I love the word to craft.  I prefer it to just create or find.  I like its depth and its multiple layers. It reflects the different levels we must travel to find our ideal work.  

Craft in its essence is about making things.  

'To Craft' reminds us that we are here to make something.  Applied to our work, it gives depth.  A job becomes not just about making money but about how we leave our mark. It reflects back to us that our work makes the world we live in.

'What are you making today through your work?'

Craft is about special skill. 

When you are looking for the work you are really here to do, that is what you are looking for.  What is that special skill or thing that only you can do? There is only one of you.  You are a unique combination of genes, experiences, knowledge, skills and potential.  There is nobody else exactly like you. 

You might have lots of insecurities...

Many people ask me: ‘How do I find who I really am and what I am here to do?'

I tell them that it is not something you have to find. It is something you simply need to remember. You see you used to play at it when you were a child…

What did you used to play at as a child?

So take a journey with me…go back in time... reflect back for a moment to you as a child...

What did you used to love to play at? Not just when you were fitting in, but when you got to choose. Did you used to play with others? Did you prefer to be alone? What did you love most?

I used to play 3 games: Magic Potions, Saving The World, and Mirror Speaking.

Magic Potions meant taking my dolls to this secret place in my grandmother’s garden so that they could rest and take time for themselves. There I would feed them strange mixtures of violet water, pine needles and gravel to make them feel happier.

Saving The World involved my bike. I would peddle as hard as I could, guiding people...

If I told you that this was it - this was the end of your journey, would you have any regrets?  Would you feel that you had made the impact you wanted to make?  I faced this question not once, but twice and both times it changed my life.  The first time was on 10th December, 1999...

In my previous post, I talked about the 5 signs that show that you are at a career pivotal moment.   This post today is about what career pivotal moments are really about.  

What Will You Regret?

So here I was a lawyer - successful on the outside.  But feeling like something was missing on the inside.  I was trying to avoid these uncomfortable feelings.  I was hoping that pushing them down or distracting myself would be enough.  That they would go away.  But none of it was really working.

Luckily for me it all came crashing down...

On 10th December 1999, my life changed.  I found myself in the hospital as a result...

This is the first part in a 3 part blog series on Career Pivotal Moments - What they are, how to recognise them and what to do about them.

Why it matters is that you can’t navigate pivotal moments just like any other career crossroads. It is not as simple as getting your CV together and calling up a headhunter. 

What My Pivotal Moment was Like...

At my career pivotal moment, I was a successful lawyer in the City of London.  I thought I had made it.  I had ticked all the right boxes of success. I had the great career, the very nice salary, the lovely apartment, the right lawyer boyfriend. I should have felt happy and fulfilled.  But I wasn’t.  Underneath it all I had this nagging feeling that something was missing.  I just couldn’t work out what that was.

 It made no sense.  I tried to ignore the feeling that something was not quite right.  I kept thinking ‘maybe it is just a little bit of stress and it will...