I work with organisations to design career development that retains high-potential talent.
In pursuit of more brain space...
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If you're familiar with minimalism, you'll have heard of the idea that every object in your home consumes your energy and focus. That's why I mostly can't do ornaments or knick knacks - I'm not a fan of dusting. As a keen advocate of maintaining both energy and focus - understanding that losing focus drains my energy, I'm currently on a mission to apply minimalist concepts to my home whilst retaining cosiness. It's an ongoing endeavour but I'm enjoying the feeling of binning all the stuff I don't need. And it's helping my finances too, when I ignore the pull to buy a new plant (that's a whole new BABY to look after) or get another wool jumper I don't need (handwashing? No thanks.) As with any good life lesson, we can also apply this approach to our working lives. Most of the people I work with are very busy 'sandwich generation' people. They're the meat between youngish children and aging parent bread. And as we can't truly separate work life from life life, their energy and focus suffer greatly - often just at the time when they've hit a very full-on leadership position. If this is you, then minimalist thought processes might be the ticket. Consider this: 🟠What do you need to let go of to free up your wonderful brain to meet its potential? 🟠What is cluttering your professional life - do you really need to take on a new course of study? Are all the meetings you have in the diary really necessary? 🟠Do you still need to be involved in the details you're up to your armpits in? Our working lives are often cluttered because we don't take the time to step back and work out what needs adjustment as we move through our career. Just because you've always done something, doesn't mean you need to continue on that road. Time taken to reflect on a regular basis is energy and head space saved in the long run. There's a reason that wellbeing is one of the Core Career Dials. Without it, your energy and focus are too thinly stretched, which not only directly impacts how you feel physically but can also lead to a lack of confidence and general feeling of 'not-enoughness'. Try minimalising (not a word!) your life for a couple of weeks and see how it sets your mind free... See you soon, Sarah _____________________________________________________ I'm working with corporate clients on talent development and retention in 2026. If you're in a role where you support the development of others, you’re always welcome to reach out for a conversation - be that for group coaching on the Core Career Dials, training your managers on how to have excellent career development conversations, or something more bespoke. See more at www.sarahrourke.com |
Sarah Rourke Coaching
I work with organisations to design career development that retains high-potential talent.
I don't enjoy networking. If you put me in a room with a beige buffet and a warm glass of wine and tell me to 'mingle', I'll last about ten minutes before I head out the door with an Irish goodbye. But, as my networking dial was looking a little depleted whilst I was head-down in a few interesting projects recently, I thought about how I could top it up. The data tells me I'm not alone in a depleted Network dial. Looking at the results so far from people completing the Core Career Dials...
Career development is what people do when they're not in job search mode. Actually, that's not entirely true. Lots of people don't do it very intentionally at all. But when people do get that they need to be creating the conditions for ever-readiness, even when they're not actively looking, the next question is usually: where do I start? It's a question I hear a lot. And it's one that coaches and people managers often find tricky too, especially when someone doesn't have a clear next move in...
My co-author Dan and I were chatting with a colleague about the things that didn't make it into The Core Career Dials. Every book has them - every chapter in ours could have been a book in itself (and there are plenty of whole books out there about each topic). Creating a book was one of the hardest things I've ever done - all the decisions about what gets cut, what makes sense for the overall shape of a chapter - these all mean that stuff gets left out. And even beyond publication, there are...