THE WARM UP
Why you’re here
If you’ve landed here, you’re likely curious about making a career change.
Maybe you’ve taken a leap of faith, like quitting your job to create space for something new, or perhaps you feel a quiet nudge - an inkling that it’s time to make a change, even if you’re not yet sure what that might be.
Wherever you are in your journey, we are excited you’re here.
What is The Warm Up?
The Warm Up is a series of exercises designed to help you take a closer look at where you are right now and where you’d like to go.
This course draws inspiration from Solai, one of AMS’s co-founders and the ‘S’ in AMS.
Over the last decade, Solai has made some impressive career moves —from actuary to startups to investing. Central to her success was the practice of writing and publishing thought pieces that highlighted her interests and expertise.
Today Solai has a portfolio career including being chair of a not-for-profit. Her journey wasn’t guided wishful thinking -it was built on clarity and the courage to share her ideas.
This course is designed to help you do the same. It’s not about following someone else’s roadmap but creating your own by providing space for honest reflection to identify and pursue career directions that feel right for you.
What makes The Warm Up different?
Most career change exercises require you to have a specific goal and work backwards to achieve it. We’re not going to ask you to do this. After all, it’s not very realistic - many people don’t have a clear sense of what they want - or if they do, the path forward can seem uncertain or overwhelming.
The Warm Up takes a different approach. Instead of starting with a goal, we start with where you are right now. Together we’ll create a map that connects your present circumstances to a possible future.
How The Warm Up works
The Warm Up is made up of four exercises. We’ll take a look at your:
Hopes and Fears: Explore what excites you and what holds you back.
Superpowers: Identify the strengths you may take for granted but others see clearly.
Interests: Reflect on what energises you and sparks curiosity.
Key Moments: Recognise the turning points in your life that have shaped your journey.
Each exercise involves writing a short 500-word reflective piece. Here, writing isn’t about perfection - it’s about clarity. The act of putting your thoughts into words helps you process your experiences, identify patterns and articulate what you want.
By the end of The Warm Up, the process of writing will help you gain a deeper understanding of your strengths, interests and pivotal moments that have shaped your life so far - all of which can help to inform the next steps in your career journey.
WHERE THE WARM UP CAN TAKE YOU
Our co-founder Solai found that writing a blog gave her visibility, credibility and connection, leading to opportunities such as podcast invitations, journal publications, and an expanded network.
If publishing your writing is something you would like to pursue, then we have created a series of exercises under Publish your insights to help you along the way. These exercises provide a structured way to transform your reflections into thought pieces you can share publicly, as well as build a consistent writing habit.
If blogging isn’t your thing, that’s ok! As you work through The Warm Up exercises, you may uncover new interests or industries to pursue. To help you plan your next steps, we’ve created The Risk Assessment exercises, where you can evaluate your time, money and resources so you can carve out the space to move forward.
THE TIME COMMITMENT
Each exercise in The Warm Up takes about an hour to complete. We recommend doing them in the order presented, as each one builds on the insights from the previous exercise.
Getting started
Your first step in The Warm Up is Hopes & Fears.