Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:00 Welcome to design in confidence. Stefan ability says I'm a creative coach, speaker and facilitator helping people in businesses, designing nobody'd experiences together. Designing confidence is a podcast for designers, innovators, creative leaders, or just anyone who wants to change. I wouldn't share learnings tips or reflections on how mindfulness and design and build creative confidence in <inaudible> and management. In this episode, I will share with you whether we shine you on how to mindful design your next career, next career move. I mean that I want to share with you my learnings on all the times I've asked myself, should I stay in this job or should I should apply for this other job? Which job offer should they accept this freelance collaboration become a full-time contract before I move forward. I want to say if you have any specific question on any of these, let me know at designing compliments and I will dedicate specific apps on them in the future in confidence.
Speaker 0 00:01:02 I struggled a lot with these questions. One of the reasons is that I started asking them to myself late in my career. I stated in my first job for too long, without realizing the compromises I was making, I felt guilty about how these undermined my career progress. And he started to create a vicious circle because I didn't want to make those compromises anymore. And I started staring out my next career move or project a little bit like Frodo from the Lord of the rings. There's a, the one ring is Therese and he can hear a voice next project to be perfect. It's less scary than that, but my career choice, it often negative impact on my wellbeing and work-life balance. And I still feel the sense of guilt and need for perfection I accepted by, but also accept that every job will come with some sort of compromise.
Speaker 0 00:01:56 That's why I developed a framework that helps me accept this compromises, but knowledge, the benefits and compare current career with potential next career steps and make an informed decision. And because I wish I had this clarity earlier, I want to share this framework with you. The framework makes me think of seven different aspects of a career choice. People, anecdotes, learnings, prerequisites, impact, finance and passion. Yes, then my sound of this, but that's probably also why we take them for granted and not mindfully pay attention to them, or find information about them during job interviews. And that's why I like to call them the seven rings to remind us of that are precious, but hold so that there is no one to read them all extreme focus of one will bring too much compromise on the others and impacting in the short, medium or long term on reorder well-being.
Speaker 0 00:02:55 They are not in order of importance and I'm not suggesting which ones are more important than others. I'm not suggesting that they're all important. I'm suggesting you to pay attention to all of them and to think how important each one is to you now, because it's objective. And because it changes with time since every phase of her life has different wellbeing and work-life balance needs. And remember that when you compare yourself to others and to whatever I going to say about my life. And I care about seeing these because I'm aware of all the privileges I was born with and those that earn with time like the savings I have now that allow me to start this podcast with our financial income. And I understand that you might not relate with me for my examples, but I will share the many way to bring to life how the framework, my help accept and deal with the compromises of your specific situation. For example, in my experience, I have already compromises like a salary. They was too low for my needs at the time, or I made compromises for a trade-off right. I need to ship had low financial income, but bro, many learning opportunities or make a temporary compromise, for example, starting a job with no financial income, but aiming to have a pay rise sooner, but compensate the compromise, the making. So for example, volunteering opportunities, there are no financial income I had to compromise by putting less effort and time on them.
Speaker 0 00:04:29 Let's talk more about the finance ring, which is probably the loudest one because society always talks about it. As everything is not black and white based a spectrum aspect. And the goes by the extreme version of money, can't buy happiness and extreme version of Manet's power. Let's look at these two. Yes, money can't buy happiness, but it helps to be obvious to many by this word saying, you need to fulfill your basic needs, eating, breathing, a shelter. We need mining, but also to invest on the other rings like paying quarter course to learn something new or being able to afford to not have additional job in a spare time so that you can spend it with people that you like, but take a sabbatical to focus on a passion project like about podcast. Let's move forward. I remind you that on the other side of the spectrum, there was money as power. Yes, money is power, but power is nothing without control. I won't spend too much time here. It's basically what they cheesy or series movies show you with a guy focusing on money and undermining the rest of their life and their loved ones. So let's talk about the people, right?
Speaker 0 00:05:44 The people leading as two different aspects, culture, and the career progression with Kartra mean that you work with nice people, lacking colleagues brings to better teamwork and also sense of belonging while this lacking colleagues, a big compromise to make. Fortunately never happened to me, but I can share with you the problems of being on the opposite side of the spectrum when colleagues or friends or almost a family, that's great, but when a job starts to bring you more compromises, lacking people becomes a disincentive to leave. In that case, being surrounded by people that you like, including the excavator can be satisfied outside of your career. It's okay to leave a salon. You have a career that brings your good work-life balance. It will be the other aspect of the people ring is career progression then means collaborated with salmon for fee to career moves. For example, where you're temporary freelance. So collaborate with someone because they might hire you in future or because it's a good networking opportunity. Well, because having that company name on your CV is good for the future. In this case, the people rang overlaps with the anecdote screen. Let's look at it.
Speaker 0 00:06:56 The anecdote ring reminds me that current and next career moves. And the credential of future career moves that because you might want a specific job in years might require you to sh underdogs that well you work with specific people that you got a specific learnings that you must a specific requisites that you achieve, the specific impact that you are a specific finance level and they get passion for what you do. You can find more about the anecdote rings and about how I deal with the two extremes about being concerned, not concerned about any project that goes in my portfolio on any episodes about portfolios as well. It happens with the next thing, which is the learning ring.
Speaker 0 00:07:43 The learning ring is one of my favorites and because of my mindset as well, because I tried to learn from anything and I do like it. But sometime it doesn't make me realize with a making compromises on the learner ring itself, because in reality, I do make compromises on it. And that happens when I can get the learnings that there is not needed, for example, because I'm not interested or something that I already know or something that is not going to help my career well, because I'm missing out. But learning elsewhere, that happened. For example, if I'm working on project a, which allowed me to learn workshop facilitation, for example, and I miss out because project B will allow me to learn that much better. The learner ring is the one that many people make mistakes about them because the more we dance with our career, the less attention we put on it. And that because at the beginning we pre days learning or when we study or when we do an internship. And then with time, we just learn how to do things that we don't realize that we're not learning anymore. That happened to me too, about the learner ring is what's important to say that some work environments might leave more room for learning than others like startups, or if you have a good manager that because your employee is more likely to allow compromises on the requirement, ring with our many risks, let's look at the requirement ring.
Speaker 0 00:09:05 Most of the time, you're going to compromise between how much you will learn in a project and how much you're really required to be able to do the job beside your ability. There are other aspects of the requirements ring, which are effort and time required. That is going to depend by how far the job is the type of the job, but also the expectations from the stakeholders of the project, but also yourself, not making compromises here on the effort and time you put on a project, which is something that happens with some personalities and in some of any position on the other side of the spectrum, we have too many compromises on their requirements ring for the sake of learning finance, or just got that an anecdote I'm talking about all the projects without the rest kills time and effort, which are those projects, then move forward by the mentality of fake it until you make it. And, uh, if you're familiar with this podcast, you might know how much the fun of learning by doing, and also good enough. But if you take these to the extreme, you're going to impact the next rate. The impact
Speaker 0 00:10:19 That you factoring is divided into different groups, agency, and project purpose. We, their agency. I mean, whether the project is likely to be successful, some projects aren't feasible, which is something that is noisy to be aware of and track set by Manny. And that happens when too much compromise is made on the requirement's ring from you also from where is managing the project, that they are setting it up to fail, and then may become a waste of resources and time
Speaker 0 00:10:51 With projects, purpose. I mean, is this topic something that you care about? Will you be satisfied when the aim of the project will be accomplished? There's something really important because we are in a world with many big problems from a social injustice to the climate emergency. As a designer, I want my impact to be part of the super show, not the problem in the past years, I didn't make any compromises here. My life has been changing a lot and I might have to start to make some compromises here and it's okay, this framework will help me do it mindfully making them so I can manage their impact on my wellbeing. Sometimes making extreme compromises on the impact screen is useful though, had that when it's not about the project's purpose, it doesn't matter to you. You're doing because of your own purpose, which might be related to any other rings.
Speaker 0 00:11:47 For example, passion projects. Let's look at the passion ring. I wasn't really sure where the two are the passion ring at this list because passion feels dependent by all the other rings. Just like I didn't put well-being or work-life balance us rings. Oh, heaven. Many people do projects just because they like to do it. Sometimes it will make them passionate about it. Isn't they impact the people, the learnings, the finance of being able to practice the skill. But it's something else which is more obstruct. So that's why I left the passion ring here a little bit undefined, maybe further find out what the ring really means. I will let you know in future, help me out. Let me know how you mindful design your next period. Go to designing confidence.com there. You can see how to contact me and also find out relevant resources. And people have found this the in for this and other talks like the wheel of life and the Maslow's hierarchy of needs, which are recommended to look at if their beings don't work for you. And if you found it inspiring, please leave a review and share this podcast. That'd people. Why you think this podcast help your creative confidence, become someone else, a safe space to talk about these topics and to find support in building their creative confidence. Because if you got this far, I'm sure you're a great listener, which I thank you for. And now it's time for me to shut up so that you can listen to your thoughts after this episode and remember to thank yourself for the time you spent to learn and grow.
