Career Change Lessons Learned from Laryngitis
I love my children and I know they love me. In fact they love me so much they’ve been sharing all their germs with me. This time I’ve lost my voice and have an ear infection.
This all came about during a recent trip out to LA to attend Ali Brown’s last ever Online Business Success Workshop. Not only did I come away with some amazing marketing advice I also made some pretty big shifts with my own business which it seems is helping me get unstuck.
Have you ever reached that point where you know you should be moving ahead much more quickly than you are?
You feel like you are racing ahead but with the parking brake on.
Well, that’s how I’ve been feeling. And being at the conference really opened my eyes to the possibilities for the next phase of my business. But while my eyes have been opened, my throat and right ear have been closed.
It was half way through the conference that I got sick and lost my voice. Everyone said it was a sign from the Universe. I guess the Universe saw that I wasn’t responding to the quiet nudging and soft taps at my door so it needed to do something to shut me up and get my attention.
Ok, I’m listening.
Without my voice I have become aware of some interesting things.
- People model our behavior. I can barely talk above a quiet whisper. Guess what this elicits in other people? They start whispering and mirroring my behavior. I wanted to tell them they could talk normally but couldn’t for obvious reasons. So my world has been much quieter than usual as even the doctor who prescribed my antibiotics whispered her instructions to me. Try this yourself. Want that hiring manager to be friendly and warm with you? Start by being friendly and warm yourself. Hope the people at the networking meeting are open and inviting? Be open and inviting yourself. Ready for everyone to see your worth and value as an employee? See yourself as worthwhile and valuable. Others will follow your lead.
- You sometimes need to have a breakdown to have a breakthrough. I heard this over and over again this weekend. I’ve had my share of breakdowns (who hasn’t!) and thought: ok – haven’t I had enough breakdowns? Clearly I hadn’t. Now with my voice broken I’m acutely aware that this is a new beginning for me. I had to cancel client calls, my telephone seminars, and a variety of meetings I had scheduled for this week. I’ve literally been forced to be quiet with myself, focus on the projects that I’ve been saying I wanted to do but never seemed to make time for, and get some rest. Are you going through some sort of struggle with your job or career? Maybe this is your chance to make your own big life shift.
- You need to ask for help. It’s very hard to get by without your voice–especially with two kids under 4 years old. I have had to ask lots of people to help me with everything from calling the doctor to ordering lunch. And just like with my day to day life, my business needs help. I’ve been trying to breakthrough my business barriers on my own and while I seek the support of my own coach I haven’t truly given in to allowing the experts to help me. Losing my voice has changed that. I am surrounding myself with the right team of people who are going to help me and my business grow. What are you struggling to do on your own with your life and career? You’re not going to get a medal for struggling the most, so do yourself a favor and ask for all the help and support you need!
I have to admit that the quiet and lack of ability to talk has been a nice break. Yet, I have this quiet excitement brewing within me as I feel some pretty big changes coming. Isn’t it time for you to get quiet and give in to the changes happening for you?
