Hello Folks!First up - A huge welcome to those of you who are new to these updates. Thank you for being here. It’s a privilege to be part of your so-called career and I look forward to getting to know you better. Here we are in February. My birthday month 🎈 and also the somewhat precarious bridge between the depths of winter and the early signs of Spring…. The evolution of the seasons in action. February is a rogue month - you never quite know what you’re going to get - winter sunshine and freezing rain and snow are equally possible. No wonder it can’t even be pinned down to a regular number of days. February is a free spirit that will not be bound by your rules! Now, the eagle eyed among you may have noticed the absence of a January newsletter…. I’ll be frank here, no one, and I mean NO ONE needs another newsletter in January. We all know the deal with January, and I have sufficient faith in you guys to feel like you probably all know whether you are a ‘new year new me’ type who loves the possibility of a clean slate, or more of a hibernator who likes to poke their nose gradually into the new year and have a bit of a sniff about first. I figured we could all meet here in February and take stock and no one would be any the worse off. It probably won’t come as a surprise to know that I am a hibernator 🐻 For me, the new year is a sign of evolution rather than revolution - softening into change rather than trying to force anything. But this hasn’t always been my way, and this month’s book of the month has some helpful clues as to why…. “Evolution is a deeply valid process of change, but it is a tricky idea for us to have faith in. One reason we don’t latch onto it is that it’s very hard to see it in action – and hence to believe in its existence. When evolution is at work, there is rarely a decisive moment when change looks obvious.”
Our glorious but essentially dumb brains apparently really suck at understanding the relationship between small steps and major change. We are forever looking for the giant leaps because we find them so much easier to make sense of, but giant leaps are often terrifying, the very thought of them is often enough to stop us from feeling able to take action, and its remarkably hard to change tack once you’ve launched. So as we meet here in the midst of this rogue month in which winter evolves into spring, I invite you all to consider the role of evolution in your so-called careers. What minor moves could you start to make right now that might lead the way to an enormous shift in the fullness of time? This month’s book giveaway might give you some food for thought… “It may start with taking a single evening class every week, or spending three days during the holidays exploring an option, or retraining part-time in a process that might be finished in two years. An enormous shift might be set in motion by nothing more outwardly dramatic than volunteering for a new responsibility in one’s existing job. Minor moves can strengthen our courage by giving us a sense of a talent in an area where we as yet have very little experience. They break through the unhelpful but widely prevalent sense that we should either remain as we are or change everything. Oddly, there is a far less glamorous, more neglected third option that we must explore: the careful evolutionary step.”
What small changes can you make that would help you to better understand whether you might be suited to something, without requiring you to commit? Some suggestions: 💥 Ask if you could shadow someone at work, or whether a secondment or other temporary trial might be possible. 💥 Take a holiday to a job; ask to follow someone around for a week of observation, or do some work experience. 💥 Seek out people who do this already. Be greedy with your questions. 💥 If you’d have to change where you live, spend time visiting the kind of place you’d move to. 💥 If it would require a change in financial status, try to live on that budget for a while. 💥 Imagine you are an actor preparing for a role playing someone in this job. What are their habits? How do they dress? What motivates them? When it really comes down to it, what do they do? How else might you invite some evolution into your career? Perhaps you’ve tried something that worked that you’d like to share with others? I would love to hear your thoughts! Take care, Penny 💖
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