#106 5 Powerful Questions To Clarify Your Leadership Career Goals for 2024 [*MUST LISTEN*]

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Welcome to the 360 leadership podcast, the top rated show for driven women in senior leadership with new episodes released every Wednesday. I’m your host, Lucy Gernon, a multi award winning executive coach for women leaders and the founder of 360. Leaders Club exclusive high level membership for career driven family orientated women just like you. I created the 360 leadership podcast to share practical tips, actionable step by step strategies, and inspiring stories to support you to unlock the power and belief within to accelerate your impact and potential. So you can build a life filled with success, balance and happiness. So are you ready to achieve 360 degree success? No more excuses. No more waiting. Your time is now.

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Hey there, and welcome to the very first episode of 2024 of the 368 leadership podcast. I am your host Lucy garden. And today we are going to be talking all about setting those career goals for 2024. Can you believe we are already in 2024 I hope you had a really nice Christmas. I hope you’re refreshed. And I really hope that you are ready to go and make a big impact in 2024. Because I was having a conversation with somebody the other day on we were just talking about I suppose how much success friend of mine, she’s a coach, how much success we both created in a short space of time. And that is really because both of us realize that life is not a dress rehearsal, right? My clients has answered that on the podcast not so long ago, too. It’s not a dress rehearsal. This is it, we don’t get a second shot. So if you just keep going where the ball takes you and waiting for things to land on you, you’re going to slow down your success. Now you know that I am all about success, balance and happiness, you do not have to work yourself to the bone in order to achieve success. In fact, that is not how successful people truly operate. Okay, you can absolutely have a fantastic, fantastic career and have a life outside of work. Okay. And it’s really, really important that you I believe, anyway, work life balance is like the number one value of my company, believe it or not, it comes above revenue that comes above everything. Because if you don’t have a life and all you do is work. Well what exactly are you working for? You know, I hear people sometimes say to me, I work so hard because I’m trying to retire early, or people who want to climb the ladder, so they can earn loads of money so they can retire early. But you’ve got to allow yourself to enjoy the journey along the way. Because, you know, you may not make it to retirement, just like I’ve shared the story before about my father in law, who very, very sadly passed away at 66. He was still working, he had planned to retire, okay. And he was diagnosed with an incurable brain tumor in 2020. And six weeks later, he was gone. And it was at that point I reevaluated my entire life. And I realized that I was supposed to do something different, which is when I started my business. So I just really hope today that you’re really hearing me that if you struggled with work life balance in 2023. Let’s make a pact together. Josie you and me that this is the year you take back control of your balance. Okay, this is your year. Now on the flip side, maybe your balance is completely fine. But maybe you’re feeling stagnant in your role. Maybe you’re looking for new opportunities, maybe you’re really not sure what you want from 2024. And that’s exactly why I wanted to hop on the podcast today. Okay. So today I am going to be sharing with you five powerful questions to support you to get clear on what you want from 2024. Now people often ask me, I don’t really know, how do you know what you want to do? And I’m really not sure what what I want to do, or they may know deep down what they want, but they may be holding themselves back. So we’re going to jump into all of that today. Okay.

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So I’m going to just literally dive into the questions. That’s what you’re here for. So I would recommend you pause the podcast and grab pen and paper. And you don’t have to do answer the questions now. But I invite you to write down these questions and then whip out your phone like I always try to help hold you accountable and pop something in your calendar to actually sit down and journal this stuff. Journaling this stuff is going to be way more powerful than you just passively listening

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To me on the podcast, have thinking about the answers and then going back to your day to day life, which is what happens for most of us, okay? But you’re smart. And you’ve been listened to me for a while. And you know, the power of writing things down. So that is my invitation for you today.

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Question number one is this.

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If you could wave a magic wand, and it was the end of 2024, let’s imagine it’s Christmas time 2024.

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What do you want to have achieved?

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And go with the very first thing that pops into your mind? Okay, if something pops up for you, like for me, what would have often popped up is I want to start a business. Okay. But then, of course, I would have talked myself out of that, because it sounded so ludicrous when I was working in the corporate world that I could ever start a business. Okay. But that’s the question. If I had asked myself, that was popping up for me, okay, that’s what I really wanted. If I could, if I could have waved a magic wand. So for you, if you could wave a magic wand, what role would you like to be in?

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What would you want to be different about your life?

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What maybe what do you want your work life balance to look like? Again, this is Magic Wand stuff. And it’s so funny. When I asked this question to people, people usually laugh, and they say, Oh, well, if I could wave a magic wand, I’d be retired. Really? Really? I don’t think so. Because we need something. Okay, as humans, we need purpose. We need something. Okay. And if some people’s purpose may be charity work, it may be taking care of grandkids. And that’s absolutely perfect. If that’s what you want to do, for sure. But you need something you don’t want to just sit and retire, you really don’t. Okay. So get curious about yourself, what do you want? A client of mine who I’ve been working with for a long time now she was a one to one client, and she’s in 360. Leaders club. And when she asked herself that question, like she has plans, she wants to move up the chain to VP and of course, she was saying, but sure, I could never get to VP. And I’m like, Yes, you can. Why can’t you if that’s your desire, that’s your desire. Um, not everybody wants to get to that level? No way. So this is the thing that that I really want you to hear me on is that your desires are not wrong. Because they’re yours on everybody’s is told everybody’s desires are totally different. So whatever is coming up from you on the inside, and that question is the lead you need to follow. And if there’s nothing coming up for you, what I invite you to do is keep asking yourself that question, give yourself lots of whitespace go for walks, ponder a lot, allow yourself to dream and just be because that’s where all the downloads come from, they do not come when you’re sitting with the laptop, as I always tell you all the inspiration and all the answers to your questions come when you give yourself space. Okay, so that’s the first one the magic one question.

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The second question I invite you to ask yourself is, What fears are limiting beliefs are cropping up for you? So the second that you have a desire, immediately, your inner critic is going to pipe up? Totally normal, totally natural. Okay. So you might be saying to yourself things like I did, I could never start a business. I have a career in pharmaceutical industry. I can’t start my own business and coaching. It’s a total career pivot, who’s ever going to hire me? Who’s ever going to take me seriously? What if I can’t pay my mortgage? All of these limiting beliefs popped up for me. Okay. So it’s the same for you. You might be thinking, well, I can’t really have work life balance, because I have to be available 24/7 at my level, or you might be thinking, I can’t apply for that role. Sure. I don’t have the skill set. I don’t have the experience. Or you might be saying, I might be able to do that. But I need to go back and do another degree, which is usually a big, big, big limiting belief. Okay, what do you actually need, trust me, if you want to progress is to work with somebody like me, doesn’t have to be me. Of course, I’d love if it was, but you need to really progress it. The only reason I have progressed so fast in my business is because I’ve invested heavily in working with coaches. And something really magical happens when you work with a coach on your goal when you’re clear on what you want. And you just need support, you need tools you need accountability, most importantly, and support and community to actually help you get there. So much magic happens when you do that. Okay, so that’s the only reason that I’ve been able to do it. Alright. So what fears or limiting beliefs are cropping up for you. And what I invite you to do is write them down. Okay? Write down your fears, your limiting beliefs, and discount every single one of them. So if your inner critic is telling you, you’re not qualified enough, I want you to look for evidence that you are. Now this may mean having conversations with colleagues with peers with whoever coaches

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to really help you to shift your mindset around your capabilities, because what I’ve learned is guys, I promise you if I can go from working in the quality Arena in the pharmaceutical industry in science with a master’s degree in science, to having an award winning internationally recognized professional coaching business in two years, do you think you could move up a level? In your industry? Yeah, does that I promise you, you can do this, you can literally do anything that you want to do this year. And that’s why it’s so so exciting. But we’ve got to work on the mindset.

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The third question then is,

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what actions do you need to take to get there? Now, if you’re multitasking, come back to me.

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This is where most people fall down. Okay, most people fall down. Because they wait for the right time. They say they’re too busy to focus on themselves. They put it off till next month, they wait for other people to tell them what they’re amazing at and offer them shoehorn them into a promotion.

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You have got to own your own career, you’ve got to own your own life, you are the CEO of your career and your life, you are the CEO, not your boss, not your family, you are the CEO of your life. So in order to take action, or in order to make changes, you’ve got to take action. And it can be imperfect action, I was literally just delivering a corporate talk recently, in a big pharma company. I’ve been working with them all year with their women’s employee resource group, and I did a session which I’m actually delivering in the IV on the 12th of January, if you’re listening to this live, I hope there might be a couple of tickets left. So if you want to call them literally DM me the word IV on Instagram or LinkedIn, I’m not sure if the tickets will still be available when this is aired. But definitely DM me, okay, because I was teaching them my believer to achieve its success model, which is my five step proven framework to help you to achieve your career goals. And I’m going to be teaching that exact thing at the IV. And it was so powerful, I absolutely love talking about helping you to how to accelerate your career, I absolutely love nothing more than crushing those limiting beliefs, all of those things, you’re telling yourself, you can’t do, I am here to tell you that you can do every single one of those things that you want, okay, but you’ve got to take action to get there. And that action might be having a conversation with your boss, it might be seeking out internal mentors, it might be hiring a coach like me to support you, it might be upscaling in a particular course. But you have got to take action, because what got you to where you are now is not going to get you to where you want to be, you’ve got to do something different.

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Question number four, is this.

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What might get in your way? So what’s really, really, really powerful is when you anticipate what might stop you from getting what you want might stop you from getting in the way. So it’s just like a sprinter, who’s running a 200 meter hurdle race, okay, they know they want to get from the start line to the finish line. And before they start the race, because I used to do hurdles, way back in the day, you would know exactly how many hurdles were there, you would know where they were placed on the truck, you would be literally looking at the finish line looking at the hurdles. And before ready or on your mark, get set go happens. you’re anticipating how you are going to get over those hurdles as quickly as possible. And that’s how athletes win races. Okay, that’s what separates, I suppose elite athletes from mediocre athletes is the amount of preparation and mindset work they do. If you look at Michael Phelps, for example, he works heavily on his mindset. And that’s how he was a such a successful Olympic athlete over and over and over again, he swears by the power of creative visualization, which is one of the steps in my believe it to achieve a success model, which I teach inside 360 leaders club and I’m going to be teaching live at the ivy as well, because it is so so so important. All right, you’ve got to identify the obstacles that are going to get in your way. So reflect on that and Jonathan. And finally, how will you overcome them. So you already know hopefully what you want. If you don’t know what you want, give yourself time and space ponder, allow yourself to daydream, all of that good stuff. You’ve identified the fears or limiting beliefs that are popping up for you. You’re going to identify the actions you need to

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Take, and then you’ve got to have figured out what hurdles or obstacles might get in your way. And narrow it’s like, right, how are you going to overcome them? Now, this is a question again, that a lot, a lot of the reason people will join 360 leaders club or they’ll hire me privately is because they don’t know how to overcome them. Because it can be really hard to overcome these things on your own, especially if those mindset blocks, okay, but maybe you can do it. So what’s really important is that you identify how you’re going to overcome them. So identify or how you might overcome them might be things like, if you have a fear that you can’t log off, for example, that’s mindset work, okay? If you have a fear that you

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if you think life is going to be really, really busy, and you’re not going to have time for yourself, that’s a very common one, like super common, and you know this to, you have got to come up with a strategy in advance, so that you actually carve out the time to work on yourself. Doesn’t it make sense what I’m saying, you’ve got to carve out time to work on your professional and personal development, I promise you it is the it is going to be a game changer for you this year. So as always, if you are ready to invest in yourself, and you’re looking for support, I would absolutely love to be that coach for you this year. Because one thing I’m known for her is I’m highly empathetic, I’m very inspiring and encouraging and motivating. And really empathetic, I’m there I hold you, I teach you, I mentor you it’s a totally safe space. And I love each and every one of my private one to one clients, and my ladies inside 360 leaders club, I care so deeply. Unlike the mama, I just want everyone to be successful and happy. And I do what’s right, like clients get amazing results. But if you’re investing in yourself to work with me, I’m going to be sure you get a return on your investment. So I let’s just say gently hold you accountable. Okay, I help you keep on the path you want to be on. Inside 360 leaders club, for example, every single month, we have a reflection call where you recenter on the goals that you’re going to set at the start of the year, every single month, there is time carved out in your calendar. And I help you with the mindset around actually showing up for those calls. Because that’s what the ladies say to me, they’re like, if I didn’t have this in my calendar, there’s no way I’d be doing this work because another meeting would take over, or another crisis happens. And I promise you it’s such a game changer. So if you are ready to join 360 leaders club, or you’re interested in private one to one coaching, if you feel you need a lot of deep mindset work, please reach out to me just send me a DM on Instagram, which means a private message actually, because somebody said to me the other day, once a DM private message, just literally send me a message and just say Lucy, I’d love to chat about working with you. And we can take it from there. Because like I said, Life is way too short. Okay, and if I’m not the right coach for you, please just know that there are so many resources and coaches and courses available to you. Outside work, okay. There are so many people in the world like me, who wants to help you to get to where you want to be. We wake up in the morning, we think about you and we’re like how can we make more of a difference? How can we help like for me, I wake up and I’m like, What can I do today to help another woman to succeed? How can I help somebody to have this feeling that I have? How can I inspire the next generation to get rid of all of this crap that’s holding them back and of women like and go for those more senior leadership roles? Like I get so passionate. So if you hear me passionate on the podcast, you need to come work with me because it’s a whole nother level. I just love holding and supporting you. So to recap on our five questions. Number one, if you could wave a magic wand and imagine you’re at the end of 2024. What do you want to have achieved? Where do you want to be? What do you want to be different? Question number two, what fears or limiting beliefs are cropping up for you?

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Question number three, what actions do you need to take to get there? What are the steps?

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Question number four, what might get in your way? And question number five, how will you overcome them? And what support do you need?

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I really hope that this episode has been valuable to you. I’m pretty sure it has and if you do the questions, if you turn on the questions, I promise you, it’s going to be amazing for you and get in the habit of writing stuff down. And if you’re ready to take the next step and work with me, there’s a couple of ways you can do that. Like I’ve shared you may be able to grab a ticket for the IV in Dublin. So again, you can just DM me private message me the word IV on Instagram or LinkedIn. If you’re not there, just send an email to Hello at Lucia

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dot com will link everything in the show notes below and how you can contact me, you can apply to join 360 leaders Club, which is an online membership for women in senior leadership who want to accelerate their career while maintaining balance. Or if you want more private executive coaching, you’re really ready to invest in personalized one to one private support. Again, you can just reach out to me and maybe you’re not sure what the hell you need. And that’s totally normal to so again, reach out to me, we can have a chat, you can tell me all about your challenges, your goals and I can recommend the best option for you. And if I’m not the right fit for you, or you’re not the right fit for me, I will tell you and I will recommend somebody else. So that is it for this week’s episode. i Your challenge now is to book time in your calendar or do it right now. Get that pen and paper out, set those big goals and remember, believe in yourself, okay, I believe in you. You have got to remember who the hell you are and what you bring to this world. Go and chase your dreams. Have a wonderful day and I look forward to chatting with you soon.