Career Highs & Lows: What Really Matters to You

One of the most powerful tools I use with clients is a simple reflection exercise: mapping the highs and lows of your career. It’s a way to step back and notice the moments where you felt energised, fulfilled or at your best — and the moments where something was missing. Understanding these patterns helps you see your core values more clearly.

Here’s how to do it.

1. Draw your timeline

Take a piece of paper (or open a blank doc in Word, Google Docs or Pages) and draw a horizontal line across the page. This represents your career so far.

Now draw a curvy line above and below this middle line — moving up for high points and down for low points. The aim is simply to notice where your energy, motivation or enjoyment changed.

2. Mark your highs and lows

Pick each job you’ve done in your career and plot it on the line. Place each moment roughly where you feel it sits emotionally — high, low or somewhere in the middle.

Some roles might feel mixed: maybe you enjoyed the people but not the company, or loved the mission but not the day-to-day work. That’s perfectly normal.

3. Add 2–3 reflections per moment

For each step in your career, ask yourself:

What made this a high point?
(e.g., autonomy, clear goals, growth, a supportive manager, impact, creativity)

What made this a low point?
(e.g., lack of clarity, poor communication, misaligned values, no development, overwhelm)

Keep this short. Two or three bullet points is enough — but if a particular role was especially formative, feel free to add more.

4. Look for themes

Now step back and look at the whole picture. Ask yourself:

• What patterns do I notice?

• What consistently makes me feel energised?

• What consistently drains me?

• Which values appear again and again (e.g., growth, stability, creativity, recognition, freedom)?

• What does this say about what I need going forward?

These themes often reveal your top values — the things you need to feel fulfilled at work.

5. Use it for clarity

This exercise is especially helpful if you’re:

• considering a career change

• preparing for interviews

• trying to understand what “good” looks like in your next role

• wanting to feel more grounded and intentional

Once you’re clear on your values, you make better decisions. You know what to say yes to — and what to avoid.

Download the PDF version

If you’d prefer a guided version you can print or write on, I’ve created a one-page worksheet.

👉 Download the Career Highs & Lows Worksheet

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