How to Set Your Goals for the Back-Half of the Year
Hey, beautiful. Welcome to Dream Job with Danielle Cobo podcast. I am Danielle Cobo, an elite career coach, and I believe every woman has the power to step into their dream jobs, earn the salary, they are worth, and live the life they desire. Each week you join me, you're going to hear from the inspiring women who have overcome adversity and levels up their career. You're going to learn how to eliminate that inner credit that is holding you back from pursuing your dreams, how to build confidence, create healthy boundaries to transition, burn-out to re-energize and gain clarity on how to accelerate your career. It's never too late to pursue your dream jobs. The time is now. Are you ready? Hi. I'm Danielle Cobo, elite career coach, and today we're going to be talking about limiting beliefs. So I often hear from clients about these limiting beliefs that are holding them back from taking the next step in their career, and so some of the limiting beliefs that I often hear is, I don't have industry experience, and I really want you to think about this because there's a lot of skills that you have that are going to transfer or into the next role that you're going to be in, and some of the skills that you have are going to bring a lot of value to that that company that you're going to be working for, and so think about your intangible characteristics, perseverance, drive, passion, self-motivation. Think about all these characteristics that you have that are going to translate very well into the next position that you're interviewing for. You can teach, companies can teach somebody products. They can teach somebody the organizational flow. You can teach somebody different industries, and what's in that industry, you can't teach somebody to wake up every morning with the self-motivation to get out of bed and go hit the ground running, and so if you have that limiting belief that talks about, I don't have industry experience, I want you to shift that mindset and say the experience that I have is going to add value because it's a new perspective to that company. Also, the intangible characteristics that I have self-motivation, drive, passion, creative thinking, solution oriented. These are all characteristics that I'm going to put into this next role that I am in, and so that is a limiting belief that I hear often and how you can shift your mindset. Another limiting belief that I hear often is I'm too old, and this is something that often times is a mindset as well, and the reason being is I want you to think there is a client that reached out to me, and she said, I'm 43 years old. I do in my company for a long time, and I'm scared that no one's going to hire me because of my age. I said, okay, you're 43. So let's talk about how many more years in your career that you have to continue to go. So you have a home over 20 years still in your career where you can still make a positive impact in what you're doing, and this is important to know as well, because where are we now? Think about this? Where we were 20, 30 years ago is very different than where we're at today. Women are waiting a longer time to have kids because they're really developing their career, and so those women that are having kids at 35, 40, their kids are only going to be 20 when we're going to be retiring, and we still have to fund that College. So, that limiting the belief that you have where I'm too old, you can take it a step further and say, God, imagine the experience that I have that's going to help empower the next generation that's going to be coming up. The experience that I have, I get to make a positive impact on that next generation. The impact that I'm going to be able to make to continue to create an innovation and experience is going to add value.
In addition, what legacy are you going to leave? So instead of thinking of what am I going to do in my career, you can transition your mind to what is the legacy that I'm going to leave based off of the experience that I have? Another limiting belief that I hear from clients is I don't have the skills for that particular role, and again, it goes back to intangible characteristics because there's a lot of things that you can learn in the role that you're in. Another limiting belief that I hear is it's too late. I'm too late to take that next step. Now, I have a client that actually or somebody that I know that actually stepped into a management role for the first time in her career at 50 years old, and she is a phenomenal manager. She's a phenomenal leader. I had the pleasure of working under her for a long time, and it's never too late to do what you want to do. It's never too late. Some of the most successful people in the world didn't actually get their careers up and going or become published authors until they were in their 40s and 50s. So it's never too late to step into your dream job.
Another limiting belief that I hear is, I can't make that amount of money, and there's a couple of ways that you could increase your income. The first way is you could negotiate your income in the current situation that you're in. So the current job that you're in, you could when it comes to annual performance review, you can talk about doing a merit increase. So a merit increase is an additional percentage that you get added on to your salary. So let's say, for example, you ask for a 3% or 5% increase. Here's the thing. It doesn't hurt to ask. As long as you approach the situation where you're saying, here's the value that I brought to the organization, and here's the value that I'm going to continue to bring and ask for it. You'll never know unless you ask for it. The worst thing I could say is not right now, or they can give you two options. They can do a yearly bonus where they add on a little more, or they can do a merit increase, which is a percentage of your salary. Another option is explore your options outside the company. I believe that everyone should invest in their personal brand, and what I mean by that is making sure that your brand and the value and experience that you have is represented on LinkedIn and on your LinkedIn profile, because if you want opportunities to be presented to you, then you need to make sure that you have your experience and that you're found on LinkedIn. 80% of recruiters use LinkedIn to find talent, and instead of being in a position where you're seeking a job, you always want to be in a position where jobs are being attracted to you. So, for example, when I was in the dental industry, I was a capital equipment specialist, and I had just come off of four back to back President Trips. I had been promoted. I had a very successful career. I had been making six figures since I was 23, and so I wasn't looking for a job. It wasn't until a recruiter approached me and said, hey, have you considered going into a FedEx? Have you considered this opportunity? There's been times in my career where I've been approached for different jobs, and I interviewed and I said, you know what? No, I'm happy where I'm at, and that's okay because it really reassured me that I was really happy where I was at and I was in the right place, and there's other times when recruiters have approached me and have said, I have this opportunity, and I went, I took a step out and I went for that next opportunity, and it opened the doors to something so exciting that I didn't even know what's out there I would have never considered applying for. So it's so important that you are investing time into establishing your brand on LinkedIn. Even if you're not looking for a job today, you still want to invest in your brand. So the opportunities are being presented to you.
Another thing that I hear from clients on these limiting beliefs is that I don't have time to look for a job, and I get it because looking for a job is very time-consuming. It's a lot of work. It can oftentimes feel like another job, and what I encourage my clients to do is we take a very strategic approach to looking for a job, and so what I mean by that is, instead of wasting time applying to jobs online, I help my clients develop a list of the companies that they want to work for, and we take a very strategic approach at connecting with the decision makers of those companies. Each job, there's two things I want you to take away from this message. One of them is when a job is posted online, oftentimes each job opening gets, on average of 250 applicants. Then from there, the automatic filtering system that's built within these online applications filters the top 10%and then, only 1% gets tired from that actual energy process, and so that could be very time consuming to be applying job after job after job. You don't even know if you're coming up within the top. Obviously, there's ways that you can enhance your resume to speak to get through that artificial intelligence filtering system. There's also a different approach where instead of spending so much time applying to jobs online, you're actually taking a strategic approach again to connecting with the companies, creating a list of the companies that you want to work for, as well as connecting with those direct hiring managers and decision makers within those companies, and that's what I work with a lot of my clients are doing.
Now, if you don't know what you want to do and you don't know what that next step is in your career, because sometimes it can be kind of harder to get some clarity on what your career plan is. What you can do in the steps that you can take is write down a list of your current job and what points you the most joy. So what you absolutely love about your job or what you absolutely love and your passion is outside of work and create the job around it, and that job around it, maybe within your organization, and maybe you have this great idea that you want to present to your organization on this job that's going to be passionate for you, and it's going to provide value to the organization or you say, you know what? I'm ready to look elsewhere. I'm ready to step into a dream job, and now you have clarity as to what you enjoy about your current job that you're going to seek out in that next position. So again, these limiting beliefs to talk a little bit about these limiting beliefs, limiting beliefs is a state of mind. It is whether somebody told us something, a negative thought, or whether it's a negative thought that we told ourselves that we truly believe within our mind, and it's probably not even true. But these are the limiting beliefs that are holding you back from taking that next step in your career.
They're also the limiting beliefs that whether you know it or not, are subconsciously coming out in your interview. So if you think in your mind, I don't have industry experience that's going to come out in your interview because oftentimes what happens, I hear clients say, I know I don't have industry experience. So if somebody asks you, I look at your resume and you don't have experience within the industry, you can say I understand that, and I hear what you're coming from, and here's what I've done in my current industry and how it's going to apply for the job that I'm applying for and how it's going to provide fresh, innovative and creative ideas. The value that I'm going to bring based off of my previous industry experience, whether it's been within that same industry or not.
Another one is twofold when it comes to age, either. I'm too young, I hear, and I want you to really think about this because I was 23 when I stepped into my first medical sales sufficient, I had six months of copier sales. What I did was I went to a trade show and I had my resume. I had my performance book, and I went to every single company, and I asked for the card of the hiring manager, and I said, here's my resume. When a position opens up, I want to be the first candidate to interview. So even though most people can even know my age, in fact, when it was our first national sales meeting, I just think we remember my manager. He asked who's going to be the first person that's going to arrive at our national sales meeting, and if so, can you rent a car? I was the first person at national sales meeting. I was 23. I wasn't old enough to rent the car. I know that that time I manage actually found out how old I was. But again, it's a mindset. I didn't care how old I was. I knew the value that I was going to bring to the organization. So I didn't have that fear of applying to anything. I knew what I wanted. I had a goal, and I was able to translate some of my experience of being a server copy or sales retail sales, and the value that I was going to bring into this next role. Now, if you're in a position where you feel like you're too old, you're approaching the end of your career. Shift that mindset and say, wow, I have a lot of experience that's going to add value to the position that I'm applying for. I am going to support other team members, other generations within the organization, or I'm going to support this organization off of the experience that I've had in several different industries, of going to add value to the role that I'm applying for, and what I get to do is I get to leave a legacy with that company.
So it's all about shifting your mind. If you have limiting beliefs, negative thoughts that are holding you back from taking that next step in your career, I want you to write them down. I want you to take a few minutes, like a half hour an hour, pick a spot where you have no destruction, a quiet area where you can really be within your thoughts, and I want you to write down every negative thought that you're thinking at that moment that could be possibly preventing you from taking that next step in your career. Then once you have all those negative to break down limiting belief that you've told yourself or somebody else who told you told you. But I want you to write, put a line down the center of a piece of paper and write how you're going to shift your mind. I don't have industry experience. My mind is going to be shifted to I'm going to add value because I have a new, new and fresh perspective that I'm going to add to this particular organization, and my intangible characteristics are going to add values. Those are transferable skills. I'm too old. You're going to transition to. I have a legacy that I'm going to be able to leave behind with this organization and to be able to take my industry experience in my years of working in different industries. But I'm going to be able to help other people within the organization. I'm going to be able to show up as a leader, and then if you feel like they're too young, you really got to shift your mindset and saying, if I'm driven, I'm passionate, I'm going to go for what I want, and you know what? There's going to be times when you're not going to get that job, and it's okay. But keep putting yourself out there, keep showing up for what you want, because that position may not be available now, or maybe they're looking for industry experience. There have been people that I have hired where I've interviewed with them two years previously, and I said, I really like you, and I think there's value that you can bring. The other candidates have a little bit more of the characteristics that I'm looking for, the experience that I'm looking for, and can I share some advice with you? I always want to get their permission first, and I share my advice, and they talk about the different ways that they can get experience for the roles that they want to apply for, and I can tell you that some of those people actually stayed in touch and they worked through and we stayed in touch over two years and then two years later to hire them just because you may not be in the position now. Maybe they want to see a different skill set or they want to see somebody with a little bit more outside build experience for an example. Still keep in touch because you never know what the future is going to bring and where that next step is going to be. You never know that. I can see. You really listen to my advice and you put the effort into it, and I really like that I'm even more attracted to that. So what I want you to leave with today is identify what your limiting beliefs are, shift your mindset because it's holding you back, and whether you know it or not, it's not holding you back and where you are going to take that next step in your career.
In addition, if you ever do apply for a position, it's going to come out in your interview and you want to walk into your interview with content, you want to walk in and go. I have such a value that I can bring to the organization, and you want to be in a position where as much as they're interviewing you, you know yourself worth, you know your value, and you get to interview them. You get to see if this is the company that you want to work for. So again, as much as they're interviewing you, you are interviewing them as well, because you never know. You may say, hey, I interviewed for this position. It's not the right position for me or it's not the right company culture that I want to work for, and you get to stay in the role that you're at, that you really enjoy, or you get to pursue another opportunity or you interview for this opportunity and they hire you. Yeah. I'm so excited for this position. So what is holding you back today from taking that next step and what? What action? What plan of action are you going to take to take that next step in your career? Thank you so much for joining us this week on Dream Job with Danielle Cobo podcast. I look forward to seeing you next week and the incredible interviews that I get to take part in. I get to interview these incredible women on how they've overcome adversity and how they have really grown their career and how they get to support you in doing the same. Thank you so much.