrace touchdown 220 Manage the destination 223 EMBED YOUR LEAP 224 EXPAND YOUR LEAP 228 What if it’s not working? 229 Career checkpoint 232 CHAPTER 10 Advance: When will you celebrate and what will you do next? 233 What’s next? 234 SCAN, PLAN AND PROGRESS 235 HAVE A LIFE 236 Get career fit and leap into your future 240 Career checkpoint 243 A message from Michelle 245 Sources 247 EULA 252 Future-proof your career and plan your leap forward Gone are the days of slowly making your way up the corporate ladder to retirement. Now, with the rise of freelancing and the gig economy, the workplace is becoming more flexible and independent — which can leave hardworking people scrambling to find a way to stay relevant. Author Michelle Gibbings addresses your worries and gives you a way forward. This book sheds light on what you can do to reignite, reshape and liberate your career and offers a fool-proof plan for getting your career back on track. With Get Career Fit , you can build a career ready for any change the future may bring. The world of work is rapidly changing, yet many are failing to ready themselves for a working environment that is demanding unprecedented levels of career reinvention, deliberate decision making and ongoing action. To thrive in this new working world, people need to be ready, willing and able to leap into the unknown. This book illuminates what these choices and turning points should be, with techniques and practices to enable the reader to have the confidence to change and the capability to make career leaps. You can't future proof your role, but you can future proof your career. Get ready to leap!