Belinda Pruyne - How Do You Align Your Personal and Career Goals

H O W D O Y O U A L I G N Y O U R P E R S O N A L A N D C A R E E R G O A L S

One of the first steps in my client coaching process is bringing personal & professional life into alignment. I thought I would share this step in the process with all of you in our community of leaders making a difference in the world so you can do the same.

First things first, get clear on what matters most to you - what I call your core non-negotiable values (CNNV’s). The things you draw the line in the cement for not the sand. Think about these with regards to your work life AND your personal life. You will notice that there will be crossover. This is natural and serves to amplify the importance of those particular values. You want to identify what is non-negotiable - what has to be there for you to be happy, fulfilled and successful in life.

Once you have identified your list of CNNV’s, use these as your template in any decision making. For example, is the current industry, company, or position you are in right for you? If it aligns with your non-negotiables then stick with it. If not, it’s time to move on.

My favorite example of a person aligning her life to her CNNV’s, is an interesting speaker I met at an event. She was a single parent with a young child, who was driven and committed to getting into the top of the three different silos at IBM. As she was interviewing to get into the third silo - she tells the interviewer that she is a single parent and she picks her son up from day care at 6pm every day. She wants to be the person to pick her son up, this is non-negotiable. If after he has gone to bed, there is any work that needs to get done, she will happily do it...but she will leave work everyday at 5:30, without fail. No one had a problem with it. She fulfilled her goals while at IBM and is now the head of sales for a very large multinational technology company.

Life is so short. I can’t stress enough the importance of honoring the values you know have to be in your daily life for you to be happy, fulfilled and successful….NOT happy, OR fulfilled, OR successful.

Make these changes today so that living in greater alignment between your professional and personal life is easier, more consistent and rewarding. Oh yes, did I also mention, fun? That will be true for you as well!