Step 04: DESIGN
“If you can see your path laid out in front of you step by step, it’s not your own path. Your own path you make up with every step you take. That’s why it’s your path.”
- Joseph Campbell
You are unique. So is your path.
And it’s hard to get somewhere if you don’t determine where you’re going and DESIGN the path to get there. Otherwise, you’ll end up going nowhere.
When it comes time for change, all too often I see people start the wrong way and get immediately frustrated with the results.
Rather than going to a job website or LinkedIn and typing in the “title of the role” and “location of the role” - and being disappointed by the opportunities available, taking a little time to determine exactly what you’re looking for will help you have greater precision - a solid design - for your search. You’ll also be able to uncover opportunities and companies that you never heard of before.
These questions are what we’ll focus on - the answers will help you understand not only what is most important to you, but also the conditions in which you are happiest, perform your best and most likely to flourish.
Your Playbook:
For each of the questions in this Step, start by articulating a few (~5) different options. You can have as many as you want, but ultimately you’ll want to edit them down to a focused number
Draw this like a grid, with “Target Roles” across the top, and “Ideal Environment” factors down the side. When you complete this, you’ll have a clear list of Ideal Roles and Ideal Companies to start with.
Use a mental model for this like you did in your the college / grad school application process - when you did this (go into the way back machine and try to remember….), you likely listed out a bunch of schools, starting with your dream school, then a stretch school or two, a couple of basic, mid-range ones and then a couple of safety schools. Same thing here - you’ll have dream, stretch, mid-range and safety scenarios.
As you complete this step, you will have a very solid list of targets to start with - which are critical for the following steps in the process.