In the seven steps running up to this 8th step, you have uncovered some hidden and not so hidden elements that make up who you are today. It is time that we start pulling all these elements together so that in one bat of the eye you have the full picture of who you are, what you’re passionate about, why you’re here, what your assets are, and where you want to go.
My experience is that creating a visual picture of all these elements is a great way to playfully and creatively connect the dots! There are different methods or techniques to use, but I’m focusing on Mind Mapping as a stepping stone to your Portable Career Master Plan, as using this technique with my coaching clients has been very successful in visually and textually organizing their thoughts, ideas, projects, plans, dreams and goals. The image below (also attached as a PDF) is a very basic framework that I have made for you which you can personally expand with branches, which would turn it into an ‘activity tree’ structure.
“Mind map is a picture outside your brain of how your brain thinks inside.” ~Tony Buzan
As you can see I’ve made the center of the Mind Map your Portable Career. From that centre I’ve branched out to all the separate pillars that feed into defining the perfect career for you as you trot around the globe.
Starting with the top centre pillar, you find your Life Purpose / Life Mission. This is the core guiding principle for you in defining your portable career as you want your career to be meaningful and fulfilling and be a reflection of your Values and Passion. And yes, you can have a career pursuing your Life Purpose, and get paid for it at the same time! (Step 1 – 3 to Defining and Creating a Career in your Suitcase).
The second pillar is the pillar that captures your top Strengths, Talents and Skills, which you identified in Step 4 of this series. Remember this is about what you know to do better than others, what you do naturally well and what your expertise is! Again you want to match this to what you’re passionate about, as this will only stimulate you to perform well in your career and allow you to easily motivate yourself!
To the right of the Life Purpose / Life Mission pillar you find the 3rd pillar where you state your Qualifications. By branching out on this pillar you can also create insights in further qualifications that you may need to acquire to allow you to pursue the portable career of your choice.
By pulling together pillars 1, 2, and 3 you should be able to create an image of your Ideal Professional Self, which is the 4th pillar in the Mind Map! You want to come up with a 25-word sentence where you describe the image of how you want to see yourself, the words others use to describe you in a professional capacity? Great teacher? Amazing writer? Incredible presence? Kind and compassionate? Great at connecting? Best relationship builder? You name it.
Retracing your steps to Step 6 to Defining and Creating a Portable Career, will allow you to fill in the 5th Pillar with the Portable Careers Ideas that appeal to you. Here again you can branch out with who you want to serve with your portable career (ideal client / company), explaining why they are your ideal client / company.
In the 6th Pillar you want to create insight in the Network of Local and Global Leads that could serve you in creating and establishing your portable career. These leads consist of your friends, former colleagues, old business contacts, and new connections (locally and globally). Feel free to branch out and distinguish each branch with these separate groups!
We’re moving to the other side of the Mind Map!
I am a firm believer that your Master Plan for your Portable Career is incomplete and doomed to fail without having a Long-Term Life & Career Vision, pillar 7 of your Mind Map. Beginning with the end in mind and then retracing your steps on how you’ll realize the dream vision you have, is the way to set yourself up for success. So go ahead and challenge yourself to write down a vision for the next 3-5 years in this pillar.
By working backwards from your long-term life and career vision you are also able to formulate your Short-Term Career Goals & Dreams which takes care of the 8th Pillar in your Mind Map. The goals in this pillar should cover what you ideally would like to achieve and accomplish in the 12 months ahead.
And last but not least there is the 9th pillar that has you define how you’ll spend, and with whom, your Time Off. The idea behind creating your Portable Career is that you are able to live a balanced life where personal care and personal time are available to fill in with activities that add value to the fulfillment that you are seeking in life. So again, go ahead and branch out and add on activities such as family time, personal care, exercise, friends, further education, travel etc.
So here you have it, a Mind Map that is the foundation to your Portable Career Master Plan. Feel free to send me an image of your Mind Map or hit reply to this message if you have any questions about making one.
Have some fun fitting the puzzle pieces into a Mind Map of your own!
+221 779 957 961
kirsten@claritycompasscareercoach.com
www.claritycompasscareercoach.com
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