How to unlock your career potential and be the best version of yourself

It's that time of year.

And maybe you’re wanting to make improvements in your life.

Go for that promotion at work. Get a new job.

Or develop your communication skills and feel better and do better at public speaking.

When we communicate well, say what we mean and connect with others it can do wonders for our reputation at work, help our career prospects, and let us get closer to that promotion.

But where do you start?

How do you know what exactly needs developed?

Try this.

The Wheel of Life is a fun exercise that gives you a helicopter view of what’s going on in your life.

It lets you look at things from a distance and you can check in with how you're doing in certain areas.

And then in as non-judgmental a way as possible, give yourself a score from 0 - 10 which reflects how you consider you’re doing in these different areas of your life .

So, what do I mean by The Wheel of Life exercise?

Check out the image below.

Typically, The Wheel of Life focuses on eight areas and I've put down eight topics that are quite broad but can be applied to most people's lives. You can look at your life through using this lens and see literally what shape your life it is in.

Being as honest as you can, take each section and give yourself a grade between 0 and 10.

If you’re giving yourself a 0 on an area, how can I put this politely, it means there’s a considerable amount of work needing done. And if you're scoring 8 or 9 out of 10 then these are areas in your life where you’re knocking things out of the park and doing really well.

Yay for that!!!

Go around the wheel and give yourself a number.

The areas where you are scoring lower than five are areas that are ripe for development.

And this is where you can become a little more thoughtful and reflective.

Imagine you score 3 out of 10 in networking skills. You’re keen to apply for promotion this year and know that by boosting your networking skills this is going to support that.

And yet networking can mean lots of things.

What does networking mean for you?

Is it talking to people in a room, on zoom, on a stage?

Is it reaching out across your organization and increasing your visibility, looking for ways you can offer more value to your stakeholders or is it building new relationships with potential clients?

And where do you start to improve all that (hint, work with a coach!).

What about your communication skills? If you've scored less than five, consider how you’re showing up in meetings. Think about how often you share ideas, influence others, and regularly engage with people at a variety of different levels in your organization.

And what about your listening skills? How do you diffuse conflict? And what are your feedback skills like?

What about your storytelling skills? Are people paying attention to when you share a tale? Are they looking engaged? Are they listening? Or are they reading one of the 17 tabs open on their laptop, talking to their dog, their plant - or even to themselves?

All of these are communication skills.

It’s a huge area, isn’t it?

The Wheel of Life Exercise is a brilliant way to check in with how things are going for you and what needs working on.

I use it with my clients and it’s quite incredible the snapshot it gives you.

Try it.

And if you find that your communication skills are needing a brush up to support your career development – drop me a line and let’s have a conversation about how I can support you develop them and get that promotion or new job!