Our faithful Holden Adventra is turning 10! Not only has she carried us safely where we have needed to go for 250,000 kms, she carries memories of wonderful family holidays loaded up with camping gear, trips to Melbourne for many Christmases and even managed to fit a 3-seater Chesterfield in her cavernous interior. Every time we turn on the ignition we wait a few seconds for a ‘Systems Check’. I take comfort knowing that if anything is about to fail we will be warned in order to take action. Last week we had a major warning – CHECK POWER TRAIN flashed up accompanied by a finger pointing beep. Something is seriously amiss and she will be spending several days at the Holden service centre being mended. I am very grateful for the systems check and the warning that is inbuilt into the car.
It got me thinking about warning signs that we mostly ignore within ourselves, sometimes indicating that a health check of our career or work life may be in order. Are you unhappy in your job, reluctant to get up and get going in the morning, feeling grumpy all the way home at the end of the day? Do you want to smash the computer or worse still smash the boss? Often times a chat about a resume with a client will scratch the surface of a deeper discontent with a role or working relationship and a powerful conversation takes place.
We know where to take our car when the warning signs start flashing. Where do you go when the warning signs flash ‘Career Health Check’? If the indicator light is flashing on your career dashboard I encourage you to find a specialist career coach trained to find the problem and help you fix it!