There has been an increasingly more serious trend of women leaving the workforce. In 2020, almost 25% of women considered leaving the working world altogether. Despite the underlying causes that lead to the workforce exodus, an exciting opportunity exists for these trained, experienced women to start over, create their own businesses, and find a new form of career freedom. For those with experience in senior corporate roles, business coaching may seem like a logical next step.

Business coaching as a next step

A big concern could be to look pleasing and polished all the time. However, letting go of upholding a certain self-image leaves you open to acknowledging your vulnerabilities and lowers the mental barriers to asking for help. Try to make connections, ask questions, and seek real-world experience outside your comfort zone.

Stop worrying about your appearance

Being a generalist is a strength that can provide you with multiple perspectives. Embracing a generalist standpoint can help to banish perfectionist tendencies and encourage you to try new approaches. Even if you specialize in one discipline, you can learn to apply it across other sectors and professions.

Embrace breadth over depth

When starting a business, you're likely to underestimate your needs, from your first budget to staffing expectations. <ul><li>Make a list of all your needs, such as time, resources, money, and team members, and then triple all those estimates. </li><li>Overestimate how long it could take to win over new clients and help them implement better business practices.</li><li>You're bound to run into unforeseen challenges, so include contingencies. You may need to stow away a nest egg to live on for up to a year or gain access to funding through loans, credit unions, or pledges.</li></ul>

Multiply your company's projections

Corporate integrator Kelly Knight suggests that this role might be good for those with a background in senior leadership.

career

Career

Reentering the workforce? This career path may be a good fit

On the face of it, being over-qualified for a job might appear to be a good thing. A candidate with more experience would logically be placed at the top of the applicant pile. And for an employer, hiring a worker who surpasses the job requirements would seemingly be a coup.However, that’s generally not how it works out; in fact, being over-qualified can sometimes be a reason for employers to rule candidates out. Perhaps counterintuitively, employers often reject candidates based on an excess of skills and experience, even in a market where talent is hard to come by.

Too Much Experience, Too Many Skills

As workers’ careers progress, they typically ascend into more senior roles, gradually making their way towards management or executive positions. However, the higher employees go, the fewer the alternative jobs. They move towards the peak of a pyramid. As they gain greater experience, there’s less breadth in terms of opportunities: trying something different would require scaling back down the pyramid.

The Pyramid

A CV of an overly-experienced candidate is like one indicating job-hopping or no movement at all - it's cause for suspicion.Recruiters can see workers applying for positions apparently 'below' their current career level as a red flag.If someone is coming down a level or two, and they've likely already achieved what the role offers, then you have to ask questions about their motivation.

Job-Hopping Or Just At One Place For A long Time

<ul><li>Employers may also be more likely to be accommodating to younger over-qualified workers because their motives for a downwards move can be more easily justified.</li><li>A candidate who is too good for the role will be only an asset to the business in the short term unless there are excellent internal progression opportunities.</li><li>In the end, while patience and a determined job hunt can be rewarded, the reality is that some experienced candidates can find themselves stuck.</li></ul>

The Downwards Move

Intuitively, it seems employers would want to hire the most skilled and experienced candidates. But that’s not always the reality.

The over-qualified workers struggling to find a job

We all face internal and external pressures to overwork. But to be fulfilled in your life and career, you need to push back against those forces. <ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Understand that overwork is not necessary for professional success; if you find yourself triggered by others who believe it is, remind yourself of the truth with positive self-talk. </li><li class="ql-align-justify">Be clear on your values and follow them. </li><li class="ql-align-justify">Focus not on hustling to get ahead but on deeper goals and your craft. </li><li class="ql-align-justify">Find positive role models who have secured their achievement without overworking. </li><li class="ql-align-justify">Learn to ignore unreasonable requests, even when they come from the boss. </li></ul>

Pressure to Overwork: Key Ideas 

If you buy into that thinking, even just a tiny bit, you won’t be able to resist triggers, like others telling you about their overworking. This social pressure will activate your anxiety, with all the attendant emotional and physical reactions.You need to radically reject the idea that such behavior is required or even beneficial.

Understand that Overwork Is Not Necessary for Success

It’s important to specifically identify your values. Sure, most of us can agree that things like equality, justice, efficiency, generosity, bravery, autonomy, challenge, cooperation, adventure are good. However, we differ in our priorities — our most important values — and what makes us feel most like our lives and careers are meaningful and on track

Be Clear on Your Values

The behaviors and language associated with hustle culture don’t typically lead to great accomplishments. What does is the pursuit of deeper, more personal goals like knowing and understanding important phenomena, solving complex problems, or making a positive impact in society.

Reject Hustle Culture. Instead Focus on Deeper Goals and Your Craft

Simply look inside and outside your professional niche. Who inspires you by doing well without overwork, hustle, or burning themselves out? What are their approaches? Can you adapt any of them to fit your values, goals, personality, and circumstances?

Learn from Role Models

Here’s a very basic law of psychology: When behaviors are reinforced, they increase. When you ignore them, you might see an “extinction burst” — a short-term rise in the problematic behaviors — but then they will stop.If your boss is the one pressing you to overwork, that’s one of the most basic signs of an abusive work culture. Make your boundaries clear, and, if the behaviors don’t stop, consider roles on different teams or in different organizations with managers who have more realistic expectations.

Ignore Requests to Overwork

We all face internal and external pressures to overwork. But to be fulfilled in your life and career, you need to push back against those forces. First, understand that overwork is not necessary for professional success; if you find yourself triggered by others who believe it is, remind yourself of the truth with positive self-talk. Second, be clear on your values and follow them. Third, focus not on hustling to get ahead but on deeper goals and your craft. Fourth, find positive role models who have secured their achievement without overworking. And, finally, learn to ignore unreasonable requests, even when they come from the boss.

timemanagement

Time Management

Resisting the Pressure to Overwork

Upskilling is the key to success in the rapid changing world of work. One way to prepare the workforce for the future is using the learning pathways technique.
Learning pathways are goal-oriented steps of instructional experiences designed to foster growth. When learning paths are designed thoughtfully, it will reduce analysis paralysis and time waste.

Learning pathways

Learning pathways are an efficient way to overcome skills gaps within an organization, making the best use of an existing talent pool without the hassle of recruiting and hiring. Well-designed learning pathways cut through the noise by offering a clear series of steps to help employees reach their goals. It leads learners so that they know where they're going and are eager to get there.

The rise of learning pathways

Learning pathways can be an effective tool for unlocking the untapped potential of the talent already existing within the organisation. When L&D ensure to offer a variety of learning pathways to choose from in an on-demand format, it gives employees agency in their professional development. In this low-pressure environment, all members of an organisation can take ownership of improving their skillsets.

Designing learning pathways

<ul><li>Select high-quality resources. L&D teams should know the best-in-class content providers.</li><li>Include a mix of content, such as articles, videos, podcasts, and infographics. </li><li>Building learning scaffolds. </li><li>Communicate relevance. People are more motivated when learning is highly relevant to them.</li><li>Keep learners motivated by celebrating milestones.</li><li>Promote new learning pathways. Prepare promotional materials that convey the value of the pathway.</li></ul>

Best practices for designing learning pathways

L&D teams should stay in the know on what is the best-in-class content providers. YouTube and TikTok offers millions of videos with basic to advanced lessons on every imaginable skillset. Learners have developed expectations of what constitutes premium quality content.

Select high-quality resources

There are several ways to deliver content, such as articles, videos, podcasts, and infographics. Offering content in a variety of formats caters to a wide range of learning preferences and will keep learners engaged for longer.

Include a mix of content

People only remember information if they understand how it fits into a scaffold of prior knowledge. Learning pathways can help employees build on previous knowledge when it is offered in a microlearning format, short, incremental bursts that allow learners to take breaks and easily return to the information.

Build learning scaffolds

People are more motivated when learning is highly relevant to them and when they understand what they will gain from it.
At the beginning of the pathway, ensure that learners know what they will accomplish throughout the path. Relevance can be linked to job tasks and business objectives.

Communicate relevance

Designers of learning pathways can incorporate ways to celebrate learners' milestones.
For example, learners might receive a digital badge or downloadable certificate they can add to their resumes and include on LinkedIn or a professional portfolio when completing a course.

Keep learners motivated

After developing a learning pathway, launch it by sending out organization-wide emails and preparing promotional materials that shows the value of the pathway.
Share what opportunities could result from mastering the skill.

Promote new learning pathways

problemsolving

Problem Solving

habits

Habits

productivity

Productivity

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

The Key Benefits of Micro-Learning

Learning pathways can prepare employees to take on greater responsibility, qualify for a new role, or cultivate better habits to improve their performance.

Learning pathways are goal-oriented sequences of instructional experiences designed to foster growth.

travel

Travel

How to use learning pathways to close skills gaps

To monetize your expertise you must get clear on what you know, its value, and who can benefit from it. The following six questions will help you figure that out so you can create value for your customers, clients, and yourself.

Monetize Your Expertise

What single topic of expertise is your focus?<ul><li>The more focused the expertise you choose to monetize, the easier it will be to do so.</li><li>Try completing this sentence: "I use my expertise to help people ______."</li><li>Boiling down your expertise to one sentence helps focus your efforts and define the value you offer.</li></ul>

The Single Topic of Expertise that Is Your Focus

What separates you from other experts in your field?<ul><li>Come up with 3-5 unique things that separate you.</li><li>Unique traits few others have.</li><li>Unconventional beliefs about things like what makes a good social media consultant.</li><li>Experience building successful products.</li><li>Your points of differentiation won't make you the right choice for everyone, but they will make you an attractive candidate.</li></ul>

What Makes You Unique

Who needs your expertise?<ul><li>Lots of people have problems they don't realize are problems.</li><li>It's easier to sell to someone who seeks a solution than someone who doesn't know they need one.</li><li>Your answer to this question will determine your target audience so give it some serious thought.</li></ul>

The People Who Need Your Expertise And Solutions

How will your expertise change a person's life?<ul><li>People buy things that provide value.</li><li>Figure out how your expertise will help people move from point A to B in their lives or careers.</li><li>Creative entrepreneurs who pay for your expertise go from wasting time, effort, and money on content and marketing without tangible results to using it in ways that grow their audience and business.</li></ul>

Providing Real Value

What's the best way to deliver your expertise?<ul><li>Determine which delivery methods will most effectively package your expertise and format your product or service.</li><li>Consulting calls, e-books, videos, etc.</li><li>Figure out which delivery method your target audience will most want to consume and how you will be most comfortable or skilled at delivering it.</li></ul>

Delivering Your Expertise In The Best Way Possible

What are your monetary goals?<ul><li>Why do you want to monetize your expertise in the first place? Is it a secondary revenue stream?</li><li>How much do you need to make to justify the time and effort you put into it? And how quickly do we need to get to that level?</li></ul>

Your Money Goals

Want to know how to monetize your expertise? These six questions will help you figure out how to create value for customers and yourself.

moneyandinvestments

Money & Investments

How To Monetize Your Expertise: 6 Questions To Ask Yourself

The written words are a precious asset: thoughts, notes, plans, diaries, correspondence, code, articles and books. They are a written history of our lives. That is why the format they should be in should be plain text files: the most reliable, flexible and long-lasting option.Every device, including ones long gone, and ones not invented yet, can read and edit plain text.

Our Mind In Writing

<ul><li>Every few years a new company says you should use their special format. You have to pay them a monthly fee to use it.</li><li>You will outlive these companies. Your writing should outlive you. Plain text is un-commercial.</li><li>There are places and times when you can't get online. Don't depend on any tool that needs an internet connection.</li><li>If you rely on Word, Evernote, or Notion, you are helpless without them.</li><li>Plain text files and a basic text editor are enough. If you only use plain text, you can work on any device, forever. The less you depend on, the better.</li></ul>

The Plain Text File: Uncommercial And Offline

Plain text can be converted into anything else, including HTML, Markdown, JSON, LaTeX, and many other standard formats.You can make your own personal formats in your plain text files.Use a scripting language like Ruby, Python, or JavaScript to grab the data and tags, and use them for categorizing, sorting, renaming, archiving, or exporting.

Plain Text Is Easy To Convert

<ul><li>Keep your graphics files alongside your text files.</li><li>Text as plain text will keep you focused on the tools instead of the thinking</li><li>Digital drawing can be saved into SVG files, and paper drawings scanned into JPGs</li><li>It's best to use formats that will outlast us.</li></ul>

What To Do For Visuals And Graphics

I write almost everything important in my life: thoughts, plans, notes, diaries, correspondence, code, articles, and entire books.

writing

Reading & Writing

product

Product & Design

Write plain text files | Derek Sivers

Career changes are some of the biggest moves we will ever make, but they don’t have to be daunting. Using mental models can help you clarify the direction you want to go and plan for how to get there. They are tools that will give you more control over your career and more confidence in your decisions. When you do the work upfront by examining your situation through the lens of a few mental models, you set yourself up for fewer regrets and more satisfaction down the road.

Using mental models for a career change

Do you know where you want to go? Are you moving with direction or just moving? As a mental model, velocity reminds us there is a difference between speed and direction. It’s easy to move fast without getting anywhere. We can stay busy all day without achieving our goals. Without considering our velocity, we run a huge risk of getting sidetracked by things that make us move faster (more money, a title on a business card) without that movement actually leading us where we want to end up.

Velocity

Once you know where you want to end up, it’s often useful to work backward to where you are now. This is known as inversion. Start at the end and carefully consider the events that get you there in reverse order.For example, it could be something as simple as waking up happy and excited to work every day. What needs to be true in order for that to be a reality? Are you working from home, having a quiet cup of coffee as you prepare to do some creative work? Are you working on projects aligned with your values? Are you contributing to making the world a better place?

Inversion

Take stock of the skills you already have. Why do you need to do this? So you know what you can repurpose. Here, you’re using the concept of exaptation, which is part of the broader adaptation model in biology. Exaptation refers to traits that evolved for one purpose and then, through natural selection, were used for completely unrelated capabilities. For instance, feathers probably evolved for insulation. It was only much later that they turned out to be useful for flying.

Exaptation

It’s hard to know how great (or terrible) a job is until you actually do it. We often have two types of maps for the careers we wish we had: maps of the highlights, success stories, and opinions of people who love the work and maps based on how much we love the field or discipline ourselves.The territory of the day-to-day work of these careers, however, is very different from what those two maps tell us.In order to build a more comprehensive map of your dream job, do your research on as large a sample size as possible. Talk to people doing the job you want.

Map is not the territory

<ul><li>One of the things global and local maxima teaches us is that sometimes you have to go down a hill in order to climb up a new one. If you look at your career change through the lens of global and local maxima, you will see that steps down can also be steps forward.</li><li>Activation energy requires you to think about the real effort required for sustained change. You need to plan not just for making a change but also for seeing it through until the new thing has time to take hold.</li></ul>

Global and local maxima and activation energy

In this particular situation (of a career change), it can be helpful to use a Bayesian casino.A Bayesian casino is a thought experiment where you imagine walking up to a casino game, like roulette, and quantifying how much you would bet on any particular outcome.Probabilistic thinking isn’t a predictor of the future. With any big career move, there are inevitably a lot of unknowns. There are no guarantees that any choice is going to be the right one. The Bayesian casino just helps you quantify your thinking based on the knowledge you have at this moment in time.

Probabilistic thinking

Career changes are big moves that come with stress and uncertainty. Here’s how mental models can move you in the right direction and get you the information you need to make good decisions. The result of using mental models is a new career that aligns with where you want to be.

Mental Models for Career Changes

Research shows that when we have to decide between two possible outcomes, one with a known probability and one with an unknown probability, we tend to choose the option with the known probability. We skip over the difficult part of making estimates or guesses about the ambiguous option and opt instead for the familiar outcome.

The ambiguity effect

The ambiguity effect influences our shopping habits. Research shows that people tend to choose products and services from well-known brands because they think that known brands have better quality products. The buyer faces three potential consequences:<ul><li>They choose a mediocre product where an unknown brand may have better quality.</li><li>They lose money by spending it on more expensive brand-name products.</li><li>They miss out on buying a product that will meet their needs.</li></ul>

The impact of the ambiguity effect

People have different tolerance levels for ambiguity - the tendency to view ambiguous circumstances as desirable. <ul><li>Those with a low tolerance for ambiguity tend to see the unknown as bad or threatening. </li><li>Individuals with a high tolerance for ambiguity tend to view uncertain situations as a challenge and an opportunity for problem-solving.</li></ul>

Different tolerance levels for ambiguity

Self-reflection can help you to see where you are on the spectrum of ambiguity. Think of a time when you had to decide with limited information. How did you address it? How did you feel while trying to make a choice? Which option did you choose? If you have low levels of tolerance for ambiguity:<ul><li>Practice mindfulness. Be aware of your emotions.</li><li>Make time to think about the decisions you need to make.</li><li>Embrace creative solutions instead of getting stuck in fear.</li><li>Articulate what you want the outcome to be.</li></ul>

How to overcome the ambiguity effect

Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

leadershipandmanagement

Leadership & Management

The impact of the ambiguity effect on decision-making

This is one of the most important stories in our culture. You're supposed to start at the bottom and work your way toward the top.
If you want to move up in the ladder, you are most welcome, but it should not be an imposition, a mandatory race for everyone.

Career Progression

In a world with no scarcity of basic wants and needs, people would work for their own sake, to improve their skills, or simply because it is fulfilling.
People are living in a world of scarcity, and keep forgetting that they should not be simply motivated by needs, but by the desire to accomplish their passion and to learn something new.

A World With No Scarcity

Many people have hobbies, stuff they enjoy doing without the need of getting paid for. It can be gardening, playing the piano or the guitar, or even video games.Stuff we like to do without any monetary need is what could translate into a career. Improving our skills can be enough motivation.

Doing Stuff You Love But Aren’t Paid For

It's ok not to have goals

A 2021 study suggests the same psychological phenomenon that makes yawns contagious also affects people to check their smartphones.
We subconsciously follow the norms imposed on us by people around us and match our actions with theirs, known as the chameleon effect. This is why people often pick up each others' mood during conversation or why yaws are so contagious.

Checking your phone is contagious

Most people are susceptible to the chameleon effect's impulse to pick up and look at their phone when someone else is doing it.
Research found the odds that people would use their phones are about 28 times higher when the first user actually looked at their phone while they used it, compared to when a person just held the phone and tapped without looking. But when people were at a meal, they were less likely to check their phones after a trigger event.

Reentering the workforce? This career path may be a good fit

The over-qualified workers struggling to find a job

Resisting the Pressure to Overwork

How to use learning pathways to close skills gaps

How To Monetize Your Expertise: 6 Questions To Ask Yourself

Nimai Arya