EP 005 | Turning Aspirations into Action: The Power of a Professional Bucket List

Are you ready to turn your career
aspirations into a reality?

Whether you are feeling incredibly driven
and like the high achiever you are, or if

you're feeling a little stuck and unable
to really see what that future can hold

for you and what's possible, or if you're
feeling just overwhelmed and exhausted

and a little bit like being an ordinary
Barbie is okay, you're in the right place.

Because no matter how you define
success for your career and your

professional life is what's going to
enable you to give you that direction.

That's what we're talking about today
is creating a professional bucket list

for you to help you take those things
that you've always wanted to do with

your career and make it a reality.

So whether your success is a specific
title or a role or responsibilities at

a corporation, whether it is owning your
own business, whether it's being a certain

type of coach or consultant or business
owner and giving you the success that

you want, whatever that means to you,
based on your internal values, that is

what you can put into your professional
bucket list and that is how you create

it because we want you to have, I want
you to have an unstoppable successful

journey that's perfectly perfect for you.

Hello friends.

I'm Kendra Losee from KendraLosee.

com.

And you've tuned into the Invisible
to Invincible Podcast where

passionately driven business
owners share their journeys from

hidden gems to industry leaders.

Together, we'll uncover the secrets,
mental shifts and business strategies that

turn hidden gems into undeniable forces.

So hit that subscribe
button and let's dive in.

All right, as I've already
said, I'm Kendra Losee.

As I've been interviewing different
business owners and leaders and

what they do and these incredible
women, I have found that.

I want to be able to talk to you directly.

So one of the things that I've
incorporated into this podcast is

that the first episode of every
month is going to be just me.

You're going to get me solo talking about
insights that I find throughout the month

that I found in talking to clients and
looking at the industries that I work

with and things that I'm noticing as
we're moving forward throughout the year.

So the first episode of
every month, it's me.

I'm here!

To kick off the new year, one of the
things that I really wanted to talk about

is creating a professional bucket list.

As we were nearing the end of 2023, I
started, you know, there's a lot of people

who are getting laid off who want to leave
their jobs and aren't sure what's next

and they aren't sure what they want to do.

There's a lot of questions,
especially as the world around

us is changing so rapidly.

There's a lot of people in a specific
age group I'm going to say over 40.

Although age isn't really the number,
isn't the factor, the circumstances

around what's happening is the factor.

It's people who've been working a long
time, and they're midway through their

career, or looking out towards the end
of their career, and people are asking

themselves, what have they accomplished?

What do they still want to accomplish?

Has it been worth it?

What's their purpose?

And all of those questions.

I was talking to a friend and they
made the comment that, they were

really excited to see what I was
doing because I'm chasing my dream.

It was one of those phrases
that stopped me in my tracks.

And I'll tell you why in a second.

The first time that someone said
a phrase that stopped me in my

tracks and really made me stop and
reevaluate where I was in my career.

It was about 10, 12 years ago.

I was out to dinner with a group of
friends and I happened to mention

that I was being interviewed for a
chief marketing officer role for a

pretty large university in California.

And one of my friends, You know, they
were talking about it and like, it

was a very big deal because someone
said specifically you would, you

know, this role is something you would
have before the age of 40, which is

pretty unheard of, at that level.

Someone else made just a very offhand
comment about climbing the corporate

ladder and what a good job I've done.

That phrase, climbing the corporate
ladder really stuck with me.

I went home that night and I thought
about it for a while and I even did

some journaling about it because
climbing the corporate ladder

had never been a goal of mine.

Titles had never been a goal of mine.

Having work that challenged me that made
a difference that impacted the lives of

other people That was a goal of mine.

And if I can make great money
while I was doing it, even better.

But climbing the corporate ladder, like
that wasn't, that wasn't what I wanted.

And then when I got there, what was there?

Just a lot of work and politics and things
that I didn't necessarily enjoy doing.

The job I'd had, had
basically been killing me.

And now I was looking to
step into a larger role.

I didn't love that.

I didn't love how it felt.

So what I ended up doing was actually
giving myself a demotion at that

time and taking a job at a digital
agency that gave me a chance to

get my hands dirty and relearn the
things that I loved about marketing.

And working with people in a
dynamic, interesting environment.

So when my friend said that I
was chasing my dream it stuck

with me because I stopped.

Later, when I was thinking about
it and it just kept coming back

to me, you are chasing your dream.

And I had to ask myself, am I?

Is this my dream?

Am I chasing it?

And you know what it is.

The work I'm doing now has
absolutely become my dream.

It's aligned with my values, being
able to help people show up and

share their stories and share
what they do with confidence,

with clarity, with consistency.

I absolutely love.

And that is a dream worth having.

That is something that's worth chasing.

You know, I spent last year
developing my business.

I spent last year laying the
groundwork for my business.

I spent last year focusing on my health
in order to be able to lay the groundwork.

That was the second part of that comment
that caught me is am I chasing my dream?

Or am I just letting it happen
and seeing what, what plays out?

And that's never been me.

I've never been someone
that's not high achieving.

That's not actively pursuing and
chasing what I want, in every way I can.

The last year, year and a half, my
health really held me back and I fought

through it and I learned to find help.

I did a lot of research and found
ways to help and found people

who can help me and I did it.

In 2022, I gained 70 pounds and felt
terrible and ended up with COVID for five

months, which did not help my health.

In 2023, I found the doctors that can
help, did the healing work I needed

to do, and I lost all of that weight.

Now as I continue to feel better, I found
that I've done all that foundational work.

I have the energy to chase my dream and I
have the energy to help you chase yours.

So let's talk, let's talk, let's talk
about a professional bucket list.

I told you that story because I think
it's really important to understand your

values, what's most important to you.

And it's incredibly important to also
understand how to turn those dreams that

you've, that you want to chase, those
dreams that you want to make reality into

actually turn them into reality to make
yourself define what success looks like

and what you want to accomplish between
now and the end of your career and maybe

even after, like, what do you want to do?

One of the things that I, I did
this the first time when I was

23 and had just been laid off.

I didn't know what to do.

I didn't know how to find a job I wanted
and I wasn't sure if what I'd been

doing was really what I wanted to do.

So I did a bunch of research and
read some books and found this idea

that became the spark for having
a professional life bucket list.

What that meant is taking everything
that I wanted and actually

placing it in different decades
or different parts of my life.

One of the things that that original
list included was writing a book.

Another thing that original list
included was when I retired, I wanted

to teach that list included writing
multiple books, starting my own business.

It included many dreams that
I had dropped in as a very

naive, very naive 23 year old.

But I've kept that list and I refined it.

So when I started teaching in my thirties
at a university, I almost honestly

said no, when I was offered teaching
because I was like, no, I'm not, I'm

not supposed to do that till I retire.

But I'm so glad I did because it
taught me so much about myself.

So when you define your bucket list
and when you start writing down

the ideas of things that you want
to accomplish, you put that into

and you break it into sections of
where it can fall in your life, it

starts to become a map for yourself.

When you go back and look at the
things that you've accomplished ,the

things that you have enjoyed the most
and understanding what work motivates

you and really lights you up and
understanding how you can do more of that

and putting it into your bucket list.

It can be so inspiring and motivating.

Like I said, if you're feeling
stuck, it can help you.

If you're having trouble figuring
out what you want to do next, or what

direction do you want to go, or what you
want to accomplish, having a bucket list

for your professional life can help.

Like I said, I created a workbook
on this because I wanted to combine

mindset with some of the things that
I have learned and to help people go

from being feeling stuck or trying to
figure out what's next into creating

a plan and to building that Next step.

There's a workbook that you can find
on my website that outlines this and it

gives you The step by step and how to
create your professional life bucket list.

And I called it wildly Creative and
wholeheartedly driven your guide

to creating bucket list because I
want you to Get creative To throw

those big ideas on the wall and
see what sticks, how they fit.

You never know.

And that can be the most
exciting part about it.

Whether you're feeling stuck or whether
you're feeling like I said, like an

ordinary Barbie, or you're feeling like
you're the high achiever and passionate

leader you are, start writing your ideas
down, put them in, put them in a plan.

Start putting those down so that you
can start focusing on accomplishing

them because each and every single one
of us define success in a unique way.

What my vision for success and
my values that feed into my

feelings of success are going to
be completely different than yours.

So what does that mean for you?

Well, you have to define it.

You know, some people use
inspiration boards and vision boards.

And I do like those because I'm a very
visual person, but I've had vision

boards that just sat on a wall or
sat in a closet or sat behind a door

and they don't necessarily do things
for you unless you start to put those

wishes and those ideas into action.

Unless you start to create a plan for one
of those or some of those or all of those.

Do you want to travel the
world and work from all over?

Great.

What do you need to do to do that?

Make, put that on your bucket list.

One of the things that I always wanted to
do was live in another country and I will.

The time just hasn't been right yet.

but what do I need to do in
order to make that happen?

I'm making those steps right now.

So one of the things that I'm going
to give you a few tips for creating

your professional bucket list.

And one of the things that I think
that will help a lot is like I said, go

back to what you enjoy doing the most.

What motivates you?

Where do you get those feelings
and those, where do you see

yourself being the most motivated?

What does that sound like?

What does that look like?

What does that feel like?

And write it down.

Start reminding yourself of the
things you've accomplished and the

things that you've already done in
your life that are pretty incredible.

That will help start to give you that
motivation and that vision for what's

to come and what else you want to do.

Like I said, the workbook as you go
through it will help you break those

down into starting to pick the top ones
and starting to put that plan together

for what that can look like and how
you can turn that into a reality.

Then you can take those
steps to keep going.

But it starts with understanding what
that means to you and understanding

what that looks like and writing
it down and documenting it.

So whether you are feeling wildly creative
and wholeheartedly driven, it's time to

turn your wish list into a bucket list.

And actually take those dreams and those
ideas and things that you might have

always had in the back of your mind that
would be cool to do and prioritize them.

Actually ground them.

With your values and your priorities
and create that vision for yourself.

Then start making that, turning them into
goals and making them smart goals that are

specific and measurable and have deadlines
and things that you can work towards, and

you can keep that bucket list near you to
help you focus on the big picture, even

as you're working on the detailed work.

And working on getting it
done . Just doing that helps

have that sense of purpose.

So you're not just feeling
like you're running in circles.

You are chasing dreams.

You are making those dreams a reality
and whether climbing the corporate

ladder is on your bucket list or not,
or building your own business and being

your own boss, whatever it is, there's
no wrong answer because you will have

defined what success means to you.

You will have created a commitment by
mapping short term goals in order to

make those long term accomplishments.

You want to make sure
that you capture it all.

So when you go to create your bucket
list, you can do this on your own or you

can download the guide from KendraLosee.

com And and you can use it to
help become whole heartedly

driven if you're not already.

Because no one wants to settle for
ordinary and no one wants to keep running

their career on other people's terms.

This is your professional life.

So what are you going to
do to make the most of it?

I can't wait.

I cannot wait to see what you accomplish.

It's going to be exciting.

I'm sure it already is.

Let's be clear, but it's
going to be exciting.

Thank you for joining us today
and remember at KendraLosee.

com you can find the workbook for The
bucket list to create your own bucket

list and you can also find our business
and visibility and coaching services

and, and I want to specify this.

You can see and learn more about
the upcoming Invisible to Invincible

Lab, which is a mindset and marketing
course designed to bring clarity,

confidence, and consistency to
how you and your business show up.

We are all about high achieving
entrepreneurs guiding you to success

both in your business and in life
because it is never too late to

make your business and career work
for you, not the other way around.

Until next week, I'm Kendra Losee.

Thank you.

EP 005 | Turning Aspirations into Action: The Power of a Professional Bucket List
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