One of the frustrations that brings clients to me is a feeling of unusual helplessness. After identifying that there’s something that needs to change about their work life, they’ve found themselves stagnant and frustrated. People who are accustomed to action, decisiveness, and purpose find themselves waffling, overthinking, and doing much less than they’re used to. And because of this, they start feeling worse about themselves.
Sometimes the temptation is to just “Do SOMETHING” — apply for something, get a promotion, update a LinkedIn profile. Anything that feels like progress.
It makes PERFECT SENSE for you to get less done when you’ve realized the career path you’re on isn’t right. I was listening to a podcast on a walk and the guest, General Jim Mattis, used the term “A lot of thrust but no vector,” to describe a particular kind of workplace dysfunction.
I love this term! Many of my clients have had extraordinary thrust in their careers. Their resumes feature speed, promotion, and forward motion.
They seek me out because they suspect going forward won’t bring them happiness. It might be the first time in a long while they’re taking responsibility to set the direction, after hitting lots of milestones set by others.
Applying thrust when you don’t know the vector is a bad plan. So dawdling, doubting, overthinking, procrastination, all those behaviors are better than running top speed for something of dubious value. But to people who’ve measured success by the strength of their thrust, it can feel really lousy.
The best of all is getting to work defining the direction. And the secret to that is knowing it is a solvable problem; you don’t need to already have it, and there’s nothing mysterious or magical about the process to get more clarity.
(Hint, hint: my career clarity course, or coaching sessions with me or someone else, can help you identify a direction you’re excited about.)
