Let’s be honest – we all have moments where we feel stuck, stagnant, or like we’re operating at just a fraction of our full capabilities. Clients often say they feel like they are coasting along in their career, doing good work but not feeling fully fired up or challenged. Strangely enough they can see this, know that they have more to give, but can’t quite seem to tap into that energy.
The Costs of Untapped Energy
Operating in that unsettling grey zone of having more to give, but not fully activating it, comes with heavy costs:
– Lack of motivation, no creativity and feeling stuck
– Persistent feelings of restlessness and lack of fulfillment
– Increasing job dissatisfaction
– A spiral of missed opportunities for both the business and yourself
– Falling behind your less talented colleagues
Essentially, the longer you spend coasting through your workdays, the more you sell yourself short. Like a car coasting along a road, every now and then you need to give it a boost of power or eventually it will come to a complete stop.
The truth is, unlocking your hidden reserves of talent, creativity, and drive doesn’t just happen by chance. It takes purposeful effort. People only change when they really want to. You need to first unpack where you are and then figure out where you want to go.
Activating Who You Really Are
Here are some ways that can help you shed things that are weighing you down and focus on regaining momentum:
- Get Clear on Priorities: Regaining clarity on your core motivations and goals allows you to focus the small amount of energy you have to start with.
- Adopt a Change Mindset: People only change when the pain of change is less than the pain of staying where you are. Do you really want to change?
- Try/Learn Something New: Anything that gets you interested will create energy. It can be personal, work or social related. And the best thing is that you might learn something from it.
- Remind Yourself: Take time for purposeful self-reflection to remind yourself about what are your unique strengths and achievements and how these create opportunities. Remember your blindspots and how to get around them.
- Expand Your Circles: Surrounding yourself with people, environments, and input that inspire and excite you. Meet new people and engage in conversation. This can include people you work with. Make an effort to be more social in the office.
The path to all of this is uniquely personal. Everyone is different, while a coach can help you clarify what you want, the choice is yours. One truth remains – you have to make unlocking your potential an active, consistent commitment.
Even a small change can have a profound payoff. Those who actively work to change don’t just experience more career satisfaction themselves – they become indispensable to the people around them.
The first choice that you have to make is whether you prefer to just complain about it or whether you actually want to change it.
