Be, Do, Have (The shift that changes how your career unfolds)
There’s a pattern I see in many conservation career paths:
Once I have enough experience, then I’ll go for the job, then I’ll feel fulfilled.
Once I feel more confident, I’ll apply for that role, so I can start being impactful.
Once I have more time or money, I’ll change careers, so I can start feeling like myself again.
It sounds logical.
But it often keeps people stuck for far longer than they expect.
Because underneath it is a quiet assumption:
I need to have something before I can do something – and only then can I be how I want to feel.
Have → Do → Be.
Have → Do → Be. Are you approaching your career backwards?
Why this doesn’t quite work
If what you want is simply to have something (a job title, a qualification), this approach can sometimes work.
But if what you want is to feel fulfilled, relaxed or like yourself again, it tends to fall apart.
Because in this model, what you truly want is always conditional, fleeting or just out of reach.
And in the meantime, work (and life) can start to feel like pressure, self-doubt, frustration… or even resignation.
(Not the best place to make new connections, apply for jobs or make career decisions from).
Pressure, self-doubt, frustration or resignation might not be the best place to make new connections, apply for jobs or make career decisions from.
When this shows up (even for me)
Recently, I showed up to a session with my coach, feeling overwhelmed.
I had a lot on my plate – co-leading a coaches training programme, building my own coaching practice, supporting clients, moving between countries – and one hour to “use well.”
So I did what many of us do: I tried to be as productive as possible.
“If I get enough out of this session, maybe I’ll feel calmer.”
But my coach responded to my slightly panicked state with a simple question:
“If this wasn’t about productivity, what would you want from this session?”
I was stumped.
Because in that moment, productivity felt like survival.
It took time. But when I finally stopped trying to do and allowed myself to just be in the discomfort of not fixing or producing anything, something else emerged.
There was more space, more calm, more clarity.
And from there, the answers I’d been chasing started to surface – naturally.
When I stopped trying to fix or produce anything, more calm, clarity and creativity emerged.
The shift: Be → Do → Have
In our careers, it’s easy to believe we need to figure it out → take the right actions → then feel better.
But in many meaningful career moves, it works the other way around.
Be → Do → Have.
When your way of being shifts, even slightly – more presence, a little more calm, a little less pressure – new possibilities emerge.
And from there, your actions – and results – start to shift too.
What this looks like in conservation careers
I see this often in my work as a coach:
- Someone afraid to pause their job search – even briefly – for fear they’ll miss an opportunity… who releases the pressure and discovers a completely new direction.
- Someone leaving a draining role… who recreates the same stress in their “new start”… until they shift how they’re approaching it.
- Someone waiting for financial security to leave their job… who generates new ideas once they stop seeing money constraints as barriers.
There’s a paradox in it:
The way we try to get what we want can sometimes be the very thing that keeps it out of reach.
When your way of being shifts, even slightly – more presence, a little more calm, a little less pressure – new possibilities emerge.
A question for you
You can practice Be → Do → Have for yourself.
- Think of something you want in your career (or life) right now.
- If you achieved that goal, what would it would give you? And who would you be if you already had it?
- From that place, what’s one small action you could take?
If you’re navigating a career transition, taking a next career step or even questioning your path – this is exactly the kind of work I support conservationists with.
If you’d like to experience Be → Do → Have for yourself, come explore our 1-on-1 Career Coaching Programmes.
Author Profile | Kristi Foster
Kristi Foster is the Head of Coaching at Conservation Careers and has a Master’s in Conservation Biology. Her own conservation career journey has led her across the globe from East Africa to the Amazon, working with organisations such as Fauna & Flora, the World Agroforestry Centre and Ecotourism Australia. Since joining Conservation Careers in 2019, she has coached over 100 conservationists in career direction and fulfilment, and consulted in job applications, interviews and more. Today a key part of her mission is supporting conservationists to transform who they are and want they do in the world. Learn more.