In your comfort zone, you know exactly what to expect. It’s safe, it’s routine. It’s where you are when you’re doing that thing for the 10,000th time. It’s where you go for comfort and an easy state of flow.In your danger zone, you have no idea what to expect. You’re on high alert, unable to focus on anything but making it through the next moment. You’re so far away from what’s normal that it's difficult to perform well.And then there’s your growth zone. It’s that in between space where you’re neither comfortable nor in danger. You can still function, but you’re not remotely comfortable.The thing about pushing outside of your comfort zone…

Outside of that place of comfortable flow… Is that it doesn’t happen on its own. You have to push for it. You have to seek it out. You have to want it.If you do, the reward is a growing set of diverse experiences. You expand what is comfortable to you and build on your skillset. The process is proof that you’re capable of learning and adapting. It gives you satisfaction of knowing that you’re becoming a better, more interesting person.In the context of work, you have to know how you want to grow.

Do you want new:Knowledge Skills Relationships Influence Or something else entirely? And then you have to have an environment that allows you to seek that growth out. Different organizations and teams have different kinds of growth orientations. Some have a formal environment centered on career ladders and stretch assignments. Other organizations have a more informal environoment centered on initiative, grit, and personal ambition. And some organizations have a stifling environment that makes it hard to grow at all.

You can seek out growth in many ways, but three of the most common are:Asking for or being promoted into a new role that expands on your responsibilitiesVolunteering, being assigned, or simply taking initiative to start a new project Keeping your same role and projects, but keeping a mindset of growth as you look for ways to grow in your existing tasks and responsibilitiesThe alternative to growth, of course, is stagnating in a role and stagnation is where careers go to die.

You know you're getting stale when you no longer feel self-motivated at work, you notice a lack of engagement in the goal setting process, and you start to fall into a routine -- a rut even -- of doing the same things over and over again.We're most likely to stagnate when we're comfortable -- enough money, title, and flexibility to stay put. And not enough reason to move on to the next thing.

And when you hit that point, you have to move on or slowly watch your career die.

PS: Next week's workshop will go on sale at 9am pacific on Wednesday, July 15th. It wll be $49 and it will be limited to 25 attendees. This will allow me to keep things manageable while also having a chance to answer individual questions during the Q&A afterwards.

So far, I have bonus interviews lined up with the founders and hiring managers from New Story Charity, Primer, Frontier, Webflow, and A Kids Book About. The insight you gain from this workshop and interview series will give you the inside track to landing the most meaningful job of your career.

I hope you'll join me for it!

STRONG, WISER, BETTER

An Essential Guide for Reentering, Reinventing, or Rebooting Your Career at Any Age

So many women hit midlife and realize: it's time for a career change. Maybe you're yearning to try something new, or you're sensing that layoffs are coming and you need a backup plan. Perhaps you paused, or downsized your career to raise children, and you're ready to rejoin the workforce. How do you reboot, relaunch, return to, or reinvent a career at age 40? Or 50? Or 60? And how can you create a career and life that will provide you with purpose and financial security for years to come?

In Comeback Careers, New York Times bestselling author and co-host of MSNBC's Morning Joe Mika Brzezinski and her sister-in-law Ginny Brzezinski have teamed up to show you that career reinvention is possible at any age. You have the skills, experience and maturity; it's time to own them. For this book, Mika and Ginny interviewed dozens of career-changers working in a variety of fields, from finance to academics to art. They share successful relaunchers' secrets to overcoming obstacles both internal and external, and their step-by-step processes and candid advice. They also reveal key strategies from top job coaches, resume-writers, and LinkedIn experts, tailored to the special challenges of mid-career jobseekers.

It's time to rewrite the narrative. You are stronger, wiser, and better at the midpoint, and Comeback Careers is a roadmap to your career reinvention and fulfillment.

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