how do you take your coffee?

I love eavesdropping. Like a lot. I often get so absorbed in others’ conversations and feel a part of it that my hubby has actually been known to stop me from talking to strangers.

I love making random connections with people.

So it doesn’t come as a surprise that at the coffee shop when I was ordering my coffee, I overheard three dudes strategizing what they were going to order.

 
 

I got very interested because why would they need to do that?

I saw them eye-ing my (decaf) pour over being made with a fancy glass and heard one of them say, “do we need to try that? We probably should have gotten that, too.

On my way out, I got the urge to ask them what the heck they were doing.

Honestly, I was so interested, it was like I was having an out of body experience.

I was compelled to do it (maybe that’s the extrovert in me who hasn’t been with lots of people in a loooong time).

Turns out one of the guys had just started drinking coffee two months ago and was trying to figure out what types of coffee he liked.

They decided they would all choose a coffee for him to try.

They were running an experiment for him.

They decided on an Americano and a drip coffee.

I replayed what they said in my head and...

I couldn’t help but immediately notice the flaws in their experiment.

For one, Americano and drip are THE SAME DRINK.

And another, they (I’m guessing) didn’t figure out why he hadn’t been drinking coffee in 30+ years...

… or what made him drink it now,

… or why he wanted to continue drinking it in the future.

I surely wouldn’t offer americano vs. drip coffee because I would want them to have the absolute best experience based on WHY and WHAT they actually like about drinking coffee.

I’m not an expert in coffee, but I am an expert in coaching and I’d use the same logic to figure out EXACTLY what job you want and what you love.

Because it’s not about drip vs. americano -- it’s about all the nuance: ambiance, light roast vs. dark roast, sweeteners, milks, type of brew, etc.

Just like in my career coaching, I wouldn't say, “well you like using spreadsheets so let’s only look for jobs where you’d use spreadsheets.”

Absolutely not!

I’d first ask…

What are you able to do because you love spreadsheets?

How do you feel when you solve a problem or tell a story with a spreadsheet?

What problems do you like to solve with spreadsheets?

What other tools do you use?

Do you like formulas, organization, macro, pivot tables or something else?

What other things do enjoy and simultaneously find rewarding or challenging?

And…

How do you want your weekends to look?

What does work-life balance look like to you?

How much money do you desire to make?

What is your dream commute?

How do you want this job to fit into your life?

And then we’d run experiments and choose opportunities from those answers to make sure we’re covering all of the bases.

The moral of the story is if you want real change in your career don’t ask your friends for advice (... unless they know the difference between an americano vs. a drip coffee).

I’m kidding.

Seriously though be mindful of who you take advice from when it comes to your career and lean into someone who has gone through what you're going through and gotten tangible results.

If you’re looking to up-level your career like yesterday. Message me with your favorite coffee order.

I’ve got 4 spots (scratch that make it 2 spots left) this month since 2 people already booked before I could send this email.

So don’t delay if you want in.

Love,

Nic

PPS. The Class (which I talk about in about every third email to you) is offering free classes called “There's a Class for That.”

I did the “I don't want to work out” and it was day-changing.

🤜 This series is only available until October 28th, so go get it. 🤛

Previous
Previous

Be awesome like me.

Next
Next

are you focused on the right things?