Professional Development Plan
Professional Development Plan:Have you ever noticed that our professional development does not always go to plan? That sometimes we can get a little down when you consider where we think we should be with where we actually are?
Here’s Forbes take on it: A lovely empowering piece from career coach from ‘A Work in Progress’.
Well I have a little theory about this particular ‘down’ so if you’re interested then read on. You will know if it resonates with you so trust your reactions. If it doesn’t sit right with you then that’s ok to. Once again, please do rust your response. One of the core purposes of coaching is to place power right back with the client. It is you who will know what is right for you. I think we can get educated out of trusting ourselves in this society and it is always my ambition to put people back in touch with that self-trust. This way, armed with a few new techniques, clients are freed to make their own decisions out in the world, recognising their own metrics and their own power. Lecture over.
What I’m wondering is wether we sometimes have a ‘down’ that has arisen from being reflective. We cover a LOT of ground very swiftly within the coaching space. For us active personality types, for whom ‘active’ it is both a strength and a vulnerability, when we begin to choose to do things another way, emotions can arise. Perhaps you are used to solving things / taking decisions / make stuff happen immediately. Whilst this is a real asset and demonstrates potency over and over. When you begin to choose to reflect and feel the feelings, instead of to take action ‘right now’, echoes of the past and curiosity for the future can rise up. These feelings can be discomfiting to us.
Sometimes when we have been so very active for a long time, then there can be a backlog of feelings. When we begin to choose to observe our choices choices and not ‘act right now’, emotions can show themselves. This is courageous as it is new. It is also courageous because you are experiencing the accompanying emotions. In the past might you have ‘acted’ as quickly as possible to stop that happening ? If so then this is brave.
This is not only due to the coaching (whilst I would like to take full credit!). You would not have been willing or able to engage with the process if you had not already been entering a period of self-reflection. This is all congruent and part of the same picture. You are starting to try a new way, to ask the questions, to sit with the feelings….
So if this resonates here is a theory regarding feelings or emotions. If we are used to acting on them immediately it can be unnerving to ‘be with’ them. A therapist 15 years ago taught me that “emotion = energy-in-motion”. And that’s a it is. All we have to do is allow those emotions to move through us. Taking deep breaths and allowing that energy to roll right through us and out again. Give it the space to take its own natural course, teach us what it needs, and then leave us.
Sure, there’s a balance to be held. Show up at work, meet with your mates, do things that stimulate and nourish you, go running. Be fit, eat well and get good sleep. But also know that you are managing duel journeys now: the external and active one you have always manifested. Simultaneously you are exploring your internal world too.
Learn to observe it, to honour it, to look after your tender heart as you travel. This is a new, rich and wonderful facet of you that you are gaining access to, and, even if it feels scary or new, these emotions will indeed pass and you will be wealthier for the experience.
Over all be very kind to yourself. This is the healing. Experiencing these emotions fully is what will really enable you to recognise and then honour your true self. This is the authentic professional life. This is a purposeful Professional Development Plan
The long and short of it is give yourself a really big pat on the back for risking this. Anything new is scary. You don’t have to put it all right now. Just breathe….
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