I’ve gone inward. I’ve been planning for my year and listening to some smart and inspiring humans to keep me motivated on these short winter days.

Plus, I had a rare weekend afternoon to myself and I decided my pup, Taco, and I would snuggle on the couch and watch a movie…a non-Marvel, non-animated indie movie I wouldn’t need to sell anyone else in my family on. Yet, here I am recommending it to you because it was beautiful and I can’t stop thinking about it.

Here are the two podcast recommendations for your chilly walks, commutes and laundry folding evenings:

Work Appropriate featuring Laura Mariani (a neuroscientist-turned-recruiter)

New Year, New Job, New Me

This is one of my favorite new podcasts for obvious reasons. I binged them all in December and was instantly excited to share this episode about tactics to find a new job in 2023. The emphasis on networking in your own way is very aligned with the process I share with clients. I hope you find a nugget or two that can open up some possibilities for your own job search.

We Can Do Hard Things featuring Tracee Ellis Ross

How to Make Peace in Your Own Head

I know, I know – I always have a Glennon/Abby/Amanda pod episode on my list. It’s because they truly are saying the hard and vulnerable things you don’t hear elsewhere AND this one is a gem. Tracee Ellis Ross is her full self and tells the truth about how hard it is to be so all the way herself in a culture still so dominated by patriarchy and racism. It’s a beautiful conversation I may or may not have listened to more than once (not saying how many times).

And if you get some time to yourself or with another grown up who wants to adventure off the beaten path with an indie film…

Aftersun

Written and directed by Charlotte Wells, starring Paul Mescal and Frankie Corio

This is Charlotte Wells’ first feature film, she reluctantly calls - emotionally autobiographical – about a young father and 11 year old daughter who go on a holiday together to Turkey. Their bond and closeness is so tender and real –something you don’t see on screen between a father and daughter…really ever. Beyond the beauty and creativity of the storytelling, the looming loss of this struggling father is something that has stuck with me. Paul Mescal’s performance is so vulnerable and honest. I’ve been a fan of his since Normal People and I do hope he gets recognized and the film gets a wider release…so I’m doing my part.

What is keeping you motivated and inspired during these short winter days? Drop your recommendations in the comments below!

How are you easing into 2023? Things are same same over here and that’s by design.

As I mentioned in my email last week, 2022 was my best yet in business.

I felt a flow and an ease in my work. I was energized by the mix of products and services I was offering, the types of clients I was supporting and the free time I created in my days to focus on my own wellbeing.

Yet, in my downtime over the holidays, I had a gazillion ideas about new ways to serve my clients and new work to bring into the world.

It’s all very on-brand for me.

I love possibilities and potential and bringing new ideas to life.

I love starting something completely new to see what happens.

But, alas not this year.

I’m writing them ALL down. The gems. The epiphanies. The transformative solutions.

And I’m NOT doing them.

My mantra for 2023 is: Focus. Stay the course.

I built solid systems last year and I’m grateful to say – I want more time to enjoy what I’ve created!

Every time I use my mantra to “not now” my new idea, I think about how I can channel all of that creativity, energy and time into my 2023 writing project.

With all this Big Change Energy of January, I wanted to share that it’s ok to also say:
I like what I’ve got going on and who I am.

I don’t need to exercise more or set big audacious goals.

I can simply continue to do more of what’s working and less of what’s draining.

For me, not going after the next big thing IS actually the next big thing.
So, if that’s where you are, I see you. I’m sending compassion your way and I’m happy to share my mantra.

Wow, happy 2023!

Holidays can be both joyful and hard AF and I honor you for making it all the way through to the other end. Now, we just need to brave another winter.

I know many of you share the tradition I love of choosing a word as a theme for your year – instead of unsticky resolutions.

For 2022, my word was RECONNECT.

I selected it late in 2021 after a challenging year both personally and in my business. As an extrovert and relationship builder, I was still feeling the isolation of the pandemic and was taking on way too much on my own. I was depleted and burnt out. Full transparency – I was feeling truly lost about what to do next in my business. At times, I considered walking away.

So, I set out to do my reconnecting thing and I told myself I would see what happened. It was ok not to have answers. I believed the answers would be revealed.

• I met with colleagues and mentors who energize me and pump me up.

• I reached out to former clients to check in and get updates on their inspiring careers.

• I joined a community of BRILLIANT coaches through my work with CHIEF.

• I built a roster of talented coaches, therapists, organizers, tutors, designers (and the list goes on) and I referred them often. I was reminded how much I LOVE connecting people. It’s my jam.

• I held two inspiring panels of former clients who shared vulnerable stories of moving through fear and wisdom that supported dozens of job searchers and career changers.

• I returned to my weekly emails to you and all of my advocates and supporters who have been following my journey. This writing is my place of reflection and peace.

I reconnected with my colleagues, my community, my clients, the humans in the world who most inspired me and something intense happened.

I reconnected with my love for my work.

I just wrapped my turnaround year and my best in 8 years of business. And I truly did it without hustle. Hustle was not working for me and I knew I would have to leave altogether if I continued on that path.

Instead, I trusted my own gifts. I reorganized my time around my energy, only took on clients and projects that were a “hell yes!” and built systems to take on the draining parts of the work I actively dislike.

In fact, I’ve built enough infrastructure and space into my business that I now feel (mostly) confident that I can jump into this year’s theme - TRUTHTELLING.

I’ve made the commitment to myself (I know I may have said this one before – but I’m really in this time!) to write my first book. A guide for career transitioners and job searchers to design careers on their terms. A way for people to access my work and process without signing up for coaching.

With this work out in the world, I can continue to broaden my impact and connect more people with their inner career desires. YESSS! I’m here for all that 2023 has to bring.

Looking forward to continuing to reflect with you through this weekly email and I’m always happy to support you in your own career journey.

I just spent 9 days in California and returned home Sunday. It was a joy and a dream to see childhood friends and be with so many people I love for both milestone events and some R&R.

Full transparency – it was also a little hard for this routine-loving woman.

I’ve always loved routine and structure in my life and the past three years of managing through a pandemic have made me cling to my routine for dear life.

Somehow I’ve naturally gravitated toward structure as a way to stay grounded, hopeful and optimistic.

Having the same breakfast, listening to the same podcasts, doing the same exercise routine, talking to the same friends and family on the phone (yes, talking not texting!).

All of it seems to calm my body and help me move forward.

Yet, I know it also keeps me a weee bit rigid.

Holding onto my routines with an iron grasp during the pandemic has brought on some discomfort and even fear of mixing it up. Of change, of doing things a different or new way. Of not being in control. And while I have compassion for where it came from, I’m very open and interested in moving through it…and fast.

So, in my time away, I worked through some of the discomfort by just getting open and curious and reminding myself – I am with a lot of people who love me (who are feeding me REALLY WELL) and I will figure it out. Plus,…I’m someone who actually likes change, so this is a funny one to address!

Now that I’m home, I’m watching myself jump back into my boxes. I am embracing structure yet again, but also remembering the lightness that emerged as I pushed through it in my time away.

I’m finding moments to choose flexibility in my NYC life – even when it feels hard.

And I’m snuggling with my dog because I missed that little guy more than any routine!

If there’s one life and career question I strongly dislike, it’s, "What’s your 5 year plan?"

What the what now?

I’ve been reflecting on this recently as I prepped for my mostly vacation week in the Bay Area. I’m actually Cali now. The last time I was here was in 2017 and holy shit, a lot has changed since then.

We lost two critically important people in our family after an intense 5 years of caregiving.
We lived through nearly 3 years of a life-altering pandemic.
We stepped into new schools, new jobs and an ever-evolving business.

Sure, I could have had a 5 year plan, but it would have been at odds with the way my life was progressing. I would have been less flexible. Less adaptive. Less nimble to live the life that was unfolding.

Now, I’m not saying…just let life happen to you.

I’m reinforcing, know what’s important to you right now, reflect on who you want to be and how you want to be in the world.

Think about the impact you want to have in your community and in the world and with some broad strokes set some intentions. Think about what that looks like in your every day – and how you want it to look on the day you leave this earth.

For those of you who feel guided and supported by a 5 year plan, it’s good you know what works for you.

Also, for those of us who have felt shame (mostly because in reality we have been shamed) for not having one – I beg of you, release that right now. It’s not serving you just as the concept of the plan never served you.

Join me in short-term planning and long term intentions (with readiness to pivot on both).

Together, let’s imagine ripping up the plans we never had in our minds and moving forward anyway.

Two weeks ago, I woke up on a Saturday to learn an email that I was supposed to send to 6 people, was sent to nearly 1000.

Gulp.

A few years ago I would have spent some QT in a shame spiral, wondering why I even bother with this entrepreneurial journey or marketing or building a community or [insert high stakes part of my life here].

But, instead I took some time to write an email apologizing and acknowledging what it feels like to make a mistake so publicly.

It felt honest and compassionate and human. All the ways I strive to show up for the people in my life. I wrapped it up by late morning and took a walk in the park.

I returned to the most beautiful responses flooding my inbox.

“Thank you for modeling how to move through making mistakes. I struggle with this!”
“This email is probably one of my favorite Rachel emails.”
“I love this and I love you.”

It made me realize how hungry we are to live in a world where we can make mistakes without punishing ourselves. How we can learn to do better and also be clear with our people.

It also reminded me of my gratitude for you and all you’ve seen me through over the years as we learn together.

I will never promise to be 100% perfect. Yet, I will always be 100% committed to this work, supporting you and breaking the cycle of expecting something from any of us that’s unattainable.

Lately I’ve been wrestling with the idea of ambition. While I’ve worked hard throughout my life, every time I’ve tried on the word ambition, it never seemed to fit.

In truth, it always smelled a bit like gaslighting.

At the heart of the American Dream, it’s the lore we tell and retell to justify long work hours at the expense of personal health, happiness and wellbeing.

So, when I hear some of my clients fear they’ve lost their ambition in the busyness of early parenthood or in the endlessness of the pandemic, I say…

Or…maybe you woke up to what’s important to you in your life right now, your true priorities.

Ambition, to what end?

For me, instead of ambition there’s…

Curiosity

Meaning

Impact

Creativity

Relationships

If you’re waking up to the fact that your ambition may be on someone else’s terms or definition of success, I invite you to think about how you can recalibrate so that you’re working toward what’s important to you.

For those of you who do connect with the word ambition…and no shade if you do.
I’m curious to hear what it means to you and how it works as a driver in your career and life.

Often clients come to me feeling stuck and torn on what they should do next.

They may...

Have deep relationships at their current organization, but still have a gut feeling that it’s time to go.

Be bored and dragging their feet on doing that same task for the gazillionth time.

Be "quiet quitting." Phoning it in, waiting for a lightning bolt to strike them with an idea for what’s next .

Even as someone who is prone to epiphanies, I must admit – the idea for what’s next rarely arrives with the sudden impact of a lightning bolt. (Sorry to deliver such disappointing news!)

So, what’s missing for most of these clients who are in a stuck place?

Learning.

They’re not growing as leaders, picking up new skills, stepping into new industries, solving new hairy problems.

I often hear that they don’t like change and they’re risk averse so it feels safer to stay where they are.

But here’s the rub...

The very thing they fear is what will pull them out of their self-constructed box.

It’s the new, the change…and yes…even the risk that will be the ongoing fix.

With all this in mind, I like to take the "Always Be Learning" approach to careers. Rather than the harsh and critical Alec Baldwin monologue about it, I prefer to imagine a curious and joyful Ted Lasso dropping quotable gems to explain why it’s important and how it works.

And no, not Jason Sudeikis. I do mean Ted Lasso, because…maybe he’s real.

Even if you want to stay in your role in the next year, what is your plan for learning and growth? Sometimes it’s this plan that can make you fall back in love or even like with where you are right now.

And when you do know you’re ready for a next step, don’t only look for what you can learn in the beginning of the new gig. Make sure there is a path and a respect for ongoing learning and new opportunities within the role. That is what can make it a more sustainable and potentially longer term prospect for you.

What’s your ABL plan for this year? If up-leveling your leadership or a career change are a part of it, sign up for a Clarity Call here: rachelbgarrett.com/clarity