When I changed the title of my LinkedIn profile from Consultant & Recruitment Manager to Career Change Coach some years ago, it resulted in quite a bit of anxiety. A lot of anxiety, in fact. You see, I had also added my energy healing training and practitioner experience.
Yikes! EVERYONE I HAVE EVER WORKED WITH CAN NOW SEE WHO I REALLY AM. Taking deep breaths…Breathe in, breathe out…It had a much bigger impact on me than I ever expected. What will everyone think? All of a sudden I’m a Life coach?? A Reiki Master??
After all the nervousness, I am happy to report that the feedback I received was very positive! There were lots of well wishes, curiosity and a few connections even contacted me for coaching sessions now that they could share their little secret with me – they had also been wanting to change careers all along and now knew I would understand!
Today in my work as a coach, I’m often told: Don’t look at my LinkedIn profile. It’s not the real me. If you’re reading this, I’m going to guess this may resonate with you too.
Luckily, I mostly managed to find work that suited some aspect of me, but I just always felt there was more meaningful work I could be doing. I felt restless because it wasn’t enough. When the longing to do more meaningful work became an imperative, I quit my job and started my practice.
I also know some of us, for different reasons, find ourselves in jobs that do not feel right at all. Jobs that may contradict our values or view of the world, may not fit our temperament or our current interests, or jobs we have just outgrown with time. So we put a lot of time and energy in keeping up appearances in fear of being found out that actually, when we show up for work, we are constantly wishing we were somewhere else entirely.
Are you pretending to be someone you’re not at work? If so, know you are not alone.
Pretending to be someone we are not can be so exhausting. If you are using your time and energy to create an image and a career that others want to see - your boss, your peers, your clients, your spouse - what would it be like if you used all that energy to create the career YOU want instead? What would it feel like to get up every day and just be your real self AT WORK TOO?
Today, I invite you to have a look at your LinkedIn profile (or CV if you are not on LinkedIn) and take note of how much of it is truly an expression of you. How much really makes you happy?
If it’s not as much as you’d like, how can you bring more of what you love back into your career?
If it’s very little indeed or almost nothing at all, and you’re ready to make a change, let’s have a conversation. We can work together to make every aspect of your life, including your Linked In profile, a true expression of you.
Photo by Alexandru Zdrobău on Unsplash