They say a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Sound advice, usually. Apply it to your career and it starts to look like an excuse.
Most people who put off the hard work of figuring out their next step aren’t lazy. They’re not avoiding it, exactly. They’re just choosing the thing with a guaranteed return.
Over the past few weeks I’ve written about three of the Four Horsemen of Career Doldrums: Obligation, Inertia, and Fear of Change. Today, the last one, and it hides best because it makes you feel like you’re being responsible (but are you?).
That’s shortsightedness.
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Shortsightedness isn’t about lacking vision. Most of my clients have a vision of their future self, but they just don’t prioritize that version of themselves. Which task wins when two things compete for the same hour of your time?
One client put it to me better than I ever could: “If I have a free moment, it’s much easier to do another load of laundry because I know what the outcome will be.”
Working on yourself is rarely that straightforward. There’s no folded pile at the end of it. Just more questions.
So the laundry wins. Understandably. Every time.
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I met with a prospective client recently, more than a decade of success in his industry, and a prolonged period of ennui he couldn’t quite name. Halfway through our conversation he asked me: “When was your ‘aha’ moment? How did you figure it out?”
I wished I had a better answer. There wasn’t a eureka moment. It took time. Almost painstakingly so.
Tepid exploration. Occasional self-reflection. A lot of conversations with people further down a path I was only starting to see.
None of it felt decisive in the moment. It only looks like a throughline in hindsight.
That’s Shortsightedness beckoning you like the Sirens beckoned Ulysses. It promises that if you just wait for certainty, you won’t have missed anything. So you keep doing the load of laundry instead.
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I have no idea what my next act will be. But I’m glad I didn’t wait for certainty before starting this one.
Where’s the “laundry” in your own life? I’d like to hear about it in the comments.
*This closes out the Four Horsemen series. If Obligation, Inertia, Fear of Change, or Shortsightedness sound familiar, that’s usually where the conversation with a coach actually starts.*
If this resonates with you, send me a DM or book a complimentary Discovery call: https://lnkd.in/eeYJz9Zk. If I’m not the right fit, I’ll help you find someone who is.
#careerdoldrums #shortsightedness #careercoaching #makeworkwork #careercalibration