Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

As well as being the title of the iconic track by The Clash, ‘should I stay or should I go?’ is a career question you may be asking yourself as we approach the end of 2020.

Mix together global events with the natural reflective feeling that often appears towards the end of a year, it’s unsurprising.

The challenge with reducing your next career choice or decision to a binary one like this has its upsides and downsides of course.

The upside is you can write a jolly old pros n cons list. The downside is career decisions can be much more complex.

In fact, this probably isn’t the real question at all.

Asking better questions is the route to richer understanding and growth. It helps you address what is really going on for you personally and professionally.

Therefore, instead of jumping straight into answering the first question that comes into your head, it pays to get curious and dig deeper.

The Right Question Institute is a champion of question formulation in educational and wider social settings. They have plenty of resources if you’d like to explore further.

If you haven’t got time for all that malarkey, here’s something you can do today…

1. Start with a statement rather than a question, for example, ‘I am undecided whether to stay in my current role or make a career move’
2. Next ask yourself and capture as many questions as you can all relating to this statement. Do it for 2-3 minutes or until you can’t ask any more
3. Don’t judge or analyse as you go. There are no right or wrong questions. Ban your inner critic
4. Now look back over what you have written
5. Number your questions; turn statements into questions
6. Look at your list again and decide which are your 3 most important questions
7. Now you have your 3, reflect on why they are important, what you need to do to answer them
8. Use them as a springboard to move forward

I hope you enjoy exploring and questioning more deeply.

And remember, if you would like help with what you uncover, drop me a line to arrange an informal chat. It’s a great way to build on your findings.

PS: Random factoid, Should I Stay or Should I Go’ by The Clash is the only track I have every sung at a Karaoke night. And I was pants!