Rekindling the Spark: How to Fall Back in Love With Your Career

We explore how to rekindle your connection to work by applying the five love languages to your career and using small, intentional changes to reduce burnout. We share tools for reflection, advocacy, boundaries, and growth so you can reset before you resign.

• reframing guilt and identity shifts during new life seasons
• journaling to separate anxiety from misalignment
• words of affirmation through wins tracking and feedback
• self-advocacy for ideas and visible contributions
• acts of service as asking for help and delegating
• quality time via passion projects and colleague connection
• gifts through fair pay, benefits, and development
• physical touch as boundaries, routines, and recovery
• deciding between a reset and a job change
• treating careers as seasonal with maintenance phases

Quick little coffee break. If you're loving these conversations and want tools to support your career and personal growth, head over to careerise.org. And make sure you come hang out with me on Instagram at Career Confident Latina. And if you're craving deeper guidance, the Clarity and Confidence Bootcamp is now open.

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Transcript

Work As Your Longest Relationship

SPEAKER_00 0:00

And I tend to see, even with personal clients that I work with, it is so much easier sometimes for them when they're not feeling these five love languages in their work or they're not having a good balance. It's easier to pack your bags and start it over rather than kind of stay adjust, even when they love their job and their team. For some reason, their immediate thought is, I'm gonna pack my stuff, and I think what I need is a new job to kind of restart.

SPEAKER_02 0:34

You are listening to Coffee and Career Hour. We are your hosts. I'm Armina. And I'm MJ. Two career counselors and friends chatting about all things life and career.

SPEAKER_00 0:46

So grab a cup of coffee and join us.

SPEAKER_02 0:49

Happy February, Armine. Happy February. It's the season of love.

SPEAKER_00 0:58

It's funny because when we think February commercially, we think like pink, red, rose-colored glasses, all of the things that make us feel love, affection, warm, cared about, and our relationships in life. And I'm gonna tell you something crazy. The longest relationship I've ever had in my life has had to be with work and career.

SPEAKER_02 1:25

Absolutely. Our work has always been a part of our lives, even before we even started our careers, right? Like when you think about when we're younger, people are always asking us, what do you want to be when you grow up? And there's always something in the back of your mind, you know, the wheels are turning. And then if you go to college, you start thinking about your major and you have your career crises, trying to figure out what you're gonna do for the rest of your life. So that theme of work and career is really always present, even as kids.

SPEAKER_00 1:58

Yeah. My work relationship has had its greats, has had its very lows, has had its neutrals. It's had all the phases that I would feel in a romantic relationship. And I will say one of the things I have been most recently noticing is when I've gotten burnt out in this relationship. And it's easy as someone who loves to avoid conflict for me to think like running away, going to the next thing is a little bit easier, but I tend to realize a lot of the time when I'm feeling this way, it's due to a lot of other things.

SPEAKER_02 2:35

Yeah. Like what do you think it's due to MJ?

SPEAKER_00 2:40

For me, I I tend to think about how I feel most valued and appreciated, where I feel like my work is aligning with who I am as a person. It's very personal to me what I do, um, just because it aligns with my human purpose on this earth. So once I start feeling a major disconnect or overworked and not really feeling valued in a sense, and that goes with the job, with the side hustle, with all of the other things that have to do with my career, I start to feel very separated and like if my career and myself are living in two separate rooms.

SPEAKER_02 3:20

Yeah. You know, I think that's really common uh for people to experience because, you know, we go through different seasons and seasons in life. And uh sometimes, you know, our work maybe takes a little bit of a backseat, or we're not feeling as connected to it as we were in a few years ago. And I think people start to feel really guilty when when they experience that, like especially if you went to school for that occupation. Like I know that I feel this way as a recent mom. I'm not gonna say new mom anymore. It's been a couple of years, but as a recent mom, I feel this way a lot when it's like I studied this, I'm passionate about this. This is my whole brand as a career counselor, and I love my work, but now I'm also I have this whole new identity that is most important for me, you know, being a mother. So work naturally takes a little bit of a shift, and there's a lot of guilt around that.

SPEAKER_00 4:25

Yeah, absolutely. Armane, how would you recommend or what are some tips and strategies you have for some of our listeners who could be feeling this way right now and in their life and in their work? They could be, you know, newly parents, they could have different transitions in their personal lives. What are some tips and strategies that have kind of helped you during this time?

Mindset Reframes And Journaling

SPEAKER_02 4:47

Absolutely. Well, honestly, I try to do a mindset reframe and really analyze, okay, why am I feeling this way? Let's say if it's if I'm experiencing the Sunday scaries, for example, right? When I know, okay, the new week is starting. I'm looking at my calendar and there's a lot to do at work. And then I start to feel a little bit anxious, I start to take a step back. And um I think to myself, you know, in the past I would have been excited about whatever is said project that's coming up. So is there something that's holding me back because I no longer enjoy this work, or is it because I feel anxious and overwhelmed because of all my other personal responsibilities? And it's just a moment of reflection. And I've been journaling a lot before bed. And I think the journaling has been helping me really just kind of put all my thoughts and feelings onto paper. And when it's out there on paper, I recognize, okay, it this is all just a, you know, um it's not real. What I'm feeling is not real. It's just my anxiety is coming into play and um negative thoughts are starting to spiral just because it I have a lot on my plate, but it doesn't really mean that I don't enjoy what I'm doing. And then as soon as I'm at work and I'm doing the job, I love it. I'm super excited. And so I think I just make it a bigger deal in my mind than it is because I feel pressure and overwhelmed. And so I think the journaling and the reflection has been really helping me.

SPEAKER_00 6:24

Yeah. I mean, you and I know this, and it's something that a lot of people are kind of surprised or underwhelmed to really hear about. But self-reflection and career development in your life is probably one of the biggest and most important things you can have going through your career because it you know a lot about yourself subconsciously and consciously. And when it you kind of let it all out there, whether it's through making it more realistic, like for you that's journaling, putting pen to paper and your thoughts on paper or talking to someone about it, there's a lot that can be unleashed. And you tend to realize a lot more about what you're feeling, what you're doing, and how you want to take action versus these ideas that could really lead us to feel very heavy in our minds too.

SPEAKER_02 7:12

Absolutely. So, you know, I think I've kind of come to the conclusion, and I would encourage those who are feeling similarly to kind of reframe in our minds like this, these feelings, they don't mean that something is wrong with us or that we chose the wrong career path. And oh my gosh, you have to start all over. And what am I even doing with my life? I know, I know we can spiral that way. I see it with my clients all the time too. Um, it actually, I think, just means that we our career needs a little bit of care, a little bit of TLC to um maybe shift a little bit of the way we do things or have a conversation with our management, whatever that may look like at your site, at your workplace. But I think just giving our career a little bit of TLC is is is the answer here.

SPEAKER_00 8:03

I love that. I think I I tend to as a, I can't say new. I'm no longer a new professional. I'm now I feel like somewhere in the middle, um, I'm learning how to do that more often. I used to tend to feel that those feelings were almost like earned. And as a natural born achiever, it's not it, it's normal for me to think that way, that my TLC, my rest is earned after a long year or quarter or couple months or season at work. And for me, it it kind of is when I'm starting to feel that way. Let's kind of work on it before it gets worse and you start to feel like you have nothing left in the tank. So I think care looks very differently for everyone. So being self-aware of when that care is needed for you is also very important too.

SPEAKER_02 8:54

Absolutely. I love that you said care looks different for everyone, MJ, because there's also different ways that we can care for our career, right? And depending on what works for you, what works for your workplace, you can try a few of the strategies. Today we want to share a few strategies that you can use to care for your career. And we're gonna actually tie in the love languages into our TLC method for your career. Um, if you haven't heard of the five love languages, it's a theory and a book uh that talks about the way that we each individually receive love and show love to other people. And this theory is actually really common when it comes to relationships, especially romantic relationships. Um, but I don't think it's ever really been talked about in terms of career, and we actually want to tie the knot here and um utilize this framework for how to show love to your career because as we kind of just established, our career also needs care, right? So the first love language is words of affirmation. MJ, how do you think people can use the concept of words of affirmation to show care in their career?

Words Of Affirmation At Work

SPEAKER_00 10:14

I love that we're tying this together. And I think for our listeners, it's it's giving them a whirlwind of like how to connect personal relationships and and the this this idea of love, the feeling of love, I should say, the act of love to your career and what that means for you. Words of affirmation, man, this isn't the um it's funny because a lot of people will think this and they'll be like, oh, well, like, you know, my boss, my supervisor tells me I'm doing great all the time. Or like I feel like people are like, oh, you know, thank you so appreciative of my work. And sometimes when that's being heavily repeated over and over to you, it loses its meaning. And you are kind of like, Am I doing great? Like, was that really good work? Are they just saying this just to say it? And it doesn't feel true. So reconnecting um and acknowledging when that's starting to happen is very important. Now, what are the ways in which we can kind of figure this out and unlock this and really give meaning to what these words of affirmation are? Something that I tend to do is track my wins. I have an email folder that's called MJ for Props or Props for MJ. Um, and it's basically when I receive um feedback, positive and negative, and even constructive, uh, where it's just sharing, like, oh my gosh, I had such a great session, I learned so much, or or thank you so much for this presentation. Students learned a lot, whatever it is, or even if it's my supervisor or boss just shouting me out in a way, I save that email in a specific folder. Because when I'm starting to feel like my work is getting overcrowded, I don't know if I'm losing my touch in a way, I tend to read that and it hypes me back up. So tracking your wins, whether that's creating a folder, saving a screenshot of the message itself, will help a lot remind you through these words of others, how you're being affirmed in your work. The other thing that I have trouble with is asking for feedback. And it's hard. It is so hard to ask for feedback and hear maybe some of the things that you know others have noticed, but I remember that it's all for my own growth. And someone who is no longer a new professional, but is in the work and always wanting to do better. The feedback really does help. And I have to remember that not all words of affirmation are going to be filled with care, love, hearts, and sparkles, but they're sometimes gonna be better for myself and in my growth too.

SPEAKER_02 12:48

Absolutely. I did not know you had the props for MJ folder, but I think that's such a great idea because it's like tracking, you know, what feedback you're getting. And, you know, if you're if you're getting all the thank yous and this was so helpful. I think those even seemingly small uh emails and and feedback that you get is very, they kind of add up, right? And over time, you know, it makes you realize, wow, you know, I do have a big impact or I am doing this really well and so forth. So I love the email folder idea. I think, you know, other ways people can track their wins is just putting pen to paper or having some kind of Google Doc folder or desktop folder where you uh just take notes of, you know, if somebody stops by your office and says, Hey, you know, you I I love what you brought up in the meeting the other day. I thought that was such a great idea or whatever it may be, just kind of putting those down on paper because over time you might see patterns of like maybe uh feedback that you're hearing from people or whatever praise you're getting. There's probably some kind of theme there too, around the things that you're really good at. And that could be really good career insight for later on if you want to make any shifts or advance in your career and so forth, to see the themes where people see that you're shining and doing really well. And so I think that's a great idea. I think also advocating for your contributions. And this is where probably most people have a hard time with, because that means we have to take up space in rooms where sometimes it's scary or we're not sure if we belong in that room, right? We've talked about imposter syndrome on this podcast a lot and um feeling like, do we even belong in these rooms? But yes, we do, and taking up space and advocating for, you know, hey, I had this idea. I want to follow back up on this idea, right? Especially, I think what we see, MJ um in meetings a lot too is like there's all these great ideas, and then some of them can just fall through the crux because a lot of people in the meeting are sharing and all of them are great, right? And and then sometimes there's no follow through. So going to your boss after that meeting and following through on your idea and advocating and saying, you know, I think this could work and here is why, and seeing if there's space for you guys to try that idea and that, you know, not feeling like, oh, you know, I brought it up and nobody followed through on it. Maybe it wasn't a good idea. I think we could spiral that way, but advocating can really help too.

SPEAKER_00 15:23

Yeah, I will say advocating for what you bring to the table is something you're going to do constantly in your career. Why? Because you yourself are your greatest asset and marketing person. You can market your ideas, you can market all the contributions and ways that you bring value to the work. And it's something that I would encourage you to start doing now in your role. So as you transition throughout, it's a common thing that you're comfortable with because you never know who you're gonna meet, you know, on an off day at work, whether you're going out for coffee, getting lunch somewhere else that's not in your office or whatever it is. And they can ask, you know, tell me a little bit about your work, and you're gonna want to share a little bit more about that. Why I bring that up specifically is because whether or not your idea fully goes through or not, there was some action taken and that also shows the skills of initiative. So advocating for yourself because you are your biggest asset and marketing person is going to be a big thing throughout your life. And it's gonna also give you a lot of self-confidence to talk about too. Something that I really like to focus on with people is how they're feeling about themselves, how they're talking about themselves and where they are versus where they are after after they meet with me. And it's so awesome to see when they feel empowered, really. It's more about empowerment in the self to contribute what you can because you do make a difference and an impact, whether you feel it small or large, large scale, it is an impact that needed to be made.

SPEAKER_02 16:55

Absolutely. Wow, that was all just one love language, which was words of affirmation. And so even just focusing on one can can make a huge shift in how you care for your career and how you kind of move through maybe some of those times where you feel burnt out or less connected to your career. The other love language, number two here, is acts of service. How can people use acts of service to reconnect with their career, MJ?

SPEAKER_00 17:30

Oh man, this is another hard one for me. As a human, I this is like how I give in terms of love and care. Um, I give acts of service. That sounds really strange, but like I love to give my time. I love to help people, I love to do anything I can to make someone smile or just go out of my way. It's just weirdly instilled in my blood. It's how I've always been as a child. Um in turn, all the things to help with this are the opposites of what I am kind of used to. And I think one of the first things for me is asking for help. I being someone who's able to give, give, give and do things very independently, I struggle a lot and tend to think that like a lot of people are like, oh my gosh, you know, she's done it before, or she's capable of doing something like this. So she's got it. When this girl is definitely drowning and just crying because internally I don't want to ask for help because of my own personal reasons of, you know, I don't want to seem like I can do it or whatever. But for me, this has been a game changer. Pausing, reflecting that I'm feeling overwhelmed and asking others for help has definitely made my work feel less stressful, less chaotic, and less like a burden on me too. And when I'm able to do this, I, you know, go to whoever it is that I'm working on this project with, or if there's a colleague I can tap on because that's their area of expertise or whatever it is, or a collaborator across campus, it makes it so much better. Um, the work feels less, I feel happier, I feel lighter, and I feel like I'm also connecting with someone else who shares a passion for whatever it is that I'm working on too.

Acts Of Service: Ask And Delegate

SPEAKER_02 19:19

Absolutely. This, you know, I see this a lot, I think in newer professionals where they don't want to seem like they don't know how to do the job. And it's I I felt this way too. I remember when I first got my big girl job, I never wanted to ask for help. Everything was like, yeah, I'll figure it out. And at that time, we didn't even have AI. So I was tapping into either textbooks or Google or whatever it was to figure out what I needed to figure out. I never wanted to ask for help. And I remember learning to delegate smaller tasks to, let's say, whoever was administrative support in the office at that time. And I felt so icky asking, even though that's their that's part of their role is to, let's say, input data in Excel or something, right? Um, I didn't want to ask for support. And over time, I think I learned, I think what helped me was having a supervision role where I was supervising student employees at the office. And when you're a supervisor, you do delegate. And over time, I think it started to get easier. But this is really hard, I think, for newer professionals because we think that oh, we're going to be perceived as we can't do the job or we're not qualified. Again, it's all of our own internal like insecurities and imposter syndrome that we all may experience. And so that means we carry a lot of weight and we carry it too much and it it turns into burnout. And this is where we need to, you know, take a step back because it doesn't mean we don't love our job or our career. It just means that we're carrying too much weight, just like in any relationship. If you're only, if you're the one carrying more of the weight in the relationship, there is going to be a time where there's a disconnect between you and the other person. So figuring out how you can kind of alleviate some of what's on your shoulders so that way the relationship is lighter and more fun. And we all know that those relationships do better. The same concept goes with your career too.

SPEAKER_00 21:29

Absolutely. I definitely want to add on for our listeners, you're going to be working. Everybody here who's listening is going to be on a different sides team, right? Whether it's like you and someone else, you alone, you and a lot of other people, you and a medium sized amount of people. But it's really thinking about how your roles kind of distribute throughout. As a smaller team, you may feel a lot more burdened, but that's why I think it's very important to really from day one, week one, month one, clarify what the expectations. Expectations are this will really help kind of keep that relationship balanced. And when you're starting to feel that unevenness, talk about it, advocate for yourself, speak about it, right? Because communication is a great skill to have. Communication doesn't just go towards the external part of our work, but it also happens a lot largely inside in the internal pieces of the individuals we work with. So reminding yourself that acts of service isn't just you acting in your job, but it's also others acting towards you too. All right, Armin. Number three, we've made it halfway. What is this third love language?

Quality Time: Projects And People

SPEAKER_02 22:40

Yeah, this is one of the ones that I really like and have in my top three, which is quality time. And it essentially translates to having meaningful engagement at work in the context of career, right? Spending um time in meaningful conversations or working on, let's say, projects that you really enjoy that fulfill you, that make you feel like your work matters. I love this one both in the context of career and in the context of relationship because I really do think that quality time gives you a lot of unspoken energy to like connect with either that person or either with your work. So um, whether it's collaborating on projects with people at work or focusing deeply on a project that you're really passionate about. And um as opposed to feeling like, okay, this is a transactional task that I have to do. It's just part of the job. I just gotta get it done. Um, these are projects where you're putting a lot of thought and effort and energy, but they're so meaningful for you that, you know, we hear the phrase sometimes, um, there's a popular phrase that's been said, like, love what you do and you'll never work a day in your life. I think that applies here a lot because when you're fully focused and the project is meaningful for you, you're not gonna feel like it's this heavy load that you just have to get done. You're gonna really be engaged in it. And I think that's what quality time would look like here.

SPEAKER_00 24:23

Immediately when you started explaining it, I wanted to bring up the if you love what you do, you won't work a day in your life. Someone said that to me yesterday, and I was like, it applies, but that doesn't mean eight to five or nine to five or nine to six. Like that's not, that's not what that means. And I think that that phrase was taken out of context wherever it came from. Because we love what we do, but that doesn't always mean that every minute of every day, of every second is like the best, most fulfilling thing, right? Um, that doesn't mean that our work also isn't a really good part of who we are, and it isn't a big passion of ours and it's something that we love. But really finding a way to reconnect with your work um both ways, how they connect with you and how you connect with your job in a meaningful way that makes you feel that sense of quote unquote, like not working, right? Because it's so meaningful. I love what you mentioned about a passion project, and I want to really take this back to if you are working on something or you're feeling disconnected, say something. Because if you constantly are working on this thing where you feel disconnected, that feeling will translate and continue to linger until you're done working on whatever it is. When there's been times where I'm like, ah, I feel like I'm not growing or my work isn't teaching me anything new and I'm not feeling that meaningful connection. I say something and I ask for a different project. Yes, sometimes it means me getting a little bit more work or taking off something off my plate to add this other thing. But instantly it reconnects me and feel like I'm learning, I'm growing, I'm loving what I'm doing. And it isn't until I talk about it and I speak up in my in my role to have that. So you also have to, you can expect that your boss will know your passions, your the things that you absolutely love, right? Um, so you need to talk about what that looks like for you too. How now that's how you can do it. How your job can help you do it too, in a way in terms of like the community is making time for your colleagues and really getting to know them. In the beginning of the year, I posted something on Instagram where I was talking about transitioning back from like winter break to work. And someone responded to my story and said, one of the things that I love doing at the beginning of the year is reconnecting with my colleagues. So sitting down to go to lunch with them, going to grab a coffee or tea outside of work, or just going out for a walk and just kind of connecting with them. Using your calendar wisely, not just for work, but were times where you have like downtime and you get to connect with others and really share a conversation or whatever it was or part of your weekend, that is so important. And it's something that I'm gonna encourage you to do often because the people you work with, you also spend the majority of your day and week with too.

SPEAKER_02 27:14

Oh, yeah, absolutely. It's amazing how like connecting with your colleagues can can have a huge impact on how you perceive your entire work experience. And for those folks who are actually in jobs where it's really not your purpose and it's it's just a let's say a transition job or whatever it is. But if you enjoy the relationship with your colleagues, your experience at work would could be 10 times better, honestly. So quality time in both the projects that you're doing and what the actual work is that you're focusing on and with the people in that same space would be, you know, ideal and a positive experience at work. So it would definitely help you feel more connected. All right, MJ, what would you say is the next love language that people can apply to care for their careers?

Gifts: Pay, Growth, Development

SPEAKER_00 28:08

I think this one's very common and popular in like love romantic relationships, but can be very confusing on how your job can do this for you. So, number four is gift giving or receiving gifts, right? So you can do that as a love language or you can receive that as a love language. How work, how that looks like for work and how they can give that to you is through compensation and growth opportunities. That goes both ways. Not the compensation, we don't want you to pay your job, we want your job to pay you, but in terms of growth and opportunities, that is how you um kind of benefit from this experience as well. So this is where individuals tend to feel very valued through their pay, their salary, benefits, things that they receive, um, promotional opportunities, and a big one for us as career professionals. We love professional development. So when we see others get professional development and happen to us as well, it's definitely a form of gift giving from our job and our work to ourselves because it's helping us evolve in our development as human beings and in our field as well. Now, where can we kind of get stuck here? Is when I talked uh in the previous one about like when I've stopped learning and growing. When you feel kind of like flatlined, like when someone that's kind of dark. I'm not gonna say when someone passes away, but like when you feel flat and you feel like you're not going up or going down, you feel stunted in your growth at work. You're kind of like, uh, I know everything I'm doing. I don't really feel a difference, and I'm just kind of clocking in, clocking out. That's when that this emotion tends to happen, right? Maybe you're feeling undervalued because compensation isn't there, or the benefits aren't as great as you thought, or maybe you're also not using them to the max of their ability to, or professional development, you know, isn't as much or as frequent as was shared, or you can't have access to it as frequently as you thought. Those really hurt um the person working because it's like, oh man, like I'm doing this for all these extra things. They're kind of like little bonuses or gold stars that we receive. And we'll tend to feel like our effort isn't matched with the reward that's already expected of this job.

Physical Touch As Boundaries

SPEAKER_02 30:24

Absolutely. So advocate for yourself, skill, find opportunities to build skills and see how you can actually get the physical benefits or practical benefits from your job that would kind of feel like it's a gift from your job to you, that you're still learning and growing and advancing by getting these additional compensations, in addition to hopefully a salary that you really enjoy. Yeah. Yeah. The next one, the last love language, number five, is physical touch. And of course, in the context of career, this is metaphorical, right? We're in this context, we're thinking about how much is your career taking up space in your life, right? Don't we want your career to be as career counselors? We talk about your career is like integrated with your lifestyle, it's part of your identity and so forth. And yes, it is, but also there's there is boundaries that need to happen, just like in any relationship, right? Even in a marriage, you have to have boundaries with your partner where you need your own space, you need your own identity, you need to, you know, be your own person to be in a like a healthy and fulfilling marriage. The same goes with your career. As much as it's a big part of your life, you still need to have boundaries where it's not taking up too much space from your personal life where you feel like you you're not your own person outside of this work, right? I think what happens is when we're constantly, constantly thinking about work and working more than we should be, our body starts to ache. We we feel that stress in different places in our body. We feel that stress where it's like, who am I even outside of this office or this job? And when you start to not be able to define yourself outside of your work, that's a little bit of a red flag that you may need to set more boundaries and have more space from your job. Because as much as you may enjoy it and whatnot, you still are your own person.

SPEAKER_00 32:39

Yeah. The big B word of boundaries is written all over this. And they're very hard to implement when you're entering um your career early on as a new professional. I will also even go to say that this can happen as you're also entering a new role because it's a new team, new supervisor, new boss. You're kind of feeling it out and you're not really sure what the boundaries are. I admire straight up capital A, admire the people who come in day one and are like, my job ends at five, or you know, whatever time your shift ends, it starts at nine. I have no Outlook or Slack or Teams or Zoom or whatever on my phone. Um, that for me is like, man, like you, I want to be just like you. And it's so good. Why? Because they demonstrate what a healthy relationship looks like. Just because they, you know, they start when they're supposed to and end when they're supposed to, we all are, but we all kind of come in 20, 30 minutes later, stay sometimes later, just, you know, to catch up on stuff so we don't feel overwhelmed the next day. But when they demonstrate that healthy relationship and still get everything done during that time, I'm like, man, I want to put you on my wall because I admire you so much. And it takes a lot of strength to do that. I say that as a people pleaser. So yes, I'm often someone who's staying past five and getting there early just to kind of get a head start. But your work balance and flexibility will look different throughout the different phases. And like Armine was saying in the beginning, seasons of your life and your near career. Right. I'm sure as a mother, Armine has stronger boundaries now as a parent, as a newer parent versus MJ, who has two furry animals. It looks very different. And as we grow and we change, this will this will change too. But it's important for you again to constantly reflect and adjust where it needs to be adjusted. And having that communication with your supervisor or the person managing you or in the office is very important too. And that's where talking to your colleagues also can come in. Having those boundaries, let's say someone is really good at that, asking them, like, how did you start that? Or what tips do you have for me as I'm trying to implement this too will also help because it creates that environment that, oh, we are a team, you know, that wants to leave together or wants us to have good well-being. So it's really important to kind of create that space for you, even if you're a little scared like me, to do that sometimes.

SPEAKER_02 35:15

Absolutely. So, as we've been talking about the five love languages, right? Which again, to summarize our words of affirmation, acts of service, quality time, gifts, and physical touch. We encourage you all to reflect on which love language is your career missing right now. And really start to think about these mindset shifts to help rekindle that spark in your career, right? That you are allowed to evolve and that your career has seasons. Doesn't mean that you're in the wrong career always. Sometimes it can mean that, but it doesn't always mean that. Um, maybe you're just in a season where you need to have less integration into your career, or you need to have more boundaries or whatever that may be, as we've been talking about. Um, and honestly, coming from two career counselors, you don't need to feel passionate every day to be aligned in your career. Quick little coffee break. If you're loving these conversations and want tools to support your career and personal growth, head over to careerise.org. I've got tons of free resources like guides, templates, reflection workbooks, you name it, all designed to help you get clarity and build confidence.

Do You Need A New Job

SPEAKER_00 36:38

And make sure you come hang out with me on Instagram at Career Confident Latina. I'm always sharing career tips, mindset reminders, get ready with me, and a lot of behind the scenes of my life and motivation.

SPEAKER_02 36:52

And if you're craving deeper guidance, the Clarity and Confidence Bootcamp is now open. It's my signature eight-week program where you get structure, reflection, and coaching to help you move forward with alignment and purpose.

SPEAKER_00 37:07

All right, grab a sip of coffee and let's get back into it. Okay, so Armin, I have been doing this, I can say now for a while. Not double digits in terms of years, but a while. And I tend to see, even with personal clients that I work with, it is so much easier sometimes for them when they're not feeling these five love languages in their work or they're not having a good balance. It's easier to pack your bags and start over rather than kind of stay adjust, even when they love their job and their team. For some reason, their immediate thought is, I'm gonna pack my stuff and I think what I need is a new job to kind of restart. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 37:56

So that can be problematic if you're taking the same mindset and the same behaviors into a different workspace. And what I mean by like same behaviors is like if you're overcommitting, you're not putting up enough boundaries, you're not uh connecting meaningfully with your work and with your colleagues, you're not advocating for your ideas, you're not advocating for skill building, the same thing is gonna happen in your new site over and over again. It's literally just like when people date the same person over and over again, and they're like, what's wrong with me? Why am I always attracting the wrong partner? Honestly, it's the same thing because your mindset has to be different. And if whether you are switching to a new role or whether you're staying in your new role. And what we're advocating for today is try a different mindset and try different behaviors to see if your current situation improves before you take a step into a new job, right? And those different behaviors would be new projects. Ask for things that are more meaningful for you, ask for skills that you want to develop and see how your work can support you in developing those skills. Boundary resets. We've talked about boundaries a lot today. And renegotiating your expectations. Like what is it that you're expecting from your workplace? And is that even realistic, right? Maybe there's other aspects of your life, maybe there's a hobby you can get involved in that fulfills a particular need that your work doesn't necessarily need to fulfill, right? So really rethinking, okay, is this really, do I really need to change my job, or can I try these different steps and see if I can reconnect that spark with my current job? And remembering that you're not, sometimes you're just not stuck. You're in a maintenance season. So maintain that relationship with your work and see if it can improve before making the switch.

Seasons, Maintenance, And Small Resets

SPEAKER_00 39:51

Yeah. It's almost like needing an oil change for your car. You don't always need a new car. I mean, it's cool, smells fresh, it looks cool, new technology. But it's almost like you just need an oil change in your old car. And I think this is where a lot of individuals are like, wait, but I thought success and feeling this way meant like it's supposed to be exciting and different and supposed to look good and feel good and all these things, but it doesn't always look like that. It just kind of looks like just rechanging the colors, like getting a new wallpaper on your computer. I always think about like for some reason, that is like a nice re-refresh, re-igniting whatever emotions and spark some kind of feeling. So your success in your career doesn't always have to be this massive, exciting thing, this party, this huge thing that you tend to feel, but it can really be low-key. It can be having a conversation, connecting with a coworker, working on a due project. So remember that throughout. And I think something that you want to really reflect on, and again, reflection is huge here, is thinking about what season are you in, right? Are you coming back from a loud or really chaotic season at work and you're kind of just catching up, you're taking it slow, you're doing what you need to do, getting things done. Are you healing from a massive burnout experience in the last year, last month, maybe a few years as well? Are you looking to gain stability as you're coming back from work, maybe from a leave of absence, or maybe you know, you needed to take some time off for family or for your personal self? Or are you just kind of hanging out, sitting in the back of the class, learning quietly, right, doing the things to help you? So thinking about what your seasons are and where you are is very important to your work too. And as an educator in all of the spaces and all of the universes that I exist, I want you to also think about what is this season teaching you? What is this season teaching me? Right. And how and where do you want to go from that too?

SPEAKER_02 42:03

Thank you for spending time with us today. We hope this episode gave you something meaningful to carry into your week.

SPEAKER_00 42:09

And if you want more support on your career journey or just a career cheerleader, I'm here. Follow me on Instagram at Career Confident Latina for tips and encouragement.

SPEAKER_02 42:20

And don't forget, there are tons of free career mindset and lifestyle resources waiting for you at careerise.org. And if you're ready for deeper clarity and confidence, make sure to join the CCB bootcamp while you're there.

SPEAKER_00 42:35

We're always cheering for you your growth, your goals, and the person you are becoming. Thanks for tuning in to Coffee and Career Hour. We'll see you in the next episode.