True honesty in decision-making
What do you *really* want?
There’s a time for dreaming and there’s a time for doing. In the ideal career search, both get their due.
For example, in a past post we explored how member Clara Ma attempted to let her mind wander freely, but it kept coming back to one true passion. That was her signal to shift from dreaming to doing.
But sometimes when we let the mind wander, it ambles about. In that case, how do you truly know what you want next? And how does that clarity come about?
To offer one perspective, we sat down with Topknot member and recent career-changer, Kelly Liu, to learn more about how she made the decision to not just switch roles, but start down an entirely new path as a coach.
Topknot: Thanks for offering to share your story. To begin, what made you consider making a big change?
Kelly: A month after I got laid off, I decided it was time to figure out what to do next in my career. But I was stuck. There were so many possibilities out there and I only knew of a few — what if I missed one that was the perfect fit for me?
Topknot: It’s very relatable to open yourself up to more options and then feel overwhelmed by possibilities. How did you move past that?
Kelly: At some point I realized — telling myself that I needed to explore all of the options was actually me putting off making a decision. What if I already knew what I wanted to do? I realized that I needed to be truly honest with myself. So I sat myself down and wrote the question: “What does true honesty look like for me?” What would I want to do if I wasn’t worried about money and job stability? The first thought that came to my mind wasn’t product management (the field my last job was in). It was coaching and community building.
Topknot: That’s a huge realization. How are you feeling now?
Kelly: It was scary to let myself be truly honest. True honesty stirs up the status quo. It unveils wants that aren’t always the easy way out. But being honest also brought me great relief. Things in my life started to make sense — like how I had always loved being the cheerleader and helping people believe in themselves. Even though I didn’t know what my career would exactly look like in the long run, I did have more clarity on what I cared about, and that was enough to get me to take a step forward on a new path.
Topknot: We’re so excited for this new journey! Thanks for sharing with us how it started.
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If you’re looking for both exploration and action, Topknot’s personal development sessions are for you. Our 1-hour structured peer coaching sessions give you the time and space to answer powerful questions and plot your next moves. Try your first one for free.
