In this episode, I spoke with Erin Galloway about her career journey and the habits that she had to continually evolve as life changed for her. Although she had been fortunate enough to create and maintain good habits growing up, she knew she needed to keep developing different habits to keep learning, growing and moving forward. She shares some of her most impactful tips on how to create healthy habits for your career, especially when you are searching for a new job!
In this episode you will specifically learn how to…
- Find ways to learn in a new space or career
- Be open to different experiences, and how they may take you down a road that you didn’t realize you would love, or perhaps realize what you thought you might love you really don’t.
- Weave all your experiences together
- Be aware of potential burnout while searching for a new job by finding balance in your job search (it’s a marathon, not a sprint)
More about Erin Galloway…
With a Master’s degree in Human Development and Family Studies, and time at The Ohio State University and Johns Hopkins University under her belt, her entire career has focused on behavior change and how small choices add up to have a big impact. She has been supporting families, communities, and schools in creating lifestyle changes and building healthy environments that lead to long-term, multi-generational wellbeing.
Erin also managed a high-achieving career while being fiercely independent and being a present single parent to her daughter. All of these decisions have come with LOTS of messiness that "life" can sometimes throw at us.
She applauds women who don't try to "do it all" and coaches entrepreneurs and parents on how to create habits, systems, and structures that keep us consistent through times of crisis and times of coasting.
How to connect with Erin…
Link for Erin’s books…
I’m Karen Weeks, the CEO & Chief Shine Officer (aka transformation coach) at KDW Coaching, the host of the Shine at Work podcast, award winning culture leader (currently leading the People team at Ordergroove), a speaker and published author. My purpose is to help career-oriented humans get unstuck so they can shine bright in business and in life. And I know how that feels, I navigated a career from theatre & the arts to HR (with lots of twists and turns there) to expanding my career into coaching as well. I live in NYC with my husband and furry babies!
Welcome to the Shine at Work Podcast! On this show, your co-hosts Karen and Dan will shine a light on your job search so you can land a role that lets you flex your strengths and progress your career in an environment you actually look forward to working in each day. From creating a stand-out resume, to confidently negotiating your salary, to finding your footing as a new manager, you can expect to hear actionable advice to help you shine your brightest in your role.
Karen D. Weeks is the CEO and Chief Career Coach of Shine at Work Coaching. She has over twenty years of HR experience, including as CPO at Ordergroove.
Dan Carr is a Shine at Work Career Coach with over a decade of recruiting experience helping high-growth startups expand with top talent.
Connect with Us!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Unknown (00:02):
Hello my friends welcome to the shine at work
podcast. I'm your host Karenweeks. As a transformation
career coach and culture andpeople leader. My goal is to
help career oriented humans getunstuck, so that they can shine
brighter in business and inlife. I believe that you deserve
a career that lights you up.
Because spoiler alert, it alsoimpacts how bright you shine in
your life. This season. Eachweek, we will focus on a key
(00:24):
skill that you need to shine atwork, and inspirational stories
on ways to navigate your career.
Because I know what it feelslike when your light is dim. I
made a career change fromtheater to HR, and now expanded
to coaching. And at times in mylife, I had to take a look deep
inside to see what was mostimportant, what made me shine
bright, and make adjustmentsalong the way. It's possible. I
(00:47):
did it, my guest did it and Ihelp others do it every day. I
hope you walk away from eachepisode not just inspired, but
with some actionable advice. AndI hope that you find it so
valuable that you subscribe tothe podcast, leave a review and
tell your friends because we alldeserve to shine bright in our
lives specifically at work.
Okay, let's jump in into thisweek's episode.
(01:14):
Before we start today's episode,let me ask you a question. How
are those New Year's resolutionsgoing? If you're like me, and
lots of other people, I know bythe way, you start the year off
strong in January with a greatplan to hit your goals. You hire
the trainer, you sign up for theclass, you start journaling, you
get up early bookmark some jobsites, all of the things that we
(01:36):
think are going to take us tothat place we want to be in the
new year, then life starts toget in the way. You slip a
little you get distracted, youmiss one week, then you really
start to miss some of thosegoals and you don't see the
impact you wanted. And yourmotivation drops and drops and
drops, which is natural, you'renot seeing the impact because
you aren't taking the steps toget there. I've been there. I've
(01:58):
been there this year. And like Isaid, we are not alone.
According to a psychologicalstudy, 64% of people abandon
their resolutions after just onemonth. Personally, I have not
gotten on the peloton as much asI wanted to. It's not because I
don't want to I love doing it.
But something isn't clicking,I've got a blocker, and I can't
figure out what that is. So Iactually work with my own
(02:20):
wellness coach to figure outwhat is blocking me from hitting
that goal. So you can do thesame, you could also be part of
that 36% That actually hit theirgoals. And I can be that person
to help you. I work with peopleone on one to help them get
unstuck and shine bright intheir career in life. My unstuck
framework helps peoplespecifically unshackle yourself
(02:40):
from your current mindset, ielet go the past and remove
labels. Nail your new careertarget, identify where you want
to go next, slay your skills. Inother words, identifying your
transferable skills. Talk toeveryone. This is just
networking one on one stuff thatwe'll go through so that you
(03:00):
feel more comfortable reachingout to people, then we're going
to unlock your new brand. So howdo we position yourself through
your resume through LinkedInthrough telling your story for
the thing that you're trying toachieve? Then you're going to
crush your interviews, which isjust a bunch of prep practice,
and working through what kind ofquestions you might get and how
to talk through some of the gapsthat you might have. So that you
(03:21):
can kick butt in your career,you're going to land the gig and
set yourself up for success. Sodo you want to get unstuck sound
like something that you mightneed a little help with. That's
why I'm here. And the amazingthing is that it's not just
about your career, it's actuallyabout living the life that you
want to live that's right foryou in this moment. That's what
(03:42):
this is all about. That byworking together, you'll gain
the tools that you need thesupport, you need the
confidence, you need to identifythe right career path, and land
a new job to shine bright bothat work and in life. So if all
this sounds good, and you'resitting there going, oh my gosh,
I don't want to be part of thetwo thirds that doesn't hit
(04:02):
their goals so soon in theircareer. You can email me
directly at Karen at Karen deweeks.com. Or use any of the
links in the podcast to connectwith me through my website, on
my Instagram or throughLinkedIn. Let's connect to help
you achieve your goals this yearand shine network. Now on to our
regularly scheduled programming.
(04:25):
Hi, everyone, I am so excited tobe here with Aaron today. I
actually just recently I metAaron and was immediately blown
away both by her story, but alsoabout the advice that she has
about creating healthy habitsand really helping us hit
success through that. I know theold adage of like you have to do
one pushup to get to 25 PushUps. But especially in our job
searches and in our careers.
It's very hard to create habitsthat are sustainable. And it's
(04:48):
very easy to be like oh, thatdidn't work and we walk away. So
I'm very excited to have Aaronhere to share her advice.
Welcome, Erin.
Thank you so much for having me.
I'm thrilled to be here.
I am so excited. So as Imentioned, first, I want to give
you a chance to introduceyourself and share your story.
So, so let's kind of rewind alittle bit. And, you know, let's
(05:10):
kind of talk about your career.
So where did you start? And howdid you end up where you are
today?
So my Erin Galloway, I currentlyrefer to myself as a habit
catalyst. And quite honestly,that has really been my entire
life. I thankfully, you know,had good habits and systems even
when I was a kid. Oh, when Iwent off to college, you know, I
(05:34):
always worked. And so at somepoint in time, I like to tell
this story, because I think itsort of sets the groundwork for
how my career trajectory went, Ihad an opportunity to walk into
the dean's office and say tohim, like, Hey, I'd like to work
for you. And the office said, hedoesn't work. And I was like,
(05:56):
Okay, great. I'd like to set anappointment. Oh, well, alright,
your persist. And I walked inthere and after my appointment,
and he said, Well, I don'tusually work with undergrads.
But I have these three projects,and which one would you be? And
I listened to all of them. And Isaid, Well, which one do you
(06:17):
think is the most challenging?
And he one particularopportunity? And I said, great,
I'd like that one. He honestlychanged my complete critique a
career paths that I never couldhave perceived coming to me
without that one conversation.
Yeah. He ended up being mymentor, my academic advisor in
(06:41):
graduate school, I ended upworking for him at Ohio State
University, and work in movingwith him to Baltimore, Maryland,
I work at Johns HopkinsUniversity, worked together for
many decades. But what I learnedin that is to a not be scared to
ask for it, you want mm. B, hetrained me to be a generalist.
(07:06):
So I learned very quickly that Iwas someone who could transition
between track tasks, I couldtake on challenges. I was
someone even in my teenage yearsthat was willing to walk into a
group of adults, you know, givea certain level of leadership
and direction, I was comfortablein spaces in which I was the
(07:27):
minority instead of being themajority. And with every
experience where I was half thetime scared out of my mind. I
always had someone to trust tosay, Well, you wouldn't put me
here if you didn't think I couldsucceed.
Mm hmm. Yes. I am loving aboutthe conversations were specific,
(07:51):
specifically having this year onthe podcast is that so much of
this actually ties together? Sowe talk about imposter syndrome.
And so you know, why am I why amI in the room with all these
people? We talk about confidencebuilding and saying yes to
things and finding mentors. Andall of the conversations have
all overlapped, even if thetheme of the episode is one
(08:13):
thing, because I think it's ashared experience a lot of us go
through as we're navigating ourcareers.
Yes, it is. It isn't. It's,there's so much faith in the
process. And but you know, afterhe decided to leave and move to
a completely different coast,and I knew my life would not be
able to pick up as fast thattime. You know, I had to find a
(08:34):
new path. And because of myability to take leads, and land
on my feet over and over again,you know, I took a lead to a
completely different type ofcompany, I moved to corporate
America, I moved in a positionthat was actually a downgrade in
order to learn more, I became anexecutive assistant, which I'd
(08:55):
never done before. But I knew ina real estate industry, I was
not familiar with the learnsomething new is to be the top
person's right hand person. So Itook the, you know, downgrade
and finances sort of downgradeand title, and said, Let's learn
something new. And that sort ofset a plan for the next. I'll
(09:17):
call it decade. And then now I'mat a place where I am doing more
independent consulting, becausethat's what life has taken me
between my daughter, my motherbeing ill, you know, it really
was something that I said, Okay,let's try to see if I can use
these skills that I gained overthe years. Yeah. Here's some
more independent work.
(09:38):
Yeah. Oh, that's amazing. Well,and I love what you said about
like finding ways to learn in anew space or in a new career,
and acknowledging what thatmight have to look like both.
You know, I just talked tosomebody the other day that I'm
working with on their careersearch around helping them find
the opportunities to say what'simportant to be moving forward.
(10:00):
And what are some nonnegotiable? So can I take a step
back in finances? Can I am Iokay? Taking a step back in
title because it's actuallygoing to then help me get the
titles over here that are goingto be more important moving
forward. So all of those things,I think, to be purposeful in
your career, you need to look atall of the aspects and do what's
(10:20):
right, right. Like, I'm notsaying, you know, not be able to
afford to pay your bed, butlike, do what's right when
you're thinking about what goalAm I trying to achieve?
Absolutely. And what's everyunique opportunity, I definitely
learned more than I thought Iwould. One of my favorite
moments that my past boss tosstoss me into, is he said, Hey,
(10:43):
you know, we're thinking aboutbuilding this school. And I was
like, Okay, I'm interested. Andhe's like, just look at these
meetings, just just attend themrepresent me see what happens.
And as we sat there, he waslike, oh, okay, what I didn't
tell you was I need arepresentative. And then I
actually, like, helped designand build the school. And I was
(11:06):
like, Oh, I don't know anythingabout that. So I just found the
smartest person at the tablewith a fraction documents. And I
said, Listen, I need to show Ineed you to show me what's a
door. And what's a window? Oh,okay. That's where we're
starting with you. And I'm like,yep. But if the end, I ended up
(11:27):
being the last person standing.
And in fact, I walked the hallsof the construction site with
high heels, nine monthspregnant. And oh, work, and I
will never take thoseopportunities back. I mean,
those are transfer skills ofresiliency, and learn and
curiosity with people that wereon a much higher level than me.
(11:49):
Yes. But I just walked ininquisitive and curious, and
then just was patient to seewhat would come out of it.
Yeah. Oh, that's great. I loveit. Well, and I think that, you
know, learner mindset, growth,mindset, curiosity, like
whatever phrase you want to use.
But I think that, I think it'simportant, honestly, in all
areas of our life, butespecially as we're navigating
(12:09):
our career, being open todifferent experiences being open
to things that might make us alittle uncomfortable, but we're
going to learn from it, either,we're going to learn that we
don't like it, and that's okay,too. Or we're going to learn
that we love it. And we can leaninto something that we never
would have experienced orexpected.
Absolutely, there were so manytimes where my family members or
(12:31):
colleagues were like, What inthe world? Like, how is this
possible? And, you know, I wouldsay, I would never take it all
back, I'm very well for the setof life skills that it all of
that taught me. The flip side,I'm like, there's always right,
the grass is greener, beingtrained as a generalist is a
(12:52):
tricky spot, when you arelooking for a career change,
because you have so many skillsthat, you know, you start to
look into, Oh, I could do thatopportunity. That opportunity.
And people are really, as you goto get hired, right, people are
really suspicious of can youreally do all that like? Like
(13:14):
the right package? Yes. And sothey're, you know, there are
some pros and cons of the trackI've had, but, you know, on the
grand scheme of life, and issort of what I think is really
interesting is that you tooksort of that natural personality
that you had as a kid, of, youknow, being a little more
discipline organized in thephrases you would use to
(13:36):
describe yourself. And then youtook all the experiences that
you gained as a generalist inall those different roles. And
now you've brought thosetogether in your own business
and coaching people help achievetheir goals or their lives and
build healthier habits.
Absolutely, there, there is areason I acknowledged that I got
to be the chief of staff at ahigh level, high performing
(13:58):
University in my early 30s,right that not everybody reaches
that. Um, and so you know, mebeing very disciplined, being
very repetitive, being willingto you know, not have burnout
you know, finding that balanceand I did I achieve that level
(14:19):
as a single mom, right? So,there's, there's things that you
have to look inside yourself tosay what is a natural fit? And
what can I do on the repeat thatwill not just bring me joy
because honestly, I'm okay withwork being not always joyful.
I'm willing to challenge anduncomfortable but what, what can
(14:42):
you do so that way your energybalance is okay for the things
that are uncomfortable and arechallenging because it can't all
be that way?
Yes. Yes. Well, and I wasliterally talking to,
ironically, my therapist thismorning, about places of
uncomfortability. There's twodifferent reasons for That one
is because it's uncomfortablefor a reason, like, Danger Zone
(15:03):
back out. But it's also becauseyou're trying something new and
pushing yourself to a place thatmight feel uncomfortable, but
it's actually the thing that'sgonna get you to the place
you're trying to try to getachieve whatever your goals are.
And there's a difference betweenthe two. And part of it's good,
uncomfortable this, and some ofit's not. And that's okay. Like
to know the difference.
(15:24):
Absolutely, I think, especiallyas you are thinking about
changing careers, or you're inthe process that may have been,
you know, thrown upon you, yourown choice, you know, finding
the the aspects of your day thatare familiar, that you think
about, right can naturallypreserve your decision making
and your energy for those otherthings that you're unfamiliar
(15:48):
with. Yeah. So that, to me iswere the habits of career
change, or being in the first 90days of a new business, right,
that Gnostic into the careerafter that, or just in the
search, you have to have aspectsof your life that are on repeat,
otherwise, you won't have thatgood self balance for the other
(16:09):
new aspects that you're workingon?
Yeah, absolutely. Well, I'm gladyou mentioned those first 90
days as well, because that'sactually where you get to set
the best practices, thedisciplines, the behaviors that
are going to set you up forsuccess. And, and often when I
work with folks to find a way tohelp them find a new job, we
actually continue workingtogether through some of those
first 90 days because like,okay, great, you got it. But now
(16:30):
you actually have to besuccessful in it, which I know
you could be, but how can wehelp you do that?
Absolutely. And not like, driveyourself to the ground? Yes.
After preserve your energy insome way, shape, or form?
Because otherwise, if you go toohard, your brain phase, and
you're also trying to hideright, you're still playing your
(16:52):
this on the current one and notleaving your mind open to what
is new to learn in this newenvironment?
Yes, yes, absolutely. We've sortof alluded to the work you do
today with folks, habitcatalysts, which I love that
phrase, what? How are some waysthat you help people now in your
(17:12):
current practice? And then we'lltalk about like, how you can
take that into your job search,etc. But how do you help people
with that today?
You know, so for me, one aspectthat a lot of people overlook is
the potential patterns and whatthey do in their business are
things that people do actionsthat people take on the repeat,
(17:32):
they may just not put them in aparticular order, or they may
not see the patterns of theirwork. Or, for example, they may
do, you know, some certainpractices, for, you know, the
way they read emails, or the waythey do their journaling, or the
way that they organize theirpapers and not realized, if they
(17:53):
just shifted the order of theway that they did it, it could
actually save them time. And soa lot of what I work with people
on is they may have these, youknow, big ideas, either it's a
new idea that they have fortheir business, or they just
realize they're feeling veryoverwhelmed. And they need look
for those patterns. And so I'lljust talk people through,
(18:16):
honestly, it's a very verbal andrelationship oriented start.
Just talk me through right, talkme through what you do talk me
through how you organize yourday, how do you organize your
decisions, and then I justhappen to notice, and it's just
something that has comenaturally to me, of how to
perhaps read put together apuzzle for people that they
(18:39):
could do consistently. And so,you know, for example, you know,
recently working with someonewho is decided to make a new
offer and her nutritionbusiness, you know, she had a
great idea. And I said, Okay, soyou go into day one with the
client, what do you do? And shestarted talking it through and
I'm like, Okay, but what you'resaying is you do this, and then
(19:01):
you do this, and then you dothat. So that way, you know,
every single time you walk inwith a client, here's the order
of the action, take and theconversations you have, and you
don't do it in a new way everysingle time you have a client.
Oh, that is so smart, andscalable and more efficient, not
(19:24):
because like we're trying to becut things down, but also helps
us also build confidence becauseif I know this is how I'm doing
it every time. I have moreconfidence doing it that way
every time.
Absolutely. I think there's areally big misnomer about
habits. You know, we are most ofus are raised that habits come
with some negative connotation.
And I spend a lot of time withadults really working that
(19:49):
perception of habits and thenthe other half of my time I
spend it on kids talking throughthe positive aspects of habit.
Don't have to break the cycleslater. Both ages in the workday.
Oh, that is so cool. It isinteresting how Elon also
(20:10):
sometimes habits. So it'sinteresting habits, when I think
of it can be negative this senseof like, oh, it's like smoking
and like over eating and likethat's a habit I need to break.
But then also sometimes I feelhabits are put upon us because
I'm supposed to. So I need tobuild a habit of healthy eating,
I need to build a habit of goingto the gym, because I'm supposed
(20:32):
to and like all of the thingsand yeah, I know, it makes me
feel better. But or likemeditating or journaling or
whatever the things that like,conceptually I get I'm supposed
to be doing. But I'm only goingto do it if I build a habit of
it. Because otherwise I'm notgoing to do it, which also has
more of a negative connotationto it.
Yeah, absolutely. And most ofthe habit tools that are out
there on the market that peopletry to use, quite frankly, I
(20:54):
think are really overwhelming.
There's, there's tools that say,okay, just create a list every
day, right? If you just had alist, and I talked to people, I
don't know about you, but Ican't do a whole list anymore.
That's not how I train myselfthat I accomplished these three
to five things. I am stillsuccessful on my day. Because if
(21:15):
you take three to five new timesthose out across seven days a
week, and then you times acrossa month. I mean, that number is
pretty impressive. Yeah. Why isthat? Not okay. For me to really
focus in on certain actions thatI'm going to take repeated? And
then be okay with that smallernumber.
(21:37):
Yes, yeah. giving ourselves thepermission to get through the
things that are most importantor identify those things not
have to do everything? Exactly.
Yeah. So that is really, reallyhelpful. And I can so relate to
so much of it, as we think aboutit within our careers. Let's
start first with sort of likethe people that are doing their
job searches right now, I know alot of folks often will sign up
(21:59):
with a coach just for theaccountability of it, like in
the motivation piece of it, howcan they be building healthier
habits in a job search to helpthem stay motivated and hit
their goals?
I really think, you know, I wishthat people could be more aware
of the potential burnout aheadof them. It tried to if you will
(22:22):
swing the pendulum too far on aregular basis. Right. Now
friends and colleagues who allof a sudden, out of the gates
for eight, they spent all thistime with free networking
events, they do all search,right, they, they do all the
LinkedIn and all of a sudden,three or five days into it,
(22:42):
they're like, Ooh, I'm kind oftired. And then they have to
like spend time re gaining thatenergy to pick it up the next
week. You know, I really thinkthat there's some simple tools
that people can put into place,whether it be an Excel
spreadsheet, or a particularnotebook that you looking at an
(23:02):
entire week, and you map it outin advance you to attend every
free networking event, right? SoI'm only going to attend to,
right and if that if I filledout my to this week, then I go
to to next week. Or I'm onlygoing to message direct message
(23:23):
people on LinkedIn, five, youknow, five times in one week,
and then hit that five times,then you list the same people
you didn't get to the next week,right? Based out the work. I
think not only does that avoidburnout, it also helps you
reprioritize, who may or may notbe the most important, that is
(23:46):
great advice, right? Everybodycould be that person every be
the big one that you needed toget all know that. That shiny
Penny probably isn't going to bethe one it's going something
else that you're going to learnabout yourself, you're going to
get more savvy in your filters,and more strategic with your
(24:07):
time as the process goes on.
Yeah, it is really interesting,because I think you really hit
on something key there is thatyou're going to learn as you do
this. So if you hit up 25 peopleon day one, and no one responds,
I don't wanna say you wasted 25messages, but you didn't have a
chance to see if your messagelanded first, to see what you
(24:29):
need to adjust to then reach outto the next. So if you only
reach out to five, would youlearn now reach out to a
different five with anyadjustments that you had to
make. And I think you also willlearn about the kinds of jobs
you want to apply for. So as newjobs pop up, or as you start
having some of those interviewsyou may learn something about
the companies, the definitionsof the roles like even your
(24:50):
former role Chief of Staff, thatmeans a lot of different things
at a lot of differentorganizations. So if that's the
role you're applying for and youapply for 50 chief of staff
jobs, your that's going to bevery, very different.
Absolutely, and I think you, youlook at it from the benefit can
be looking at it from bothperspectives, both from yourself
trying to find the rightposition, and the other person,
(25:13):
you presenting yourself as agood fit. Right, so sort of
respecting other people's time,because I know so many friends
again and colleagues that wouldall of a sudden reach out to
their entire network, and justsay, Hey, I'm looking, if you
thing, right, and then on themto spend their time and energy,
instead of kind of taking a stepback being very strategic about,
(25:38):
okay, I'm going to contact theseparticular people about this
type of opportunity. But I'mgonna have a very clear call to
action for them. Right? Oh, it'sso much easier when you get a
message that says, Hey, I seeyou're connected to this person,
I would like to know thisperson, would you be willing? An
Introduction? Versus a verybroad ask? Yeah. But I think,
(26:01):
for each process is required inorder to get to that?
Well, it also helps you identifywhat you need, and then actually
get the things that you need.
Because if you just put it outthere, say, Hey, I'm looking,
who knows what you're going toget? And then you're a that's
noise that maybe you don't need,but also that do you feel bad
because someone suggestedsomething that you actually
(26:21):
didn't want. And now that'sawkward. I remember, it's, it's
the flip of this. But I remembersomeone once gave me the best
advice that if someone is goingthrough something, and you reach
out to them and say, Hey, let meknow how I can help. They often
will say, Thank you, but I'mfine. Because they don't know
what they need. But if I sayhey, I know you're going through
something, I'm going to bringdinner by tonight, so you don't
(26:42):
have to think about it. They'relike, Oh, my God, thank you. So
I know that's the opposite. Butit's the same concept of the
more focused you can be in yourhelp, the better and more
helpful, you'll actually be1,000% agree with that. And I
think the higher level of youget within an organization, when
you get into the executivelevels in the C suites, right?
(27:03):
The more clear your call toaction is the likely they are to
respond. Yes. And so you know,as people are mapping out their
search, doing sort of an initialscan, okay, based on today, what
does it want? My Am I looking atmy own city? Am I looking in
(27:26):
different cities? Am I lookingfor this particular career or
another one, right getting,having a starter place for
yourself where you are at at themoment, and then mapping out
some key tasks that you do everyweek, or every day, right, but
just make sure the list isreasonable. And just do it on
(27:47):
repeat, just delete the system,because as you said, it's every
message or every search is alitmus test for what you
learned, and how you're going tochange it. Because how you
introduce yourself, and thefirst email that you send out is
going to be different than theemail or even the 10.
(28:09):
Yes, absolutely. You learn somuch as you go. And you also
just learn about what you'relooking for, too. So you're
asking might be a littledifferent as you go through your
process as well. So that leadsinto what you were saying
earlier about burnout. So boththe job search, but then also
when you start a new job, it isa marathon, not a sprint. So
(28:29):
what can folks do differently,once they've gotten the job to
apply sort of that burnouttechnique to a new job as well?
You know, I am a worker bee bynature, right? I'm not very good
at the jobs that even claimed tome, you don't have to arrive. So
nine and you could leave itright? Like that was natural for
(28:53):
me. Even if they gave mepermission for that. Yes. But on
the flip side of that is that II have a pretty high capacity
for energy and enthusiasm in agiven day. But I will never
forget the one job when I didchange careers. I was never so
exhausted in my entire life.
Like I would come home from afirst full day. And I would wake
(29:16):
up the next morning still in mydress clothes from the day
before Oh, no. As I had justused up every ounce of energy
that I had. And so when I fellasleep I literally would have
lights on and wake up in mydress clothes. In to Me, I had
to do that a few times before Idid some self reflection. My
(29:41):
boss was like, Okay, wait,that's too much. So, you know,
I, I think if people can say tothemselves again, these are the
patterns I'm going to repeat. IfI worked out every day before
I'm going to keep working outI'm not Gonna forego the
workouts because I want to learnsomething new at my job, right?
(30:02):
Feel perfect before, I'm goingto meal prep now, because I'm
not going to all of a sudden,try to go out to lunch with
every new person in my office.
Because there could be somethingabout that meal prep, not only
saving money, but be, you mightneed that internal time to read.
(30:23):
And so don't let go of thepatterns that serve you, at the
risk of just trying to like fitin, learn more and do it super
fast, really spaced that timingout. So you also have energy to
regroup. Because, you know, yourbrain and your body are willing,
you know, just, they're gonnaimplode at some point, if you
(30:46):
don't find the process. Yeah,yep, no, I think that's so true.
And I think it's also the timeto do it, cuz you're also
setting the right expectationsmoving forward. So the minute
you start week one, answeringemails on the weekend, or
showing up early to things ornot eating your lunch, you now
are saying this is how I work,it's okay that I'm working this
(31:08):
way. And a new job is actuallythe chance to reset all of those
bad behaviors.
Oh, it's such a good point. Andeven more challenging that
people are working remotelyright? It would be even ECE.
Yeah, these practices and letany sense of Schedule Go.
Because all you have to do ispick up your laptop. But your
(31:30):
point of it sets an expectationis if you feel so compelled to
work or right after hours, thenschedule the email to go out
during workout. Yes. Don't Don'ttry to do everything. And then
in the off hours, so that way,you can't maintain what you're
(31:50):
starting off with.
Yes, yes. Oh, that's soimportant. Well, you have shared
so many great tips, both ofthings you've learned on your
you know, throughout your owncareer, and then how to apply
that for job searches andstarting new job based on your
expertise. Now as the habitcatalysts, which I love that
phrase, or what is as we wrapup, what's one place that you
(32:13):
tend to see people struggle withthis? So this all sounds great.
Like, of course, I should bedoing all this. What tends to be
people's blockers that you see.
I think when people are careerchanging, definitely I will say,
and I point this out all thetime, the free networking
events, to me are like whereI've wasted the most amount of
(32:33):
time and energy in my career. Iwould rather see people be more
strategic with their time, meetwith one person commit to one
organization and take thoseevents. Don't join every free
listserv, because there's a lotof them. And don't join every
free networking group becausethere's a lot of them, right?
(32:54):
Research be mindful of thepeople that align with you. And
don't be so scared that everytime you don't sign up for
something, or you don't attendfor an event, that would have
been the moment where the rightopportunity. It's not a case,
right? There's enough storiesthat the right opportunity and
partner or mentor will alignwhen it's supposed to be and you
(33:16):
don't fight against the process.
Oh my gosh, yes, that is such animportant message that if it's
the right thing, it will presentitself again, in another form.
Yes. Well, thank you so, somuch. Like I said, it's been so
great hearing your own stories,but then your advice was so
actionable. And so, so focusthat I think it's gonna be
(33:39):
really, really helpful forpeople. So we'll make sure that
they know ways to connect withyou to if they want to continue
to follow your advice andconnect with you offline. So
thank you again, so much fordoing the episode. It was been
great chatting with you.
Oh, thank you for thisopportunity. I think it's a
really important topic, and I'mglad to incorporate habits and
good practices into it.
(34:04):
Thank you so much for listeningto the shine network podcast. If
you enjoy today's episode,please subscribe and leave a
review. Leaving a review takesjust a few minutes and truly
helps other people find thepodcast. If you want to learn
more about how I work withpeople to help transform their
careers, and shine brightly intheir lives. Let's connect. I
work with amazing humans one onone to help them make a career
(34:27):
change, go for that promotion,set career goals, and build a
plan for success for a new job.
I also lead group programs fornew managers that are navigating
this huge change in theircareers and entrepreneurs who
are building their teams for thefirst time. If any of that
sounds like it could be helpfulfor you. You can email me
directly at Karen at Karen deweeks comm or message me through
(34:47):
Instagram, LinkedIn or mywebsite. I just want to give a
final shout out as always toastronaut go home for our music
and NAVA studios for making thepodcast come to life and Until
next time, remember that you canand deserve to shine at work.
Hello my friends welcome to the shine at work
podcast. I'm your host Karenweeks. As a transformation
career coach and culture andpeople leader. My goal is to
help career oriented humans getunstuck, so that they can shine
brighter in business and inlife. I believe that you deserve
a career that lights you up.
Because spoiler alert, it alsoimpacts how bright you shine in
your life. This season. Eachweek, we will focus on a key
(00:24):
skill that you need to shine atwork, and inspirational stories
on ways to navigate your career.
Because I know what it feelslike when your light is dim. I
made a career change fromtheater to HR, and now expanded
to coaching. And at times in mylife, I had to take a look deep
inside to see what was mostimportant, what made me shine
bright, and make adjustmentsalong the way. It's possible. I
(00:47):
did it, my guest did it and Ihelp others do it every day. I
hope you walk away from eachepisode not just inspired, but
with some actionable advice. AndI hope that you find it so
valuable that you subscribe tothe podcast, leave a review and
tell your friends because we alldeserve to shine bright in our
lives specifically at work.
Okay, let's jump in into thisweek's episode.
(01:14):
Before we start today's episode,let me ask you a question. How
are those New Year's resolutionsgoing? If you're like me, and
lots of other people, I know bythe way, you start the year off
strong in January with a greatplan to hit your goals. You hire
the trainer, you sign up for theclass, you start journaling, you
get up early bookmark some jobsites, all of the things that we
(01:36):
think are going to take us tothat place we want to be in the
new year, then life starts toget in the way. You slip a
little you get distracted, youmiss one week, then you really
start to miss some of thosegoals and you don't see the
impact you wanted. And yourmotivation drops and drops and
drops, which is natural, you'renot seeing the impact because
you aren't taking the steps toget there. I've been there. I've
(01:58):
been there this year. And like Isaid, we are not alone.
According to a psychologicalstudy, 64% of people abandon
their resolutions after just onemonth. Personally, I have not
gotten on the peloton as much asI wanted to. It's not because I
don't want to I love doing it.
But something isn't clicking,I've got a blocker, and I can't
figure out what that is. So Iactually work with my own
(02:20):
wellness coach to figure outwhat is blocking me from hitting
that goal. So you can do thesame, you could also be part of
that 36% That actually hit theirgoals. And I can be that person
to help you. I work with peopleone on one to help them get
unstuck and shine bright intheir career in life. My unstuck
framework helps peoplespecifically unshackle yourself
(02:40):
from your current mindset, ielet go the past and remove
labels. Nail your new careertarget, identify where you want
to go next, slay your skills. Inother words, identifying your
transferable skills. Talk toeveryone. This is just
networking one on one stuff thatwe'll go through so that you
(03:00):
feel more comfortable reachingout to people, then we're going
to unlock your new brand. So howdo we position yourself through
your resume through LinkedInthrough telling your story for
the thing that you're trying toachieve? Then you're going to
crush your interviews, which isjust a bunch of prep practice,
and working through what kind ofquestions you might get and how
to talk through some of the gapsthat you might have. So that you
(03:21):
can kick butt in your career,you're going to land the gig and
set yourself up for success. Sodo you want to get unstuck sound
like something that you mightneed a little help with. That's
why I'm here. And the amazingthing is that it's not just
about your career, it's actuallyabout living the life that you
want to live that's right foryou in this moment. That's what
(03:42):
this is all about. That byworking together, you'll gain
the tools that you need thesupport, you need the
confidence, you need to identifythe right career path, and land
a new job to shine bright bothat work and in life. So if all
this sounds good, and you'resitting there going, oh my gosh,
I don't want to be part of thetwo thirds that doesn't hit
(04:02):
their goals so soon in theircareer. You can email me
directly at Karen at Karen deweeks.com. Or use any of the
links in the podcast to connectwith me through my website, on
my Instagram or throughLinkedIn. Let's connect to help
you achieve your goals this yearand shine network. Now on to our
regularly scheduled programming.
(04:25):
Hi, everyone, I am so excited tobe here with Aaron today. I
actually just recently I metAaron and was immediately blown
away both by her story, but alsoabout the advice that she has
about creating healthy habitsand really helping us hit
success through that. I know theold adage of like you have to do
one pushup to get to 25 PushUps. But especially in our job
searches and in our careers.
It's very hard to create habitsthat are sustainable. And it's
(04:48):
very easy to be like oh, thatdidn't work and we walk away. So
I'm very excited to have Aaronhere to share her advice.
Welcome, Erin.
Thank you so much for having me.
I'm thrilled to be here.
I am so excited. So as Imentioned, first, I want to give
you a chance to introduceyourself and share your story.
So, so let's kind of rewind alittle bit. And, you know, let's
(05:10):
kind of talk about your career.
So where did you start? And howdid you end up where you are
today?
So my Erin Galloway, I currentlyrefer to myself as a habit
catalyst. And quite honestly,that has really been my entire
life. I thankfully, you know,had good habits and systems even
when I was a kid. Oh, when Iwent off to college, you know, I
(05:34):
always worked. And so at somepoint in time, I like to tell
this story, because I think itsort of sets the groundwork for
how my career trajectory went, Ihad an opportunity to walk into
the dean's office and say tohim, like, Hey, I'd like to work
for you. And the office said, hedoesn't work. And I was like,
(05:56):
Okay, great. I'd like to set anappointment. Oh, well, alright,
your persist. And I walked inthere and after my appointment,
and he said, Well, I don'tusually work with undergrads.
But I have these three projects,and which one would you be? And
I listened to all of them. And Isaid, Well, which one do you
(06:17):
think is the most challenging?
And he one particularopportunity? And I said, great,
I'd like that one. He honestlychanged my complete critique a
career paths that I never couldhave perceived coming to me
without that one conversation.
Yeah. He ended up being mymentor, my academic advisor in
(06:41):
graduate school, I ended upworking for him at Ohio State
University, and work in movingwith him to Baltimore, Maryland,
I work at Johns HopkinsUniversity, worked together for
many decades. But what I learnedin that is to a not be scared to
ask for it, you want mm. B, hetrained me to be a generalist.
(07:06):
So I learned very quickly that Iwas someone who could transition
between track tasks, I couldtake on challenges. I was
someone even in my teenage yearsthat was willing to walk into a
group of adults, you know, givea certain level of leadership
and direction, I was comfortablein spaces in which I was the
(07:27):
minority instead of being themajority. And with every
experience where I was half thetime scared out of my mind. I
always had someone to trust tosay, Well, you wouldn't put me
here if you didn't think I couldsucceed.
Mm hmm. Yes. I am loving aboutthe conversations were specific,
(07:51):
specifically having this year onthe podcast is that so much of
this actually ties together? Sowe talk about imposter syndrome.
And so you know, why am I why amI in the room with all these
people? We talk about confidencebuilding and saying yes to
things and finding mentors. Andall of the conversations have
all overlapped, even if thetheme of the episode is one
(08:13):
thing, because I think it's ashared experience a lot of us go
through as we're navigating ourcareers.
Yes, it is. It isn't. It's,there's so much faith in the
process. And but you know, afterhe decided to leave and move to
a completely different coast,and I knew my life would not be
able to pick up as fast thattime. You know, I had to find a
(08:34):
new path. And because of myability to take leads, and land
on my feet over and over again,you know, I took a lead to a
completely different type ofcompany, I moved to corporate
America, I moved in a positionthat was actually a downgrade in
order to learn more, I became anexecutive assistant, which I'd
(08:55):
never done before. But I knew ina real estate industry, I was
not familiar with the learnsomething new is to be the top
person's right hand person. So Itook the, you know, downgrade
and finances sort of downgradeand title, and said, Let's learn
something new. And that sort ofset a plan for the next. I'll
(09:17):
call it decade. And then now I'mat a place where I am doing more
independent consulting, becausethat's what life has taken me
between my daughter, my motherbeing ill, you know, it really
was something that I said, Okay,let's try to see if I can use
these skills that I gained overthe years. Yeah. Here's some
more independent work.
(09:38):
Yeah. Oh, that's amazing. Well,and I love what you said about
like finding ways to learn in anew space or in a new career,
and acknowledging what thatmight have to look like both.
You know, I just talked tosomebody the other day that I'm
working with on their careersearch around helping them find
the opportunities to say what'simportant to be moving forward.
(10:00):
And what are some nonnegotiable? So can I take a step
back in finances? Can I am Iokay? Taking a step back in
title because it's actuallygoing to then help me get the
titles over here that are goingto be more important moving
forward. So all of those things,I think, to be purposeful in
your career, you need to look atall of the aspects and do what's
(10:20):
right, right. Like, I'm notsaying, you know, not be able to
afford to pay your bed, butlike, do what's right when
you're thinking about what goalAm I trying to achieve?
Absolutely. And what's everyunique opportunity, I definitely
learned more than I thought Iwould. One of my favorite
moments that my past boss tosstoss me into, is he said, Hey,
(10:43):
you know, we're thinking aboutbuilding this school. And I was
like, Okay, I'm interested. Andhe's like, just look at these
meetings, just just attend themrepresent me see what happens.
And as we sat there, he waslike, oh, okay, what I didn't
tell you was I need arepresentative. And then I
actually, like, helped designand build the school. And I was
(11:06):
like, Oh, I don't know anythingabout that. So I just found the
smartest person at the tablewith a fraction documents. And I
said, Listen, I need to show Ineed you to show me what's a
door. And what's a window? Oh,okay. That's where we're
starting with you. And I'm like,yep. But if the end, I ended up
(11:27):
being the last person standing.
And in fact, I walked the hallsof the construction site with
high heels, nine monthspregnant. And oh, work, and I
will never take thoseopportunities back. I mean,
those are transfer skills ofresiliency, and learn and
curiosity with people that wereon a much higher level than me.
(11:49):
Yes. But I just walked ininquisitive and curious, and
then just was patient to seewhat would come out of it.
Yeah. Oh, that's great. I loveit. Well, and I think that, you
know, learner mindset, growth,mindset, curiosity, like
whatever phrase you want to use.
But I think that, I think it'simportant, honestly, in all
areas of our life, butespecially as we're navigating
(12:09):
our career, being open todifferent experiences being open
to things that might make us alittle uncomfortable, but we're
going to learn from it, either,we're going to learn that we
don't like it, and that's okay,too. Or we're going to learn
that we love it. And we can leaninto something that we never
would have experienced orexpected.
Absolutely, there were so manytimes where my family members or
(12:31):
colleagues were like, What inthe world? Like, how is this
possible? And, you know, I wouldsay, I would never take it all
back, I'm very well for the setof life skills that it all of
that taught me. The flip side,I'm like, there's always right,
the grass is greener, beingtrained as a generalist is a
(12:52):
tricky spot, when you arelooking for a career change,
because you have so many skillsthat, you know, you start to
look into, Oh, I could do thatopportunity. That opportunity.
And people are really, as you goto get hired, right, people are
really suspicious of can youreally do all that like? Like
(13:14):
the right package? Yes. And sothey're, you know, there are
some pros and cons of the trackI've had, but, you know, on the
grand scheme of life, and issort of what I think is really
interesting is that you tooksort of that natural personality
that you had as a kid, of, youknow, being a little more
discipline organized in thephrases you would use to
(13:36):
describe yourself. And then youtook all the experiences that
you gained as a generalist inall those different roles. And
now you've brought thosetogether in your own business
and coaching people help achievetheir goals or their lives and
build healthier habits.
Absolutely, there, there is areason I acknowledged that I got
to be the chief of staff at ahigh level, high performing
(13:58):
University in my early 30s,right that not everybody reaches
that. Um, and so you know, mebeing very disciplined, being
very repetitive, being willingto you know, not have burnout
you know, finding that balanceand I did I achieve that level
(14:19):
as a single mom, right? So,there's, there's things that you
have to look inside yourself tosay what is a natural fit? And
what can I do on the repeat thatwill not just bring me joy
because honestly, I'm okay withwork being not always joyful.
I'm willing to challenge anduncomfortable but what, what can
(14:42):
you do so that way your energybalance is okay for the things
that are uncomfortable and arechallenging because it can't all
be that way?
Yes. Yes. Well, and I wasliterally talking to,
ironically, my therapist thismorning, about places of
uncomfortability. There's twodifferent reasons for That one
is because it's uncomfortablefor a reason, like, Danger Zone
(15:03):
back out. But it's also becauseyou're trying something new and
pushing yourself to a place thatmight feel uncomfortable, but
it's actually the thing that'sgonna get you to the place
you're trying to try to getachieve whatever your goals are.
And there's a difference betweenthe two. And part of it's good,
uncomfortable this, and some ofit's not. And that's okay. Like
to know the difference.
(15:24):
Absolutely, I think, especiallyas you are thinking about
changing careers, or you're inthe process that may have been,
you know, thrown upon you, yourown choice, you know, finding
the the aspects of your day thatare familiar, that you think
about, right can naturallypreserve your decision making
and your energy for those otherthings that you're unfamiliar
(15:48):
with. Yeah. So that, to me iswere the habits of career
change, or being in the first 90days of a new business, right,
that Gnostic into the careerafter that, or just in the
search, you have to have aspectsof your life that are on repeat,
otherwise, you won't have thatgood self balance for the other
(16:09):
new aspects that you're workingon?
Yeah, absolutely. Well, I'm gladyou mentioned those first 90
days as well, because that'sactually where you get to set
the best practices, thedisciplines, the behaviors that
are going to set you up forsuccess. And, and often when I
work with folks to find a way tohelp them find a new job, we
actually continue workingtogether through some of those
first 90 days because like,okay, great, you got it. But now
(16:30):
you actually have to besuccessful in it, which I know
you could be, but how can wehelp you do that?
Absolutely. And not like, driveyourself to the ground? Yes.
After preserve your energy insome way, shape, or form?
Because otherwise, if you go toohard, your brain phase, and
you're also trying to hideright, you're still playing your
(16:52):
this on the current one and notleaving your mind open to what
is new to learn in this newenvironment?
Yes, yes, absolutely. We've sortof alluded to the work you do
today with folks, habitcatalysts, which I love that
phrase, what? How are some waysthat you help people now in your
(17:12):
current practice? And then we'lltalk about like, how you can
take that into your job search,etc. But how do you help people
with that today?
You know, so for me, one aspectthat a lot of people overlook is
the potential patterns and whatthey do in their business are
things that people do actionsthat people take on the repeat,
(17:32):
they may just not put them in aparticular order, or they may
not see the patterns of theirwork. Or, for example, they may
do, you know, some certainpractices, for, you know, the
way they read emails, or the waythey do their journaling, or the
way that they organize theirpapers and not realized, if they
(17:53):
just shifted the order of theway that they did it, it could
actually save them time. And soa lot of what I work with people
on is they may have these, youknow, big ideas, either it's a
new idea that they have fortheir business, or they just
realize they're feeling veryoverwhelmed. And they need look
for those patterns. And so I'lljust talk people through,
(18:16):
honestly, it's a very verbal andrelationship oriented start.
Just talk me through right, talkme through what you do talk me
through how you organize yourday, how do you organize your
decisions, and then I justhappen to notice, and it's just
something that has comenaturally to me, of how to
perhaps read put together apuzzle for people that they
(18:39):
could do consistently. And so,you know, for example, you know,
recently working with someonewho is decided to make a new
offer and her nutritionbusiness, you know, she had a
great idea. And I said, Okay, soyou go into day one with the
client, what do you do? And shestarted talking it through and
I'm like, Okay, but what you'resaying is you do this, and then
(19:01):
you do this, and then you dothat. So that way, you know,
every single time you walk inwith a client, here's the order
of the action, take and theconversations you have, and you
don't do it in a new way everysingle time you have a client.
Oh, that is so smart, andscalable and more efficient, not
(19:24):
because like we're trying to becut things down, but also helps
us also build confidence becauseif I know this is how I'm doing
it every time. I have moreconfidence doing it that way
every time.
Absolutely. I think there's areally big misnomer about
habits. You know, we are most ofus are raised that habits come
with some negative connotation.
And I spend a lot of time withadults really working that
(19:49):
perception of habits and thenthe other half of my time I
spend it on kids talking throughthe positive aspects of habit.
Don't have to break the cycleslater. Both ages in the workday.
Oh, that is so cool. It isinteresting how Elon also
(20:10):
sometimes habits. So it'sinteresting habits, when I think
of it can be negative this senseof like, oh, it's like smoking
and like over eating and likethat's a habit I need to break.
But then also sometimes I feelhabits are put upon us because
I'm supposed to. So I need tobuild a habit of healthy eating,
I need to build a habit of goingto the gym, because I'm supposed
(20:32):
to and like all of the thingsand yeah, I know, it makes me
feel better. But or likemeditating or journaling or
whatever the things that like,conceptually I get I'm supposed
to be doing. But I'm only goingto do it if I build a habit of
it. Because otherwise I'm notgoing to do it, which also has
more of a negative connotationto it.
Yeah, absolutely. And most ofthe habit tools that are out
there on the market that peopletry to use, quite frankly, I
(20:54):
think are really overwhelming.
There's, there's tools that say,okay, just create a list every
day, right? If you just had alist, and I talked to people, I
don't know about you, but Ican't do a whole list anymore.
That's not how I train myselfthat I accomplished these three
to five things. I am stillsuccessful on my day. Because if
(21:15):
you take three to five new timesthose out across seven days a
week, and then you times acrossa month. I mean, that number is
pretty impressive. Yeah. Why isthat? Not okay. For me to really
focus in on certain actions thatI'm going to take repeated? And
then be okay with that smallernumber.
(21:37):
Yes, yeah. giving ourselves thepermission to get through the
things that are most importantor identify those things not
have to do everything? Exactly.
Yeah. So that is really, reallyhelpful. And I can so relate to
so much of it, as we think aboutit within our careers. Let's
start first with sort of likethe people that are doing their
job searches right now, I know alot of folks often will sign up
(21:59):
with a coach just for theaccountability of it, like in
the motivation piece of it, howcan they be building healthier
habits in a job search to helpthem stay motivated and hit
their goals?
I really think, you know, I wishthat people could be more aware
of the potential burnout aheadof them. It tried to if you will
(22:22):
swing the pendulum too far on aregular basis. Right. Now
friends and colleagues who allof a sudden, out of the gates
for eight, they spent all thistime with free networking
events, they do all search,right, they, they do all the
LinkedIn and all of a sudden,three or five days into it,
(22:42):
they're like, Ooh, I'm kind oftired. And then they have to
like spend time re gaining thatenergy to pick it up the next
week. You know, I really thinkthat there's some simple tools
that people can put into place,whether it be an Excel
spreadsheet, or a particularnotebook that you looking at an
(23:02):
entire week, and you map it outin advance you to attend every
free networking event, right? SoI'm only going to attend to,
right and if that if I filledout my to this week, then I go
to to next week. Or I'm onlygoing to message direct message
(23:23):
people on LinkedIn, five, youknow, five times in one week,
and then hit that five times,then you list the same people
you didn't get to the next week,right? Based out the work. I
think not only does that avoidburnout, it also helps you
reprioritize, who may or may notbe the most important, that is
(23:46):
great advice, right? Everybodycould be that person every be
the big one that you needed toget all know that. That shiny
Penny probably isn't going to bethe one it's going something
else that you're going to learnabout yourself, you're going to
get more savvy in your filters,and more strategic with your
(24:07):
time as the process goes on.
Yeah, it is really interesting,because I think you really hit
on something key there is thatyou're going to learn as you do
this. So if you hit up 25 peopleon day one, and no one responds,
I don't wanna say you wasted 25messages, but you didn't have a
chance to see if your messagelanded first, to see what you
(24:29):
need to adjust to then reach outto the next. So if you only
reach out to five, would youlearn now reach out to a
different five with anyadjustments that you had to
make. And I think you also willlearn about the kinds of jobs
you want to apply for. So as newjobs pop up, or as you start
having some of those interviewsyou may learn something about
the companies, the definitionsof the roles like even your
(24:50):
former role Chief of Staff, thatmeans a lot of different things
at a lot of differentorganizations. So if that's the
role you're applying for and youapply for 50 chief of staff
jobs, your that's going to bevery, very different.
Absolutely, and I think you, youlook at it from the benefit can
be looking at it from bothperspectives, both from yourself
trying to find the rightposition, and the other person,
(25:13):
you presenting yourself as agood fit. Right, so sort of
respecting other people's time,because I know so many friends
again and colleagues that wouldall of a sudden reach out to
their entire network, and justsay, Hey, I'm looking, if you
thing, right, and then on themto spend their time and energy,
instead of kind of taking a stepback being very strategic about,
(25:38):
okay, I'm going to contact theseparticular people about this
type of opportunity. But I'mgonna have a very clear call to
action for them. Right? Oh, it'sso much easier when you get a
message that says, Hey, I seeyou're connected to this person,
I would like to know thisperson, would you be willing? An
Introduction? Versus a verybroad ask? Yeah. But I think,
(26:01):
for each process is required inorder to get to that?
Well, it also helps you identifywhat you need, and then actually
get the things that you need.
Because if you just put it outthere, say, Hey, I'm looking,
who knows what you're going toget? And then you're a that's
noise that maybe you don't need,but also that do you feel bad
because someone suggestedsomething that you actually
(26:21):
didn't want. And now that'sawkward. I remember, it's, it's
the flip of this. But I remembersomeone once gave me the best
advice that if someone is goingthrough something, and you reach
out to them and say, Hey, let meknow how I can help. They often
will say, Thank you, but I'mfine. Because they don't know
what they need. But if I sayhey, I know you're going through
something, I'm going to bringdinner by tonight, so you don't
(26:42):
have to think about it. They'relike, Oh, my God, thank you. So
I know that's the opposite. Butit's the same concept of the
more focused you can be in yourhelp, the better and more
helpful, you'll actually be1,000% agree with that. And I
think the higher level of youget within an organization, when
you get into the executivelevels in the C suites, right?
(27:03):
The more clear your call toaction is the likely they are to
respond. Yes. And so you know,as people are mapping out their
search, doing sort of an initialscan, okay, based on today, what
does it want? My Am I looking atmy own city? Am I looking in
(27:26):
different cities? Am I lookingfor this particular career or
another one, right getting,having a starter place for
yourself where you are at at themoment, and then mapping out
some key tasks that you do everyweek, or every day, right, but
just make sure the list isreasonable. And just do it on
(27:47):
repeat, just delete the system,because as you said, it's every
message or every search is alitmus test for what you
learned, and how you're going tochange it. Because how you
introduce yourself, and thefirst email that you send out is
going to be different than theemail or even the 10.
(28:09):
Yes, absolutely. You learn somuch as you go. And you also
just learn about what you'relooking for, too. So you're
asking might be a littledifferent as you go through your
process as well. So that leadsinto what you were saying
earlier about burnout. So boththe job search, but then also
when you start a new job, it isa marathon, not a sprint. So
(28:29):
what can folks do differently,once they've gotten the job to
apply sort of that burnouttechnique to a new job as well?
You know, I am a worker bee bynature, right? I'm not very good
at the jobs that even claimed tome, you don't have to arrive. So
nine and you could leave itright? Like that was natural for
(28:53):
me. Even if they gave mepermission for that. Yes. But on
the flip side of that is that II have a pretty high capacity
for energy and enthusiasm in agiven day. But I will never
forget the one job when I didchange careers. I was never so
exhausted in my entire life.
Like I would come home from afirst full day. And I would wake
(29:16):
up the next morning still in mydress clothes from the day
before Oh, no. As I had justused up every ounce of energy
that I had. And so when I fellasleep I literally would have
lights on and wake up in mydress clothes. In to Me, I had
to do that a few times before Idid some self reflection. My
(29:41):
boss was like, Okay, wait,that's too much. So, you know,
I, I think if people can say tothemselves again, these are the
patterns I'm going to repeat. IfI worked out every day before
I'm going to keep working outI'm not Gonna forego the
workouts because I want to learnsomething new at my job, right?
(30:02):
Feel perfect before, I'm goingto meal prep now, because I'm
not going to all of a sudden,try to go out to lunch with
every new person in my office.
Because there could be somethingabout that meal prep, not only
saving money, but be, you mightneed that internal time to read.
(30:23):
And so don't let go of thepatterns that serve you, at the
risk of just trying to like fitin, learn more and do it super
fast, really spaced that timingout. So you also have energy to
regroup. Because, you know, yourbrain and your body are willing,
you know, just, they're gonnaimplode at some point, if you
(30:46):
don't find the process. Yeah,yep, no, I think that's so true.
And I think it's also the timeto do it, cuz you're also
setting the right expectationsmoving forward. So the minute
you start week one, answeringemails on the weekend, or
showing up early to things ornot eating your lunch, you now
are saying this is how I work,it's okay that I'm working this
(31:08):
way. And a new job is actuallythe chance to reset all of those
bad behaviors.
Oh, it's such a good point. Andeven more challenging that
people are working remotelyright? It would be even ECE.
Yeah, these practices and letany sense of Schedule Go.
Because all you have to do ispick up your laptop. But your
(31:30):
point of it sets an expectationis if you feel so compelled to
work or right after hours, thenschedule the email to go out
during workout. Yes. Don't Don'ttry to do everything. And then
in the off hours, so that way,you can't maintain what you're
(31:50):
starting off with.
Yes, yes. Oh, that's soimportant. Well, you have shared
so many great tips, both ofthings you've learned on your
you know, throughout your owncareer, and then how to apply
that for job searches andstarting new job based on your
expertise. Now as the habitcatalysts, which I love that
phrase, or what is as we wrapup, what's one place that you
(32:13):
tend to see people struggle withthis? So this all sounds great.
Like, of course, I should bedoing all this. What tends to be
people's blockers that you see.
I think when people are careerchanging, definitely I will say,
and I point this out all thetime, the free networking
events, to me are like whereI've wasted the most amount of
(32:33):
time and energy in my career. Iwould rather see people be more
strategic with their time, meetwith one person commit to one
organization and take thoseevents. Don't join every free
listserv, because there's a lotof them. And don't join every
free networking group becausethere's a lot of them, right?
(32:54):
Research be mindful of thepeople that align with you. And
don't be so scared that everytime you don't sign up for
something, or you don't attendfor an event, that would have
been the moment where the rightopportunity. It's not a case,
right? There's enough storiesthat the right opportunity and
partner or mentor will alignwhen it's supposed to be and you
(33:16):
don't fight against the process.
Oh my gosh, yes, that is such animportant message that if it's
the right thing, it will presentitself again, in another form.
Yes. Well, thank you so, somuch. Like I said, it's been so
great hearing your own stories,but then your advice was so
actionable. And so, so focusthat I think it's gonna be
(33:39):
really, really helpful forpeople. So we'll make sure that
they know ways to connect withyou to if they want to continue
to follow your advice andconnect with you offline. So
thank you again, so much fordoing the episode. It was been
great chatting with you.
Oh, thank you for thisopportunity. I think it's a
really important topic, and I'mglad to incorporate habits and
good practices into it.
(34:04):
Thank you so much for listeningto the shine network podcast. If
you enjoy today's episode,please subscribe and leave a
review. Leaving a review takesjust a few minutes and truly
helps other people find thepodcast. If you want to learn
more about how I work withpeople to help transform their
careers, and shine brightly intheir lives. Let's connect. I
work with amazing humans one onone to help them make a career
(34:27):
change, go for that promotion,set career goals, and build a
plan for success for a new job.
I also lead group programs fornew managers that are navigating
this huge change in theircareers and entrepreneurs who
are building their teams for thefirst time. If any of that
sounds like it could be helpfulfor you. You can email me
directly at Karen at Karen deweeks comm or message me through
(34:47):
Instagram, LinkedIn or mywebsite. I just want to give a
final shout out as always toastronaut go home for our music
and NAVA studios for making thepodcast come to life and Until
next time, remember that you canand deserve to shine at work.
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