Your 2024 Career Focus: a career stories review process

If you’re trying to figure out your career focus for 2024, this career stories process can help. 

This is a process of looking at what worked for you last year to guide the 2024 vision. 

I intentionally reflect and plan in four areas to clarify the next dream. It’s not as formal as sharing it here, but I want to give you some guiding points. The four areas are:

1. My career stories
2. Mindfulness skill level
3. Possible selves list
4. Resources that work

I’ll share the process and resources for each. I tend to do it all in one spurt, but you can take your time with this.

Here is a new recording and the process for assessing your career stories. (Note: the gathering process is the same as in my book; we use the data differently here, though).

The Process

You’ll use a story process to remember what worked for you in 2023.

1. Listen to this recording. You may gather stories slowly over a week or do it all this hour. Think of one memory, jot it down, and then think of another. Try to limit your memories to 2023 — we’re not doing a complete career stories analysis here.

2. Once you have 6-10 stories, look at the stories and try to sort out common themes in them like:

1. Type of work or project
2. The skills you were using
3. Who you were with
4. Location — where were you?
5. The topic(s)
6. Anything else that comes up for you

You can list ideal work, people, location, and project scope from this data.

An example: When I did this, my favourite work moments were going deep into conversations about writing or meditation with people (most often in a group.). Other top moments were, working with people to find their career story and then teaching them how to show up as leaders & try on mindsets and postures. I also loved the days I spent doing research and building out leadership development and mindfulness programs.

From these stories, I can see the common themes and create a statement about my favourite work.

I can say, “I am happiest when creating, actively teaching/sharing alongside people, and working within the topics of theatre expression, mindfulness, and leadership development.”

Boom.

3. Think about shifting your work to focus more on what makes you happy. And, if you have your own business, what can you cut or end? What could you add?

In your job, what kind of projects do you want to propose or seek out that allow you to do your favourite work most often?

Question: What work made you happiest in the last year? What are the people, projects, or topics you want to do more of? I’d love to know.

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