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Your Innate Interests This week’s trek is based on HBS Senior Fellow Timothy Butler’s research on how to find new career paths that align with your passions. Feeling a bit bored with your career? Butler refers to these moments as impasses. These are times when we might have a "feeling that over a stretch of time (beyond a few months) we aren’t growing, we aren’t learning, or we aren’t doing things that seem satisfying" in our careers.  Butler views impasses as a normal part of career development, not a sign that you've done something wrong. Instead, he says to think of these moments as a trigger to evaluate your interests and how they can be better represented in the next natural evolution of your career.  Introducing Your Innate Interests Exercise What It Is An honest look at your innate interests to figure out how much love they're getting in your current line of work. Why We Love It  Sometimes it’s hard to sort out our deeply embedded life interests, or passions, when so much of our focus in on what we currently do or what we know about. This exercise gives us a way to compare ten broad interest areas outside of the context of job responsibilities so we can start to identify the interests, activities and modes of thinking that best align with our passions. How It Works 1. Review these Ten Basic Interests categories and select the three that best represent your passions. The goal is not to pick the top three that best represent your current line of work or what you are told you are great at. Instead, focus on selecting those you are naturally drawn to and that give you energy or inspire you. 2. Once you’ve picked your top three, think through a moment in your personal or professional life where these interests were present. What were you doing? How did you feel? 3. Now consider which interests haven’t been present at all. How might you be able to uncover more of these interests in your current line of work or your next career move? Looking to have a personal jam session on this topic? To learn more about Butler's approach to working through an impasse, check this out from HBR.  To learn more about the common reasons careers can stall, read this from O Magazine. For deep dive on the exercises and tips Butler uses with his own HBS students, check out his book. Have a favorite trek?  Hit us up at treks@lifetrekkers.me and tell us which one you liked and what you learned! Here's what your fellow trekkers have to say about past treks:   "The creative recovery exercise was one of my favorites. This exercise helped me push past my creative blocks. I love using it to clear my mind and reflect by rereading it at the end of the week." - Dama Dipayana, Founder Be Frank Tweet Tweet Email Us Learn More Copyright © 2018 LifeTrekkers, All rights reserved. Want more information? Drop us a line at info@trekkers.me. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can unsubscribe from this list.

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Embracing Your Dark Side This week's trek is inspired by Debbie Ford's work on exploring your weaknesses in order to better understand yourself. Are there things about yourself that you'd prefer to keep in the dark? Rooted in Jung's concept of the Shadow, Ford would argue that running away from the worst parts of yourself only allows them to manifest further. Instead, she says it's important to own your dark qualities and understand how they contribute to your behaviors and viewpoints of the world.   Introducing Your Dark Side Exercise* What It Is An opportunity to explore the things about yourself that aren't so pleasant in order to increase your self-awareness. Why We Love It  Knowing ourselves isn't solely about creating a laundry list of all the things that make you so great (re: your dating profile one-liners). It's also about understanding the things about yourself that you might be afraid to openly acknowledge (at least until the third or fourth date). How It Works 1. Set aside 10-20 minutes and grab your favorite journal.  2. Imagine that an article was written about you in your favorite magazine or newspaper. Write down the five things you would not want this article to say about you. These are things that are true about you, but you'd really prefer to not share with the entire world. Then, write down the five things the article could say about you that you'd be fine with.  3. Revisit your first list (the "I don't want the world to know this" list). Ask yourself why these five things are something you'd prefer to keep hidden. Is it because your family, friends and social circles would tell you they're unfavorable qualities? Or is it because you fundamentally believe they aren't good qualities? Take a look at your second list. Are these qualities things you believe others would perceive as good? Do you fundamentally agree? 4. Let's go back to that first list. Ask yourself when each of these five qualities have been helpful to you. Write down specific examples for each one. Try to examine the situations where each quality can be beneficial to you and compare it to situations where it truly has not been helpful to you or others. What are the differences in these scenarios? How can you embrace more of this dark side of yourself in scenarios where there's benefit? How can you have more of an open mind about this same dark quality when you see it in others? *Source: The Dark Side of the Light Chasers Want to dig deeper into this topic? To learn more about why self-acceptance is so important, read this from Harvard Health. To learn more about how to practice self-acceptance, check this out from HuffPo. For a personal story about owning your 'bad' qualities, read this from Tiny Buddha. Shout. It. Back. To treks@lifetrekkers.me if you have praise or gripes about this trek or random thoughts about Life Trekkers. Here's what your fellow trekkers have to say about past treks:   "The 'mindful meals' trek was one of my favorites. It started with one meal, but I've found myself focusing more intently on almost everything I've eaten since." - Ev Boyle, Director @ LA-Tech.org Tweet Tweet Email Us Learn More Copyright © 2018 LifeTrekkers, All rights reserved. Want more information? Drop us a line at info@trekkers.me. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can unsubscribe from this list.

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Your Personal Barometer This week's trek is based on the work of Stanford academics Bill Burnett and Dave Evans on how to design a well-lived life. Does it feel like you are running on empty in some parts of your life? Burnett and Evans would argue that in order to get things back in sync you need to review your personal barometer across four areas of your life -- health, love, play and work. Introducing Your Personal Barometer Exercise* What It Is A quick way to understand where you are focusing your time and energy so you can assess what might be out of sync in your life. Why We Love It  Sometimes we feel that things are off in our life but we aren't certain of the source. This exercise helps you get a quick gut check on where some of your sources of imbalance might be. How It Works 1. Set aside 10-15 minutes and grab your favorite notebook. On a piece of paper, create a scale from 0-Full for each of the following categories: health, love, play and work. 0=nothing really happening here. Full=lots happening here. 2. Then, think through your current state in each of these categories. How much time and energy are you spending on your mental, physical, and spiritual health? On love (e.g., time with friends or loved ones)? On play (e.g., hobbies, creativity)? On work? Rate where you currently fall on this spectrum based on your responses (see image below for an example). 3. Next, consider areas where you might be full versus running on empty. - Are you comfortable with those discrepancies? - Are there areas where you might want to make more of a shift in a particular direction?  4. If you have some areas where you might want to make a shift, consider what it would take to make that happen. Keep in mind that the goal may not be to reach 'full' in every single area. At some points in your life different areas will get more attention than others. The key is to decide if the balance you have right now is the right one for you. *Source: Designing Your Life. Want to dig deeper into this topic? To watch Bill Burnett's TED talk on how to design a well-lived life, watch here. For details on how Burnett and Evans developed their approach, read this from NYT. To learn more about how the average American spends time, see this from WSJ. To go deeper on this specific exercise, check out Burnett and Evans book. Shout. It. Back. To treks@lifetrekkers.me if you have praise or gripes about this trek or random thoughts about Life Trekkers. Here's what your fellow trekkers have to say about past treks: "The What's Your Tutu? exercise couldn't have come at a better time. I've always had a hard time showing emotion in romantic relationships, so it's helpful for me to check in with these questions after a date."  – Beebe Xia, Copywriter and Single Lady Tweet Tweet Email Us Learn More Copyright © 2018 LifeTrekkers, All rights reserved. Want more information? Drop us a line at info@trekkers.me. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can unsubscribe from this list.