In the last blog post we talked about being proactive, which is really about taking responsibility for our choices and for our lives. So, you might think that the question, “Should I be figuring out my next move?” would be an automatic ‘yes’ if you are proactive.
Maybe. Probably. But let’s take a look at it a little more.
I want to get down to what’s motivating you to ask the question. There’s a lot of pressure on us it seems to “climb the ladder”, “find our passion and purpose”, “get promoted”, and my new favorite I’ve been hearing lately, “up-level”. Oh, and let’s not leave out, “make more money”.
Sometimes the pressure is spoken. A (we’ll assume) well-meaning person who is close to us may try to be encouraging and tell you to look for the next promotion or opportunity. Often, though, I think the pressure is unspoken. We feel like we’re supposed to “move up”.
These ‘pressure’ reasons are not the best for basing your motivation to find the next thing on. However, we might be able to turn those well-meaning or unspoken nudges into a good thing by using it as a trigger to examine what we really want.
I’m encouraging you to base your discovery of your next move on the desire to explore your potential, but without expectation. (People have taken issue with me on that phrase, ‘without expectation’, so maybe we’ll explore it in a future post). What I mean here is that you really don’t need a specific position in mind like Chief Technical Officer, or Lead Architect, or Principal Engineer to be able to figure out what’s next. In fact, I think it might hinder you to have that expectation, which is why I’m suggesting you explore your potential without expectations.
OK, so how do we explore our potential without expectation? AKA, what should I be doing next?
We’ll lean on something John Maxwell says all the time in his lessons.
“Reflection turns experience into insight.”
John Maxwell
Basically I’m suggesting we evaluate our experiences, which will help us see patterns and figure out the next move (Don’t stop reading! It’s really easy.). Here are the two questions you need to ask. You can start by looking back on the last year.
- What energizes me?
- What drains me?
You’ll know if you’re energized by an activity when you want to do it again (even if it sort of scares you, like coming up with a new design for something, or giving a presentation). Or, you’re energized when you get in the zone. You lose track of time, or forget to eat (or maybe that’s just me – I’m a grazer, so if I’m not eating I must really be into what I’m doing). You feel excited about what you’re doing.
Feeling drained is the opposite. Are there tasks you always procrastinate on? For a lot (not all) engineers writing documentation seems to suck the life out of them (although, please trust me – documentation is necessary). If you mentally or out loud ‘ugh’ when you think of having to do a certain task, it’s draining you.
So – it might be obvious at this point, but don’t make your next move one that focuses on what drains you – even if the money is good! Consider what options you have around what energizes you. You’ll find that when you can do what energizes you, you’ll add more value and you’ll be happier and more satisfied with life.
If you see the value in this approach, you might try evaluating your experiences every week or even every day. In the engineer your life section I’ve added a link to a more comprehensive list of questions by Laura Garnett.
tl;dr
Don’t base your desire to figure out your next move on external or societal pressure to move up or make more money. Instead, desire to explore your potential without expectations about what the result will be. Ask yourself these two questions regularly – what energizes me? What drains me? Then look for patterns. This will inform your next move.
engineer your life
- Ask yourself these two questions about the last year, month, week, or day: What energized you? What drained you?
- Read Laura Garnett’s article on questions to ask every week to help you understand what’s driving your performance.