Nothings’ gone wrong if your stuck with Dina Grishin

The reason it’s Career Clarity, and not career changes, is because sometimes we think we need a complete career change. I have clients who come to me and say, ‘that’s it, I’m leaving‘. Then after a few sessions together, they realise that actually, if they focused on changing one thing, say, talking to their boss or spending more time on after-work activities or hobbies, that’s all they need to do to reignite the passion.

 

Sometimes it’s not a change in career someone needs, they just a change in mindset. I work with people on Career Clarity, both 1:1 and in group programmes, also called Career Clarity. I also work with self-employed creatives but this is a different programme as we don’t tend to focus on a career change, as they usually love what they’re doing, but more about mindset and strategy. In particular, I help break things down and focus. We do road mapping sessions – breaking ideas down into simple steps and getting clarity on what needs to happen next. In a nutshell, I help people figure out what they want to do.

I studied psychology at university, and I loved it. I thought if everyone just knew what we learned in psychology, it would make life simpler. Everyone should know about cognitive dissonance and stuff like that. I didn’t know what I was going to do afterwards, I knew I didn’t want to be a therapist, and back then, I couldn’t articulate why that was (I wish I had a coach then to help me articulate it) but now I realise, with hindsight, it’s because I am a natural coach. I’m more future-focused and solution-focused.

 

I graduated in 2008, which was the recession; fun times! I tried all types of work, such as experiential marketing, then events, then music and branding and PR, but all of those industries were on hold during the recession. I decided to get a job (because I needed the money) with the NHS, which was not a bad place to work. I was there for a while, but that was not the place for me. So then what ensued was basically my quarter-life crisis.

 

I was so low and having existential breakdowns. I was at that point, stuck in a cycle of having one unfulfilling job after another but I knew I had to pay rent and make money, so stuck it out.

At one point, I escaped to Buenos Aires because I thought the location was my only issue. I kept thinking, “I’m going to Argentina to challenge myself and start a different profession”.

So I did. I got a TEFL certification so I could teach English. But, like I always say in my webinars, you can’t outrun yourself. When I came back from Argentina, I started exploring personal development, self-development and going to these workshops, which focused on “how to find your dream job”. Then, by accident, I stumbled upon positive psychology in a book I was reading. It’s seen as a relatively new science; when I say relatively new, I mean in the academic world. The idea has been around since 1998 but wasn’t covered in my psychology degree then, so when I discovered this type of developmental learning, I was hooked.

 

Positive psychology is the study of optimal human functioning, whereas normal psychology looks behind and focuses on the fix. Positive Psychology encourages people to flourish and thrive and how we can learn from that. So I did some research and found a Master’s in positive psychology and applied.

 

I began exploring the market and what was out there for positive psychologists but kept coming up short. The lack of job offers led me to coaching. I started looking around and found some coaches out there, but they all had a similar energy to Tony Robbins, which was not who I was or am.

I was really torn about whether to become a coach or not, but then I spoke to a friend and she compared coaching to a vehicle. It’s what you make it. It doesn’t need to be alpha, it doesn’t need to be sleazy. You make it what you want it to be. You are the creator of the experience.

 

When I was in my quarter-life crisis, I called it a crisis. I identified that it was a breakdown. That it was torture, it was a struggle, and that it was pain. This is important because it gives your brain focus. So often we distract ourselves with things that aren’t happening or we focus on being self-critical rather than a solution or way out. The beauty of hindsight has given me tools so I can help my clients when they come to me with a similar situation. I will tell them that this is an opportunity, not only for work but for developing themselves. Being intentional about what change you want to make is really important when you’re in this space. I try and focus on three steps when I am teaching in this space; self-discovery, self-development, and self-mastery.

 

In the self-discovery phase, we focus on strengths, and values – really rediscovering who the person is. To share a little insight here, when I talk to people about their strengths, 9 out of 10 times they can’t name one and get shy about it. This is the number one sign that the person is holding themselves back. This then leads us to self-development and identifying what can be worked on such as overcoming imposter syndrome, working on those blind spots, and feeling more empowered. From there, we then focus on choosing the next step, but with more of an empowered lens than before.

 

Self Mastery can be self-directed as it comes from spending time working on self-development and self-discovery. Self Mastery is more advanced and focuses on nervous system regulation, visibility blockers, inner child work and more academic/physiological elements of coaching.

 

I am a big fan of Career Clarity because it shows clients that they do have the answers within. It’s empowering. When you are able to get your mind clear, your brain doesn’t waste energy. The brain fog clears and you have clarity mixed with empowerment.

I believe that finding your strength is really important. Fortunately, there are loads of tools out there people can use to identify these. I love Enneagram as it identifies nine types of data from a person, rating from their motivations to their fears and internal dynamics. I suggest not taking it as gospel, but it’s a good springboard when starting the conversation. Clifton Strengths is also a good one. There’s also Positive Psychology – Via Survey Action Inventory of Strengths, which you can find via via.org. Identifying your strength is so important as it’s the thing that comes easiest to you, so use it.