Squiggly Careers

With 88 working days left until the end of the year, how will you choose to spend your time? September can bring a 'new pencil case' feeling – a useful opportunity to reset and refocus on what matters most.

In this episode, Helen and Sarah share eight questions to help you use the rest of your working year well and wisely. Exploring priorities, time, people and skills, they reflect on their own answers and the actions they're going to take as a result.

🎯 What You'll Learn
– Identify your number one priority for the rest of the year and whether your diary reflects it
– Map out the key people who will influence and support your success
– Decide what to start or continue saying no to
– Identify the boundaries you want to protect so you can be at your best
– Explore five-minute favours and ways to borrow brilliance from other people
– Choose one skill you want to get 10% better at
– Decide what role you want AI to play in your work

For questions about Squiggly Careers or to share feedback, please email: helenandsarah@squigglycareers.com

Need some more squiggly career support?
1. Download our free career tools: https://www.amazingif.com/toolkit/
2. Sign up for our Skills Sprints: https://www.amazingif.com/squigglysprints/
3. Sign up for our Squiggly Careers Newsletter, a weekly summary of the latest squiggly career tools: https://bit.ly/squigglynewsletter_pod
4. Order our new book Learn Like a Lobster: https://www.amazingif.com/books/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Setting goals is one thing. Knowing when to let go of them is another.

In this Shortcut, Helen explores the idea of productive quitting and why trying to hold on to too many goals can get in the way of making progress. Drawing on research from the Goal Adjustment Scale and a New Scientist article on goal adjustment, she shares a practical way to review your goals so you can focus your time and energy where it matters most.

🎯 What you'll learn

-How to use the Goal Adjustment Scale to understand your starting point
-How to identify the goals that deserve your time and attention
-The difference between goal shielding, goal shifting and goal shelving
-How to review your personal and professional goals
-Why letting go of the right goals can improve both your progress and your wellbeing

Resource mentioned:
Why giving up on goals is good for you, and how to know which to ditch by New Scientist: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2501420-why-giving-up-on-goals-is-good-for-you-and-how-to-know-which-to-ditch/

For questions about Squiggly Careers or to share feedback, please email: helenandsarah@squigglycareers.com

Need some more squiggly career support?
1. Download our free career tools: https://www.amazingif.com/toolkit/
2. Sign up for our Skills Sprints: https://www.amazingif.com/squigglysprints/
3. Sign up for our Squiggly Careers Newsletter, a weekly summary of the latest squiggly career tools: https://bit.ly/squigglynewsletter_pod
4. Order our new book Learn Like a Lobster: https://www.amazingif.com/books/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How can you make sure the 80,000 hours you spend at work are truly well spent? In this episode, we challenge the traditional advice to "follow your passion" and look at how to build a career that makes a meaningful difference. This episode of part 4 of 4 in the 'Career Well Spent Series'

Drawing on Benjamin Todd's book, 80,000 Hours, and his research on effective altruism and career impact, they explore what it really means to find long-term career satisfaction and how to apply your skills to the world's most pressing problems.

🎯 What You'll Learn

– Why "follow your passion" might lead you down the wrong path

– The four essential ingredients for long-term career satisfaction

– How to identify and evaluate the world's most pressing problems

– Why your personal fit matters more than a prestigious job title

– How to use a "ladder of tests" to experiment with new career directions

– Practical ways to make a difference in your current role or pivot

For questions about Squiggly Careers or to share feedback, please email: helenandsarah@squigglycareers.com

Need some more squiggly career support?

1. Download our free career tools: https://www.amazingif.com/toolkit/

2. Sign up for our Skills Sprints: https://www.amazingif.com/squigglysprints/

3. Sign up for our Squiggly Careers Newsletter, a weekly summary of the latest squiggly career tools: https://bit.ly/squigglynewsletter_pod

4. Order our new book Learn Like a Lobster: https://www.amazingif.com/books/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Most of us focus on preparing for the questions we'll be asked in an interview, but what we ask at the end is just as important. It is your ultimate opportunity to take control of the conversation and leave a brilliant lasting impression.

In this Squiggly Shortcut, Sarah explores how to ask powerful culture and commercial questions, and what the answers reveal about whether a company is the right fit for you.

🎯 What You'll Learn
– Why the questions you ask are your best opportunity to take control of an interview
– How to use culture questions to find out what it is really like to work somewhere
– What a company's response to culture questions reveals about their team dynamics
– How to stress-test a business's performance with smart commercial questions
– What we can learn from competitors and collaborators to stand out
– How to end your interview with high energy and make a lasting impression

For questions about Squiggly Careers or to share feedback, please email: helenandsarah@squigglycareers.com

Need some more squiggly career support?
1. Download our free career tools: https://www.amazingif.com/toolkit/
2. Sign up for our Skills Sprints: https://www.amazingif.com/squigglysprints/
3. Sign up for our Squiggly Careers Newsletter, a weekly summary of the latest squiggly career tools: https://bit.ly/squigglynewsletter_pod
4. Order our new book Learn Like a Lobster: https://www.amazingif.com/books/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Are you feeling lost in a career fog or facing a major transition? In this special episode, Sarah is joined by legendary author and researcher Jim Collins to explore what it really takes to build a fulfilling life and career.
This episode of part 3 of 4 in the 'Career Well Spent Series'

Drawing on Jim's new book 'What to Make of a Life', they explore what it really means to navigate life's 'cliffs' and 'fog'.

🎯 What You'll Learn
– Discover 'simplex stepping' to make progress when you are lost in a career fog
– Identify your unique 'encodings' and how to develop them into super strengths
– Flip the arrow of money to align your work with your inner fire
– Explore why your biggest and most creative years can happen later in life

For questions about Squiggly Careers or to share feedback, please email: helenandsarah@squigglycareers.com

Need some more squiggly career support?
1. Download our free career tools: https://www.amazingif.com/toolkit/
2. Sign up for our Skills Sprints: https://www.amazingif.com/squigglysprints/
3. Sign up for our Squiggly Careers Newsletter, a weekly summary of the latest squiggly career tools: https://bit.ly/squigglynewsletter_pod
4. Order our new book Learn Like a Lobster: https://www.amazingif.com/books/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices