Latest / Career Coaching with Fexingo: Professional Coaches, Career Counselors, and Guidance for Workers / How a Career Journal Can Clarify Your Next Move
Transcript
- Lucas: You know, I've been thinking a lot lately about how much mental energy we spend replaying career decisions. The 'what if I'd taken that job' loop. And it occurred to me that most of us don't have a systematic way to capture what we actually learn from those experiences. Luna: We just let it rattle around in our heads. Or we vent to a friend, which can help, but it's not exactly structured. Lucas: Exactly. So today I want to make the case for something that sounds almost too simple to matter: keeping a career journal. Not a gratitude journal, not a productivity log — a specific kind of reflective writing focused on your professional decisions, energy patterns, and what you actually want. Luna: I'm intrigued. I've tried journaling on and off, but never with a career lens. What got you onto this? Lucas: I interviewed a product manager — let's call her Sarah — who was in her early forties, had been at a large tech company for about seven years, and every eighteen months she would hit a wall. Complete burnout. She'd take a sabbatical, come back, and within a year and a half it would happen again. She couldn't figure out why. Luna: That cycle sounds exhausting — and familiar to a lot of people I know. Lucas: Right. So she started keeping a simple log. Every day she'd rate her energy on a scale of one to ten at the start and end of the workday. She also wrote down one thing that drained her and one thing that energized her. After three months she looked back and noticed a clear pattern: her energy tanked on days she had back to back internal meetings with no break. The energized days were when she had time to prototype or talk to customers. Luna: So the journal revealed the obvious that she couldn't see in the moment. Lucas: Exactly. She realized her role had slowly shifted from building to coordinating. She was spending 70 percent of her time in meetings, not making anything. That insight led her to pivot to a smaller company where she could stay closer to the product. Her satisfaction scores — she actually tracked them — went from a 4 out of 10 to an 8. And the burnout cycle stopped. Luna: That's a powerful example. I think a lot of us know something's off but we can't name it. The journal forces you to name it. Lucas: That's the core idea. So I want to offer three specific journaling prompts that listeners can start using tonight. The first is what I call the energy log. It's exactly what Sarah did. For one week, rate your energy at three points: morning, midday, and end of day. Also note the activity you were doing. After seven days, look for patterns. You might find that a particular recurring meeting is costing you an entire afternoon of focus. Luna: I love that. It's data, not just feelings. What's the second prompt? Lucas: The regret audit. This one is harder. Write down a career decision you made in the last year that you regret or feel ambivalent about. Then write what you were trying to achieve, what you actually got, and what you learned. The goal isn't to wallow — it's to extract a rule for next time. For example, someone might write: 'I took the promotion because I thought I wanted more money, but I actually hate managing people. Next time I'll ask for a senior individual contributor track.' Luna: That's essentially a learning loop. You're encoding the lesson so you don't repeat it. Lucas: Right. And the third prompt is my favorite. It's called the future self letter. Write a letter from yourself five years from now to your current self. Describe what your ideal typical workday looks like. What time do you wake up? What kind of problems are you solving? Who are you working with? Don't worry about realism — just describe what feels right. Then look at your current life and see the gaps. Luna: I actually did something similar before I made a big career shift. I didn't write it down, but I visualized it. And it helped me realize I wanted more autonomy, not more money. The journal would have made that concrete. Lucas: Exactly. The act of writing forces specificity. It's easy to say 'I want more balance' — it's harder to write 'I want to leave the office by 5:30 three days a week so I can cook dinner with my partner.' That specificity is what makes it actionable. Luna: So let's talk about the practical side. How often should someone journal? Daily? Weekly? Lucas: For the energy log, daily for a week is enough to spot patterns. The regret audit you might do once a quarter. The future self letter, maybe once a year. The key is to not overcomplicate it. Five minutes, three sentences. Consistency matters more than volume. Luna: I like that. Low barrier to entry. What format do you recommend? Digital or analog? Lucas: I'm a notebook person, but honestly, a simple text file or a notes app works fine. The important thing is that it's private and that you actually revisit it. If you write it and never look back, the benefit is much smaller. Luna: That's a good point. I think one reason people give up on journaling is they don't have a review habit. They just write and move on. Lucas: Right. So schedule a thirty-minute review at the end of each month. Flip through what you wrote. Look for themes. You might be surprised by what you find. One listener told me she realized she'd written 'I'm exhausted' in some form thirty times in a month. That was her signal to quit. Luna: Wow. That's a powerful signal. I'm going to start this week. I think a lot of our listeners will too. Lucas: And if you do, we'd love to hear how it goes. Not in a 'send us your journal' way, but just — let us know if the prompts clicked. Luna: Yeah, that's great. And speaking of listeners — a quick honest thing. A handful of people who listen to this show chip in a few bucks each month through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. That's literally what keeps us ad-free and able to make episodes like this one. No pressure, just — if the show has helped you think through a career move or decision, that's a way to keep it going. Lucas: It's a small group, but it makes a real difference. So thank you to anyone who's already doing that. And if you're curious, it's just buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. All lowercase. Luna: Alright, back to journaling. One thing I want to add: you don't have to start with all three prompts. Pick one. Maybe the energy log, because it's the most data-driven. Try it for a week and see what you learn. Lucas: Good advice. And if you do the regret audit, be kind to yourself. The point isn't to beat yourself up over a past decision — it's to make your next decision better. That's the whole game. Luna: Absolutely. So to recap: energy log for a week, regret audit quarterly, future self letter yearly. Start small, but start. Lucas: And the real magic isn't in the writing — it's in the reviewing. That's where the pattern recognition happens. So make sure you block that time. Luna: I'm actually going to set a recurring calendar invite right now. 'Career journal review — last Friday of the month.' Lucas: That's the spirit. I think that's a solid plan for anyone. Thanks for the conversation, Luna. Luna: Thanks, Lucas. See you next time.