The COVID-19 pandemic has affected everyone on the planet. Of course the way this manifests in our daily lives looks so different person to person. From numbers reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in June 2020, the current unemployment rate is 11.1 percent. These numbers can sound daunting. Especially if you are an employed individual who is just thankful to still be working.
Even if you are unaffected by the swift punch that COVID swung at the job market, I think many of us still feel leery about planning our careers for the future. What will the job market look like? Will I lose my job in the future? Maybe you were looking for your next step, or wanting to start your own business, or go back to school. With the unstable world we live in now, it could create an environment where you feel like maybe now isn’t a good time. Or is it?
There have been many times in my life that I have felt this, many years before any of us ever heard about corona viruses and global pandemics. Those times I felt most uncomfortable, is when I found the most growth. There is a quote of Eleanor Roosevelt that I’m sure you’ve heard of “do something everyday that scares you”. Maybe you read it scrolling through Instagram, maybe you passed a wooden sign in HomeGoods that is meant to be hung in your kitchen, maybe you read a Hallmark card with it imprinted on it, you get it – it’s known, maybe even trite. Yet, there is a message in that quote that I think gets lost in translation over the years and retweets. Challenge liminality.
Ok, did you plug that word into Google because you didn’t know what it meant? Me too. I stumbled across a Harvard Business Review article that spoke about this. It’s an anthropological term and I thought it was pretty catching so I wanted to share it with you. Merriam-Webster stated liminality is “of, relating to, or being an intermediate state, phase, or condition, in between or transitional.” The HBR article speaks about how this post-COVID (still current COVID?) period gives us much needed time to reflect, work on our “inner business”and give us time to regroup. Time to find strength in the silence.
So what’s my point here? My point is to introduce myself, to make you feel like you are not alone in feeling stagnant, or like you are struggling through this period of potential career growth. To let you know even though this time period may not be the most productive, it may be a great time to draw up a plan, and discuss ideas to help your future thrive; because there will be a future, and I promise we can make it great.
Want help redefining your career goals during COVID? Schedule a free virtual evaluation session with me today.
Career & Goal Setting Coach 