When work isn’t “good enough” but you can’t escape to the circus (Keira’s story)
Lots of clients come to me knowing with certainty that their current work is not going to be their future work - even if they have no clue what their future might look like.
Sometimes there’s an unspoken itch - a fearful sense that the only way to solve the work problem might be to escape to the circus (or some other radical career change move).
But more often, the shift is slower, more sure-footed and not anywhere near as fear-filled as they imagined. Keira’s story is one of these stories.
When you don’t enjoy your current work, it’s only natural to spend time thinking that you’ve got to do something wildly different to discover joy at work.
Escape to the circus…and not knowing what to be when you grow up.
Keira first introduced herself to Lucia as “a tax person who is hopeless with numbers". The evidence suggested otherwise.
One little crack in an otherwise “good life”. But the crack was an important one.
She’d trained and qualified within a big 4 accounting firm (accompanied by the stress and panic of exams and fear of exposure) before securing a valued, in-house tax position.
Life was going well. She had what people called " a good life".
She was paid well.
She had a partner.
She'd been saving and investing for a while.
She had a lovely house.
She had friends.
She invested time and energy in fitness and hobbies.
She loved wine - learning about it, sharing it and drinking it.
There was only one little crack in an otherwise very decent life…
Keira felt strongly that she still had no clue what she wanted to be when she grew up.
She'd recently turned 40 and continued to be surprised by the recurring question inside her head:
"Have I really been doing this for 20 years!?"
Unlike many of Lucia's clients, Keira wasn’t in a desperate rush. She could take some time to figure out her next steps. Things at work were nowhere near bad - they just weren't good enough.
She'd worked hard at her career and had achieved much, but somehow knew she wasn't where she was supposed to be.
Successful - in the eyes of others.
Keira was troubled by feeling ungrateful for not being 100%...grateful for the life she had.
In the small town where she grew up, she was seen as "successful" and as someone who had most definitely "made it". But something was missing.
And, while she definitely wasn’t old, time was moving on.
She'd invested a great deal of time already trying to work out her purpose alone. She'd read hundreds of self-help books but the answers weren't forthcoming. She "just wanted to know"...so that she could then "do something about it".
She went googling for more hands-on help.
Keira was in a great place from which to start thinking more deliberately and strategically about her long-term career strategy.
She simply wanted a proven methodology that she could follow - active steps to design her future - rather than continued self-learning without specific results or a plan of action.
After reading the Midlife Unstuck blog, she signed up to the free Never too old, never too late community and many of Lucia's emails with stories of change resonated.
She jumped on a call to see if the chemistry was right. It was.
Ready for action
Keira joined The Fierce Emporium with added one-to-one support from Lucia. (A programme now called The Fierce Accelerator)
During the first few weeks of the learning phase within the Fierce Emporium programme, she’d spent some of the weekends unpicking the recurring patterns in her career to figure out what was working and what was missing.
She met with her cohort weekly for group training and Q&As.
And used the one-to-one time with Lucia to figure out her unique Superpowers and which specific problems in the world fascinated her.
Together they uncovered four of Keira's Superpowers around deeply learning new things, bringing lightness to human connection, designing ways to do things better and explaining complexity simply.
And the problems that fascinated Keira all lay around why organisations don't work well and the organisational psychology behind making them work better.
Superpowered promotion
Even though Keira didn't want to stay in her current role, it was great to have her Superpowers recognised and rewarded.
Around the same time, she noticed a new job internally to join the "shiny new Global Finance Talent and Transformation team”.
She applied and interviewed for it.
"Once I knew my Superpowers, I genuinely became conscious of using them more in my daily work life - and ditched some other things - quietly. Lo and behold, it turns out my Superpowers were incredibly valuable and I got promoted within six months."
The arrival of a dream job
She dropped Lucia a note when the news came in.
“Today I accepted the new role….to keep using my Superpowers, but to point them at problems that light me up and learn lots more about how those people and organisational problems get solved on the ground.
I get away from numbers - which I never enjoyed - and get to connect with the humans behind the numbers and to simplify processes and make their work lives work better.”
Lucia was over the moon - the unexpected email from Keira had made her day.
As was always the case with Keira, she never wore rose-tinted glasses. She understood that career happiness isn’t a one and done thing…that she’ll have future obstacles to overcome.
“It could, of course, all go terribly wrong!
But somehow I feel like it's the right decision longer term.
And it’s proof that you don't have to run away and join the circus when you are feeling "meh" about work.... it really, really could be round the corner....!”
