What’s Your Big Picture? (Part 2 of 2)
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What’s Your Big Picture? (Part 2 of 2)
‘Our Big Picture provides us with focus and clarity and a clear sense of where we are heading'
Deb Bailey
We know that the big picture provides focus and clarity on where we are heading and who we want to be. It also shows where we are now against where we want to be in the future and identifies the gaps. That makes it easier to create a plan.
It is essential to build a big picture that involves more than just a career. We want to look at things from a whole life or holistic perspective, then create congruence between our life and our career plans.
The Elements of a Big Picture
Your life plan
Your career plan
How you will measure progress
Your footprints of success
Fitting the Elements Together
The best way to think about how these elements fit together is to imagine a funnel with a wide entry point. Considering what you want your life plan to look like sets the context of what you will work toward and who you will become.
The next element is your career plan. This is where you make sure that your career plan is congruent with your life plan and what you ultimately want to stand for. Next, take these high-level plans and start moving them down the funnel. Get specific around your goals to manage progress and celebrate the successes and results along the way.
This process allows your big picture to evolve over time. As you grow and move through life, your plans for the future will also develop and may change. You’ll need flexibility so you don’t inadvertently limit yourself with fixed thinking about what the future could be. A Buddhist saying tells us to ‘hold tight with an open palm’. We want our big picture to give guidance while keeping open to possibilities as they come along.
Questions to Consider:
Do you have a current Big Picture Plan?
Do I have a current Career Plan and does it fit with your Big Picture Plan?
When we don't have clarity on our Big Picture Plan, we can end out living life on automatic pilot and not being very intentional about what it is we want to achieve. When we don't have a Career Plan that fits into our Big Picture Plan, we often see people making non-strategic moves from one job to the next.
It's valuable for us to get clarity on our Big Picture and create a plan to help us live a life by design and one where we feel more fulfilled. And who doesn't want that after the last couple of years we have lived through!
Need some help?
If you would like some help identifying what you truly want in the future but have difficulty in formulating that picture for yourself, then let’s chat.
Alternatively, you could grab a copy of my book Inside Out: Why Leadership Starts With You.
Something to think about ….
Lead with Impact!