Stop Taking Personality Tests -Do This Instead

🎧 If you are still waiting for a generic test score to tell you what you're worth you are actively giving away your authority.

Do you ever feel like you’ve been working hard for years… but still aren’t moving forward?

Maybe you’ve started second-guessing your path, wondering if it’s too late to make a change, or quietly asking yourself:  “Is this it?”

In this episode of Clarity With Carole, you’ll uncover the hidden reasons you might feel stuck mid-career and, more importantly, what you can actually do about it. You’ll learn:

✅Why staying “comfortable” at work could be holding you back (and how to recognize it).

✅The fears and excuses that keep smart, capable professionals like you from taking the next step.

✅The real cost of staying in a role that no longer fits you.

✅A simple way to shift from second-guessing yourself to taking confident, intentional action.

Here’s the truth: what’s holding you back probably isn’t your boss, your company, or even your age. It’s the story you’ve been telling yourself. The good news? You can rewrite that story — starting today.

✨ Free Resource: Grab your copy of Carole’s Clarity Snapshot 🧭 — a simple, action-oriented tool that helps you reflect, realign, and map your very first step forward.https://stan.store/RyCath/p/get-caroles-clarity-snapshot-now

This episode is for you if: You’re mid-career and feel like you’ve “lost the roadmap.” You’ve been waiting for your company to chart your growth path. You’re tired of feeling stuck but not sure how to break free. Listen in — and start building the clarity and confidence you need to move forward, on your own terms.

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#podcast #careerclarity #overwhelmatwork #mindset #mindsetshift #selfimprovement

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

So today we're going to be digging into the really tough but important question: what is really holding you back? I'm Carol Naismith, and I'm a lean performance coach dedicated to helping ambitious professionals break through those invisible barriers. If you've been working hard for years, but you still feel like you're stuck in neutral or you're second-guessing your career, or even wondering if it's too late to change direction, then this episode is for you. Some of the main points you need to think about as we talk about this topic is really the comfort zone trap. You know, I remember looking back on some journals that I had a long, long time ago and saying it wasn't really the comfort zone, but I called it the neutral zone. But I guess you could say it's much of the same. But a lot of times people feel that things that support a comfort zone would be like the routine that feels safe, same paycheck, same commute, same people. You know, sometimes you need routine in order to kind of stabilize other parts of your life. But if you are finding yourself there and you feel like you're stuck in that comfort zone and want a little bit more, know that that routine and that comfort zone is dictating to, you know, perhaps where you're you're sitting at this point in time. The second part is really the fear of losing stability that keeps you from exploring new options. Fear is a huge thing in a career, right? And if you take more steps, how is that going to change, turn your day upside down? Uh, fear of not doing a good job, fear of losing something, as I said earlier, that was stable in terms of a paycheck, a commute, and the people, uh, really over time the comfort zone becomes more and more of a cage than it is a comfort zone. So if you think of a story, let me share a little example of that. Like let's say if you have a friend who's been at the same company for 12 years and she really doesn't love it, but she tells herself it's fine because the benefits are good. Deep down, she knows that she's not growing, but she's a little too comfortable and a little too comfortable to imagine that she's going to start fresh. So think about what I just said there. 12 years. It's in this day and age, most people don't stay in companies for 12 years. But when they do, I find that they're like to be counted on. Certainly at some point they may have grown in their career. But if you're kind of stagnant in that 12 years and you haven't moved around, then deep down, you're probably staying that statement yourself that you really know that you're not growing and fear of the risk that you're about to take, right? You're sort of fearful of the financial instability. You know, what can I replace this by with my salary? And if you were to look at a new job, you know, the whole idea that that's gonna remain safe for you and something that's not gonna be turning upside down. That is a real true fear. It is something that you need to think about, but sometimes it's worth making a change. You know, you're never gonna know until you try it whether or not you think that you're capable of other things that might be good for you to do. The second thing in there is, of course, worrying about starting over or looking inexperienced. I would be less worried probably about the inexperienced part of it as I would what's probably going through your mind about the worry of starting over. That is gonna be some work. You are gonna have to think about new and fresh things. But sometimes what I notice when you get into new careers or people I've spoken to, the starting over can be really refreshing. You know, you might be able to be working with people that are exciting, you're gonna learn new things, new approaches, you're gonna see things going on in a company that you might not have seen before. And also you might be in a different industry or a different kind of line of work that might help with getting over that worry. There might be so much benefit that you get from that. And I want you to really think about those steps too. Uh, the last item in terms of thinking about that fear of taking your risk is the belief that if you make a big move, that it's reckless at this stage of the game, especially if you're 12 years into your career or you're a little, you know, later in your mid-year career life, um, that it looks reckless. Might I say that maybe 20 years ago that would have looked that way. But in the current career market, at least from what I'm seeing, and it's not unusual for people to take time to take risks, and you'll realize that maybe it is very refreshing for you to do that. Now, I'm not saying that you need to move after being somewhere for six months. I'm just suggesting that if you believe that you're stuck in that comfort zone or that neutral zone for yourself, you might be ready to make a bigger move. So, another example of that is let's say a gentleman by the name of Marcus, right? Let's say he tells himself, look, I can't afford to take this risk. I've got kids in college, I've got a mortgage, but in reality, he's paying a different price in his life, right? He's got to have his health and his energy in check that are being drained every day if he stays stuck. So, you know, I think sometimes we all do things because we have to. And I truly believe that the reality is there that for sure, things like kids in college and a mortgage is definitely top of mind. But there's so many other things that go by. You know, let's say once that's done and the kids get out of college, then you're forever looking at that, also saying, What am I going to do for my own personal benefit and for gratification that I get in my own career? And I really ask you to take a moment to start thinking about that. Another section we should probably talk about is really that there's no real clear path forward. Clarity is not known to everyone. Uh, a lot of people, while they might do self-reflection, just don't have either a good coach, a good sponsor, or someone that they've talked to that might help them see the most tremendous skills that they have and don't know how to put two and two together to figure out what direction that they're going to take. And so if you're that kind of person where you're needing a little bit more help, then this podcast is definitely for you. Because, you know, in many workplaces, um, not everybody gets good coaching one-on-one time or um a leader that might help them think bigger than they're thinking today. And, you know, it takes a lot of um courage to really think about the real path forward and to be sure that you're getting the help. And sometimes you just simply need to ask. And you'd be surprised if you ask a peer, a colleague, a boss, someone that, a leader that would be able to give you some feedback may help your path forward and lessen that fear that you have about taking risks, taking risks in your career. Having good mentorship and career development is really important. If you look at your human resources portal, sometimes if you're in a larger company, they may have resourcing or training that's available. I highly encourage it. I would check on YouTube. There's training everywhere, you know, anything for career development. You want to take a look into things that you might want to. Promotions based on politics, not talent. That's a couple of bullet points. Sometimes there's politics in a company. Um, I'm uh err on the side of hoping that it's talent, but in order for you to know that your talent is good, you all have to demonstrate measurable results that you have to put in front of people. So I would say that you should sit down and make a list of the wins that you might have and break it down either by month or by quarter and start tracking how that's compared from one quarter to the other or one year to the other. And those are really good ways to sort of develop what your next path is. And then there are times, you know, when you don't see a clear path that it just might be because you're waiting for the company to chart your path for you instead of creating your own path. Boy, is that a statement. I think that you really need to take your career in your own hands. You need to develop uh the tools and skills that it takes for you to figure out what steps you want. And, you know, everybody has a point in time in their life. There are things that certainly might get in the way. It could be family, it could be, as I said earlier, it could be high school, college, things that you're working on that prevent you from putting yourself first. Um, but I do ask that you need to create your own path. So even as those things are happening, I would start documenting for yourself the things that you really like in your day, the stuff that you're really good at where you've added value. And I think that will make a big difference once you are ready to take the next steps. So if you think of someone like that we work with that might have been in the same role for years, you know, this individual's complaining about the lack of opportunity or has never had a coach or framework to help her to see what her options are like, uh, and thinks that she's staying stuck and hoping someone else is going to open the door for her. Well, it's not gonna come like that, right? You have to be open to ask the questions. You've got to bite the bullet to put some directness out there for yourself. And it is good to, you know, certainly ask for feedback and to try to work out a really good coaching plan. So I encourage you to do that. So I'd say that one of the ways that I could help you here, if this is some story that uh lines up with you, right? So, what it is, is that if you're someone that thinks they're about to give up or you think it's too late, or if you think that the company that you work for will eventually um, you know, hand you the opportunity or just hand it to you without you doing the work, then I feel that this is the steps that I can help you with. It'll give you a clear path on what really matters to you, not your boss, not your company, but you. And it will give you a map on your first step forward so that you can move out of the neutral zone or the comfort zone that you are in today. So if you want to grab a copy, just make sure that you click on the link below in the show notes, and it will direct you to a great document that will help you do some self-reflection and think of it as your first step in rewriting the story of your own career. And so when you're doing that and you're writing some notes down, and once you get a copy of it, I want you to think of maybe a cycle that you're stuck in. Um, it's called the excuse cycle. You know, some people complain, but they've never taken action. And so you might complain, complain, and you don't even know you're complaining. You're just talking about it with your friends, you might be talking about it with your family. Um, and yeah, I want you to really think back on what, you know, triggers conversations at your dinner table and the stuff that's coming out there. Um, think of the ways in which you could turn that around a little bit. So if you're in that excuse cycle where you are venting because you think it feels easier than changing or taking action of your own career, or you think you're going to get sympathy from somebody else, which just reinforces the cycle of your excuse. And then by all means, but nothing ever improves until you take ownership. Um, know that, you know, any form of action that you take will relieve any and most all of what you put out into the world. So if you shift that mindset for yourself and that idea that you're instead of putting an excuse out in front, that you can actually turn that around with an opportunity or a step forward of something you can do to make a change to what you're complaining about, um, that will be a terrific next step. And I'd say use my worksheet to help you through that exercise. So if you think uh of statements that you might have made, let's say at the dinner table to your family or friends, just say, this place is terrible. I think I should leave. Um, you know, I've been saying it for four to five years now. I think this is the perfect time to go, but there's no perfect timing. These are all excuses. And I'm not suggesting that you leave the company you're at. What I'm suggesting is that you take a look at whether or not you are sitting in the right seat, that you have the right role. If there's something different that you want to do that's going to really make a positive difference in your career and in your workday, look at those opportunities and speak up. Talk to someone, talk to your leader, talk to a peer, talk to a leader in another department and get some things on paper that will make you evaluate what you're really good at, where you should be spending your most valuable time and evaluating whether you are ready to go past that fear and take a step into a new career direction. And if you think of it, you know, what's the cost of just staying where you are? What's the cost of staying somewhere in your comfort zone or staying stuck? You know, most times I'd say staying in a role that doesn't serve you has really real consequences. It really does. And most times the things that you'll experience personally or you'll see others experience is burnout, stress, loss of confidence. The confidence factor is like a big deal. You know, then you start going into, you know, a zone where you don't think that you're good enough to do these things. That self-talk becomes like really a real thing. But when you go in and start writing down some of these ideas that you have about what you next can do should help turn around that confidence factor. It will help you put something to paper that should help exemplify all the really valuable things that you've done. And if you can quantify that with some sort of data and some results that you've put in place, it will even more amplify the good things that you're doing in your job. The other ideas of when you're staying stuck, things that you can see either from yourself or other individuals, is that you're missing out on opportunities to use your true strengths. I really ask you to look at what are your gold mine skills? What is it that you do that is just flying off the charts, something you love to do, that you really, really good at, and ask yourself if you're actually doing it in the role that you have today, or it's something that you're doing on the side, or it's an extra stretch assignment someone's asked of you, please lay out exactly what gives you the greatest joy when you're doing that stuff. Because if you don't do it right now, you're gonna really regret that in later life, especially if you're not taking any action when you really could be right now. So I want you to think about that scenario, right? So if you've been doing your role so long and you've stopped believing in what you can do for yourself, then that belief is something that goes in your subconscious and then it it you'll believe that that is true in the case when really it is not. So the longer you think about it and the longer you don't take action on it, the more it's gonna feel like it's a reality for you. But the reality is, is if you write that down and you take your first steps, what a relief that you're going to feel, especially when that happens for you, it's gonna be euphoric. I mean, you're gonna say, my goodness, why didn't I do that sooner? So to wrap it up, I really want to emphasize here today that being in your comfort zone or being in a fear place or having no path, creating excuses all comes at a cost. And I encourage you to take some small steps forward in order to help yourself with your career. It's not your boss, it's not your company, it's not even your age, it's the story you've been telling yourself. But the good news is you can rewrite that story. There is nothing more important to me than to make sure that I help you go from stuck to unstoppable by encomfiting every goalmind skill that you have, every value that you bring to the table, and help you move forward to get a thriving career and to help yourself move forward with clarity and confidence. Have a good day.