Career-Life Coaching: How This Approach Can Help You Achieve Balance
Striking the perfect balance between your professional and personal life can often seem like a daunting task. As a career-life coach, the term work life balance is one I don’t resonate with - at all. This doesn’t mean that the idea of having both a fulfilling life and a fulfilling career is at odds. It simply means I’ve found that balance is more of a gray area. It’s arbitrary. What works great for one executive may seem like murder to another.
Busy executives often blur the line between work demands and personal responsibilities, so finding equilibrium through work-life integration is key. Career-life coaching is emerging as a valuable tool to help navigate this complex dynamic. By addressing your unique circumstances and goals, a coach can help you create a tailored plan that supports both your career aspirations and personal well-being.
In this blog, I’m going to help you explore what balance can mean to you and show you some exercises that I employ as a career-life coach to help improve my clients' lives.
What Is Career-Life Coaching?
Career-Life Coaching is an approach to executive coaching which incorporates both your career and your personal life.
When I was an executive, work was a very big part of my life. And I know for many of those in the c-suite, work is a part of your life in the same way that family, friends, food, music, etc is. To divide your career and life into separate boxes would be a disservice to you, your career and your overall life.
As a career-life coach, I look at the overall picture and help you incorporate everything you really want into it. This is why my motto is fulfilling career, happy life!
You can think of career-life coaching as the antithesis of how Miranda Priestly approaches life in The Devil Wears Prada. It is possible to be a high-powered executive AND have a meaningful personal life AND wear great shoes. You don’t have to pick just one.
How is Career-Life Coaching Different From Life Coaching?
The reason I call myself a career-life coach instead of just a life coach is because of my decades of experience in the pharmaceutical world. I know what it takes to get to the top and how fulfilling a high level position in a national/international company can be.
I am a certified coach so my training helps me to guide you towards your goals. My Wharton Business School background and 30 years of experience in the corporate world add to this because I’m intimately familiar with the ins and outs of corporate life.
You can think of career-life coaching as a life coach with corporate benefits.
What Can Career-Life Coaching Do For You?
Here are a few of the ways that, as a career-life coach, I can help…
Decide if it’s time for a job change
Get to the next level in your career
Increase the Fulfillment in Your Career
Change companies or Industries
This is just a short list of the most common reasons that I work with people as a career-life coach. At the end of the day, these reasons are all on the same road to finding an overall life balance that works.
Working with a Career-Life Coach on Work-Life Balance
Work life balance is one of those buzz terms that people use to describe the life they want. Or the life they think they want. It’s a phrase that offers a vague promise of a world where you get to have it all. And balance is important, but if the goal becomes balance, you lose out on some of the more exciting things your life and career have to offer.
Solving The Right Problem
Before you can seek balance, you must first pinpoint exactly what you want from both your career and personal life. To find balance, it's crucial to address the real question.
In one year, what do you want your life to look like?
The answer to this question will illuminate your desires.
What is the ideal nature of your work? What are the challenges you’re facing? With whom are you surrounded in the course of your work week?
Are you looking to increase your income? What experience or skill set do you need to improve in order to achieve that goal?
What else do you want in your life? Do you want to be at your daughter’s basketball games? Is getting to the gym five days a week important? What would you need to change about your current work schedule to do that?
By focusing on the bigger picture in the not too distant future, we can figure out what you really want and need and go after that. Determine your priorities by asking yourself tough questions. Understanding your non-negotiables lays the foundation for pursuing the right changes.
Do The Inner Work First
Once you know what problem you are solving it’s important to look at the reason behind it. If your job is simply not as exciting any more it doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to go out and find a new one. What are the things about your job that used to give you that TGIM feeling (Thank God It’s Monday)? Without looking into the reasons behind why you want something to change you could be changing your view without actually changing your circumstances.
Professional guidance, like that offered in career-life coaching, can help you navigate these internal challenges. I find that there are three questions that we can ask to help get to the bottom of why you want to make the change.
What Works For You Now?
Ultimately, what works for you now leads to happiness. Your definition may differ from someone else's. Explore what resonates with your current life stage. Perhaps flexible work hours or pursuing a meaningful project could be the key. Remember, what worked in the past may not serve you now, so be open to adapting your approach for better work-life balance. Your satisfaction hinges on strategies that reflect your current needs and lifestyle. These are the clues that we’ll use to build on.
What is Missing?
What are you currently missing in your life? Again, there is no item that is too personal or too outrageous to put here. My clientele is made up of highly ambitious people. The rush of adrenaline that we get as we move up the corporate ladder can often be missing once you reach the top. This doesn’t mean that it’s gone for good! Identifying what is missing and helping you find new challenges is what makes my work as a career-life coach so satisfying.
What Has Changed for You?
This may come as a shock but you are a different person than you were 10 years ago. Goals that we set for ourselves often change over time. Your priorities need to shift in order to support your reality today and what you are currently looking for in your next stage. One of the things that I see my clients struggle with is trying to match their outlived goals with their current priorities.
The answers to these questions may seem obvious, but when you don’t actually take the time to sit down and ask yourself these questions your subconscious mind continues to operate under old directives.
Building A Support System with Career-Life Coaching
To effectively manage your career and personal life, building a robust support system is essential. It acts as a much-needed foundation that not only upholds your goals, but provides practical and emotional backing. It’s very difficult to do these exercises in your own head. This is part of the reason I stress the importance of consistently building your network. You never know who will be helpful or when you may need them. Or, even better, when you may be able to help someone else!
Recognizing you can’t do it all alone is a pivotal moment. Trying to juggle every aspect of your life single-handedly can be overwhelming and counterproductive. By acknowledging that your well-being matters, you open yourself up to seeking assistance that can lead to sustainable work-life balance strategies. As noted by experts, a well-balanced approach often involves a support network that includes professional guidance to steer you in the right direction.
Finding The Right Career-Life Coach/Processing Partner
It’s important to note that a career-life coach is not necessary to this process, although having someone trained to guide you is helpful. A mentor or colleague or even your life partner can be a great sounding board for these questions. Whoever you talk to, make sure that they are someone you trust, and someone whom you admire. They should be someone who…
Has aligned values
Good chemistry
Similar experience to what you are seeking help in
And, above all, their chief motivation is finding the best outcome for YOU
Finding a career-life coach that aligns with your values and understands your objectives is crucial. Your coach will serve as a processing partner, offering a fresh perspective and helping you to make well-informed decisions. Moreover, they guide you in identifying goals, barriers, and actionable steps towards achieving balance.
Remember, the right coach should not only offer expertise but should also be someone you trust to discuss your aspirations and challenges. Ready to see where you stand in your own life? You can download my free Career Satisfaction Assessment to see how balanced your life is today.
For further insights, take a look at how LinkedIn frames the importance of embracing support systems for career success.