If you’ve been reading the posts I’ve already written this week it’s possible that you’ve already spent time connecting with the life you most want to lead and also with the full arc of your career.  If you haven’t done these things yet please do – your perfect job sits in the context of your perfect life and is part of a career whose overall timespan may well get longer and longer in the coming years.

For now, though, let’s do something very simple, called “future pacing” in the world of neurolinguistic programming (or NLP).  Imagine the job you most yearn to do and simply try it on for size.  This goes beyond thinking about it to experiencing it in your body as if you were already doing the job.  You can do this with your eyes open or closed.  You can do it standing or sitting…  you get the drift!

As you do this, notice what’s true of the job you are trying on:  give yourself full scope and permission to create your dream job in the present moment.  No need to force or push:  just let it unfold.  (And yes, if a part of you raises any objections and tries to bring you right back into another reality – especially a “that’s not possible” reality – you might like to cut a deal with that part and agree to come back to all the objections a little later).  At the same time, notice what’s alive for you as you try the job on for size.  What are the features of the job that really energise you?  What do you really relish?

A couple of notes for you.  Firstly, you can do this at any point in the process of seeking out your next job.  You can do this in your current job to see if, with the odd tweak, it could become your perfect job:  try on your current job with a few “it would be perfect if…” tweaks and see how it sits with you.  Then you can think about whether those tweaks might be things you can move towards.  You can do it when you’re first starting to ask yourself the question “what is my perfect job?”  This can help you expand your search as well as to develop a felt sense of and pull towards the job you desire.  You can do this as preparation for a interview, so that you walk through the door with a sense of confidence in your ability to do the job you’ve applied for.

Oh!  And note two:  trying things on for size this way is not confined to your perfect job.  You get to use this approach for absolutely anything in your life.

Be sure to let me know how you get on.