Searching for that elusive balance?

People come to coaching for all sorts of reasons –  a popular one is to restore balance in their lives, often because work has taken over, draining them of time to do what they enjoy. So, if you want to restore balance in your life, here’s a quick five step guide to help you get there:

Career coach Michelle Bayley recommends useful books and resources for changing your career

Resources & recommended books

The online resources and books recommended here help you to change your mindset about any area of your life. You’ll also find some that are specifically about career change which help you to get clear about what you want from your work, then see what’s the best match for you – the same approach as the career coaching programme that I use.

Information on personality assessments when thinking about your career

Personality assessments and your career

As part of coaching clients to help them discover their ideal career, I ask them to take a Myers Briggs personality assessment. Knowing your personality type raises your self-awareness and gives you thought provoking information on areas including your values and strengths – information which is vital to choosing a career that’s a good fit for you.

Career Change: What if I get it wrong?

How can you be sure that making a career change is the right decision for you? What if you dislike your new career as much as your old one? These thoughts are all normal says Life and Career Coach Michelle Bayley, but don’t let them stop you moving forward. Just follow these 3 simple steps to get your career back on track.

If you don’t like your current work but have a nagging doubt that making a change could mean moving to something you dislike just as much, what should you do? It’s a familiar question that I hear as a career coach and I know from my own experience of going through career change that it can lead to ‘analysis paralysis’.

Is It a good idea to plan your career? Tips from career coach Michelle Bayley

Is it a good idea to plan your career?

Are you a planner or a chancer? Do you like to draw up lists of life goals that you must achieve – senior partner by the age of 40, MD by 50, married with two kids by 25 – or are you happy to leave things to chance, go with the flow and see what opportunities life brings your way?

Following your interests

Working in a field that you’re really interested in, makes the difference between your job being just a job and it being so enjoyable that it doesn’t feel like work.

When you meet someone who works in a field that they love you can hear the enthusiasm in their voice – and it’s this enthusiasm that’s often carried them as they’ve made a change from one field to another.