In my corporate banking career, I aimed to climb the ladder one rung at a time, but I didn’t see myself getting near the top. This was probably due to lots of different factors but also the glass ceiling for people of colour looks more like a metal wall, there wasn’t much diversity at the top levels, not in terms of ethnicity or gender so it was hard to see myself there, as a result, I kept focusing on the day job, something you may relate to too.
There’s no doubt that companies have lots to do in this area, but for South Asian women there are societal messages both directly and indirectly telling us what we should do, and who we need to think of first so that many of us don’t even dare to dream for ourselves.
For my clients, in the early stages of coaching, it doesn’t matter about the details, instead, I want them to feel excited, to dance with the possibility that something they dream of could happen and that they can make it happen!
Why?
Dreaming of the potential future allows us to work on our mindsets, to recognise and then reduce the limitations that we and others place on ourselves. After years of cultural conditioning and seeing only what is in front of us, it can be difficult to open up to new possibilities.
- Perhaps you never had a chance to see past your current circumstances.
- Perhaps you do dream of an ideal role but you have no idea how to get there.
By raising your self-awareness we will get to the core of what you desire and that can help you to create the big picture of where you are heading and why.
So HOW do you create your future vision? Here are a few strategies to try:
For all these exercises go with your gut instinct of what you want to put down, try not to overthink it.
Wheel of Life Tool
The Wheel of Life is a coaching tool where you go through each of the life areas and imagine an ideal 10/10 scenario for each area, then you can build a picture of your ideal life. This is a great one to do at the start of the year because it’s about working on all the important areas of your life.
You can also do it for just your career. Just change the sections to relevant career areas, such as different skills you want to work on,
- Professional relationships
- Work-life balance
- Work environment
- Money
- Etc
If you haven’t already, then get this free tool from my website or if you want all these tools then download the ‘Revitalise Your Career’ workbook here.
Visualisations
Another method to create a career vision is to use visualisations.
When you’re home and feeling calm and comfortable, close your eyes and relax your body.
I want you to imagine a point in the future when you’ve just woken up in the morning.
Go through in detail what your ideal day would look like.
- Where are you you working?
- Which organisation are you working for?
- What are you doing with your time in the day?
- What role do you have? Have you got a job title in mind?
- Are you full-time, part-time, job sharing, etc?
Be as detailed as you can to create this clear picture of your ideal career. OR write it all out.
Draw It Out
The third way to visualise your future is to draw it out.
Get a blank piece of paper and draw your ideal job role however you wish to represent it.
You don’t need to be an artist, but the reason for drawing is to access the creative side of your brain, it may help you think of opportunities or dreams that you haven’t consciously thought about before. Even if you don’t draw usually I recommend giving this a try!
Vision Board
This is probably the most popular and one you’ve probably come across before.
Collect several magazines and cut out pictures that you want in your future. Stick them on a board and keep the board somewhere you see every day.
Some people use this as a manifestation tool, believing that if you keep seeing and thinking about what you want, you will find ways to bring it into your life, why not give it a try?
Tip: Don’t spend too long on creating the vision board, give yourself 24 hours to complete it.
These four methods can support you in thinking about your future, I hope it brings that sense of excitement about what could happen for you and if you want to work towards making it a reality, then please feel free to reach out to me for coaching.