Career transition: the winning triptych for an authentic and fulfilling transition
Embarking on a career change is like setting sail on a sailing boat to a dream destination that’s still a mystery.
The winds of change are blowing, the horizon is opening up before you, but where do you begin this navigation towards your new professional course? The answer lies in your own inner compass.
Let’s discover together how the combination of your values, talents and self-confidence can become your personalised treasure map for charting the course to your new professional life.
Your values: a solid foundation for your career change
Why start with your values?
Imagine your conversion as the construction of a majestic skyscraper.
No matter how high you want to go or how elegant the façade you’re planning, it all starts with an unshakeable foundation.
Your values are the invisible but important reinforced concrete that will underpin the whole structure of your new professional life.
They are :
- Your anchor in the storm when doubts pile up
- Your North Star for aligned decisions
- Your deepest root that nourishes each new branch of your development
How do you identify your core values?
It’s like being an archaeologist of your own life: you have to dig beneath the surface of habits and conditioning to uncover the real treasures that define you.
Ask yourself these essential questions:
- What moments in your professional life have made you vibrate like a perfectly tuned guitar string?
- What situations have triggered a firework display of emotions, positive or negative?
- If your life were a book, what principles would you want your readers to take away from it?
Want to find out what your values are? How about taking this free online test: Identifying your values
Your talents: your unique signature
Beyond skills: discovering your superpowers
Your talents are like diamonds in the rough scattered throughout your life.
Some are already shining brightly, others are waiting to be discovered and polished. Unlike skills, which are acquired like tools in a box, your talents are your DNA, the unique combination that makes you an exceptional person.
How can you identify and capitalise on your talent?
It’s like being a prospector looking for gold in your own river. Every nugget counts, even the smallest ones.
So here are your tools for finding these nuggets:
- Observe what flows naturally in your daily life, like a spring that always finds its way.
- Spot those moments when time flies, when you’re in a perfect state of flow
- Analyse your successes like a detective looking for the common thread that links them all together
Self-confidence: your driving force for change
Why is trust so important?
Career transition is like crossing a monkey bridge over a canyon: every step counts, and confidence is your safety harness.
It’s not just a bonus, but the very oxygen that will fuel your engine of change.
It allows you to :
- Spread your wings beyond your comfort zone
- Turning obstacles into springboards for learning
- Wear your new professional identity with pride like a tailor-made suit
Developing your confidence step by step
Trust is cultivated like a precious garden. Every little bit counts, every bit of care pays off.
Here’s how you can grow your confidence:
- Sow the seeds of success by setting yourself achievable micro-goals
- Nourish your growth by surrounding yourself with people who are like the sun: sources of energy and warmth
- Cultivate your inner garden by keeping a diary of your progress, like an attentive gardener watching his plants flourish.
Do you feel that you lack self-confidence? I suggest you listen to the Unique podcast, a podcast to help you regain your self-confidence and unleash your full potential.
The holistic approach: your best asset
Think of these three elements as the ingredients of a magic recipe:
- Your values are the main spice that gives you that unique flavour
- Your talents are the cooking techniques that make all the difference
- Your confidence is the fire that turns everything into a masterpiece
This personal alchemy allows you to create a conversion that is not simply a copy of an existing model, but an original creation, your own professional masterpiece.
Take action: your practical exercises
Here are a few practical exercises to help you discover your values, identify your talents and boost your self-confidence.
1. Discover your core values
Take your notebook and some quiet time for these revealing exercises:
The key moments exercise
- List 5 moments in your life of which you are particularly proud
- For each moment, ask yourself, “What made this moment so important to me?”
- Identify the underlying values (e.g. if you’re proud to have formed a team, the values could be sharing and helping each other).
Letter from the future
- Project yourself 10 years into the future and write a letter to your current self
- Describe the life you lead and what makes you happy
- Underline all the words that evoke values in your letter
The situation test
- Write down 3 situations that have recently made you angry at work
- Identify which value has been “violated” in each situation
- These conflicting values are often your most important values
2. Map your natural talents
The compliments inventory
- Contact 5 people you trust (colleagues, friends, family)
- Ask them, “In what situations do you think I’m particularly good?”
- Note the patterns that emerge in their answers
The Energy Journal
- For one week, write down all your activities
- Assess your energy level before and after each activity (1-10)
- Activities that give you energy often reveal your natural talents
Analysis of successes
- List 10 successes in your life (professional and personal)
- For each, give details:
- What exactly did you do?
- What skills did you use?
- What did you find particularly easy?
If you’re having trouble identifying your talents, I suggest this natural talent identification questionnaire, the CliftonStrengths!
3. Boost your self-confidence
The challenge of micro-victories
- Every day, set yourself a small challenge slightly outside your comfort zone
- Start small (example: speaking at a meeting)
- Gradually increase the difficulty
- Keep a diary of your victories
The mirror exercise
- Every morning, in front of the mirror
- List 3 qualities you appreciate in yourself
- Add a new success story from yesterday
- End with a positive intention for the day
The bank you can trust
- Create a physical or digital file
- Collect it:
- Thank you emails
- Testimonials
- Photos of your successes
- Certificates and diplomas
- Notes of your daily victories
- Consult this file when in doubt
Not sure where to start with your career change project? Not sure what you want to do? What about discussing your situation and your project together? >> Book an appointment
4. Summarise your findings
Once you have completed these exercises, take the time to summarise them:
- List your top 5 values
- Write down your 3 most obvious natural talents
- Identify the situations where your confidence is strongest
Then create a mind map linking these elements to the career areas that appeal to you. The connections that emerge will show you the most promising career paths that are in line with who you really are.
Conclusion: your conversion, your masterpiece
Your professional retraining is more than just a career change, it’s a real professional rebirth.
Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, you have the opportunity to reinvent yourself by drawing on the very essence of who you are.
The values-talents-confidence triptych is not just a method, it’s your palette of colours for painting the picture of your new professional life.
So, are you ready to pick up your brushes and create your own professional masterpiece?
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