After nearly two years of living through a pandemic, our lives have been disrupted in ways never experienced before. But among other silver linings, these unexpected changes have given us time to reflect deeply on our lives. What was once considered “normal” is being reevaluated, leading many of us to seek meaningful life changes. This experience, coined “Pandemic Flux Syndrome,” is very real, and it’s driving us to ask the question: is the career I’m pursuing bringing me happiness and fulfillment?
The last two years have also brought about an awareness of long-standing social injustices and inequities prevalent in many workplaces. Some people are rethinking their values and redefining their career paths by striving for a promotion or improving their work-life balance, while others are considering switching jobs altogether or finally launching their dream business.
If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. A recent study found that one-in-three workers are considering leaving their job, while another 60 percent say they’re rethinking their career, and only 7 percent said they are in their dream career. According to the Census Bureau, more than 4.4 million new businesses were created in the U.S. during 2020—the highest total on record. These numbers are particularly high in Black communities, where the pandemic hit hardest.
Whether you’re looking for a new direction, working for that promotion, starting a new job, balancing work and life, or launching your dream business, getting started is often the most difficult part. But the change you make can ultimately be your best one yet.
As a first step, it’s good to think through the process of how you’ll ultimately reach your goal. Start with the end in mind and reverse engineer the steps you’ll need to take to get there. Evernote can be an especially helpful tool for taking that leap—encouraging you to get inspired, and stay organized and on-track along the way.
From brainstorming and gathering information, to planning action items and next steps, Evernote can be a partner in your process of making that meaningful career change by helping you:
- Capture ideas and information. Keep track of sudden spurts of inspiration, or save interesting job postings with notes and application status. Or you might keep a tally of your biggest wins to negotiate a promotion or role change with your current employer.
- Set goals and stick to them. Every year, I write down concrete goals for my career to make them more tangible. With any goal, you should break it down into clear actions and deadlines. Tasks in Evernote can help you manage the steps to achieving big goals with due dates, reminders, links, and assignable actions.
- Manage and prioritize your schedule. Evernote reminds you to open any notes related to a calendar event or start a new note (with all the relevant information included in the template) just in time. Home in Evernote organizes everything in one central place—from important notes, to your schedule, to all the tasks on your to-do list.
The next step is to finally take that leap of faith. Here are my Top 3 tips to help you get the process moving:
- Set a date. Whether your goal is to change jobs, negotiate a promotion, or start a new business, having a realistic timeframe to work towards helps you stay on course.
- Plan and organize. This is where the magic happens. Use Evernote to create weekly goals—I suggest creating 3-5 tasks per week and blocking out your calendar to follow through on them. Taking small incremental steps towards your goals is the best strategy to maintain consistency and minimize feeling overwhelmed.
- Enlist help. Many people try to go at it alone when pursuing their dreams, but finding support allows you to go a lot further, faster. Join communities, networking groups, or work with a mentor or coach. There are resources in place to help you along this journey.
Whether taking on new challenges at your current job, finding a new job, or rethinking your career completely, these tips can guide you as you embark on a new journey. And Evernote can help get you there—get started today with a variety of customizable templates.
Ariane Hunter is an Author, Speaker, Coach & Founder of My Mentors Circle, an online community and mentoring service for Black women in business to gain access to leading mentors of color. She brings over twenty years of career and business coaching expertise to help today’s career changers and business builders navigate their careers and grow their businesses. Ariane’s methodology centers around holistic, actionable insights to help individuals go further, faster.
Ariane’s debut book, “Dreaming on Purpose: A Manifesto for Black Women on Taking the Leap & Building Her Business Baby” with Indigo River Publishers is a business leadership book for Black women due out Fall 2022. Ariane draws on decades of experience working for the top marketing and branding agencies in New York City and supporting high profile clients to become key players in their industry.
To learn more about Ariane and her work, visit www.arianehunter.com.
