Energy Efficient Choices

Each person's story is unique, a true expression of who they are now, and who they are becoming. In addition to the stories highlighted in the ad campaign, the Aha Moments' website profiles nearly 1,000 stories. People share insights about shifts in how they see their lives, their relationships, and their health. They talk about how aha moments transformed their careers, their education choices, and their retirement decisions.

If you need a jolt of inspiration, read and listen to a selection of these stories. If you want to read a certain kind of aha story, click on the relevant category and then click the search button. You'll notice there are more career related aha moments than any other category.

You'll also see that aha moments come to people of all ages, nationalities, family situations, stages in life, and life circumstances. In fact, you are a perfect candidate for your own aha moment!

Hoping for an Epiphany

A yearning deep within becomes your constant companion when you are searching for an answer, for a solution, or for a new vision. It pervades everything you do. It's with you when you take a shower, walk the dog, take a drive, and fall asleep at night.

Each morning you wake up wondering if today will be the day that you get a new insight about your future direction. You vacillate between pushing and striving to figure it out and wondering if it's possible to have a breakthrough.

Tips to Generate More Insights

• The ironic part of epiphanies is that they can't be forced.
  There's no button you can push to create an insight on demand. The harder you reach for answers to your career question or a life question, the more elusive they become.
• Set aside any preconceived ideas.
  If you have a preconceived notion of what you should do or how you will proceed, but you aren't making any headway, your commitment to your picture of the future may actually be holding you back! Loosen your hold on your picture of what the future looks like.
• Acknowledge that you don't know the answer in this moment.
  The sooner you can accept that you don't know your future, the sooner you'll be open to new insights and ideas that come to you.
• The last thing you can do is create the conditions that allow insights to come to you.
  Be open to learning. Ask yourself new questions. Be curious. Explore what intrigues you. Observe what's happening in the industry that engages you. Make new connections, spot inconsistencies, and identify gaps--these are the best catalysts for ahas!
• When you see something in a new way, new answers and ideas are possible.
  The key at this point is to catch the new thoughts as they come to you. Flashes of insight are fleeting, so record your ideas as you get them. Look them over periodically and you'll discover additional connections.

Although it's impossible to predict exactly when your key insight will occur, my work with clients navigating major life transitions and embarking on career transitions tells me the points above will put you in the right place to discover new insights about your career future.