#1 Thing You Must Do To Guarantee A Meaningful Career
“The biggest mistake that you can make is to believe that you are working for somebody else...The driving force of a career must come from the individual. Remember: Jobs are owned by the company, you own your career!”
– Earl Nightingale, Motivational Speaker
Welcome to my career coaching blog! As a masters-trained career development and certified MBTI specialist, I’ve spent the last 15 years helping individuals, ranging from professionals to career starters, make their next career or education move with confidence. What most people know how to do is to spend days applying to open job postings on whatever job board they find. From my professional experience, this can be frustrating! And for the applicant, it can prove daunting.
Creating meaningful work is something most of us aspire to. What does that mean? It is about finding a fit that aligns with your authentic self and having work that brings joy, meaning and fulfillment. But how do we go about it? The answer is simple, but not always easy: deeply knowing yourself.
Try these 6 strategies:
1. Explore Interests
Think about the things that excite you and the activities that you enjoy. Do you like to write, paint, or cook? Are you passionate about music, sports, or travel? Make a list of your interests and hobbies, and then prioritize them based on how much you enjoy them.
2. Challenge Mindsets
What are you telling yourself? And what is more real? Thinking about our thinking and being aware of the damaging consequences is key to gaining clarity to adopting a new personal narrative.
3. Reflect on Values
Think about your core values and how they align with your interests. Do you value creativity, innovation, or social responsibility? Finding a career that aligns with your values can be incredibly fulfilling and meaningful.
4. Learn from Experience
What skills have you used repeatedly? What skills do you favor? What are your strengths? Go back through old performance reviews, reflect on your volunteer projects, favorite classes in school and feedback from managers, teachers, co-workers, family and friends and look for positive feedback and patterns of accomplishments.
5. Seek advice
Talk to people who are doing work that interests you. Ask them how they got started, what they love about their work, and what challenges they face. Their experiences can provide valuable insight into what it takes to pursue a meaningful career.
6. Listen to your gut
When you are trying out new things, pay attention to how you feel. Do you feel energized and excited, or do you feel bored and uninterested? Your gut instinct can be a powerful tool in helping you identify your passions.
To sum it all up, being willing to explore our interests, having an open mind-set, embracing our values, strengths, favorite skills and positive experiences is what drives us to be passionate in what we do. When we are doing what we love, we put in the extra effort and are willing to go the extra mile. When we are passionate about something, it doesn’t feel like work, we are willing to do whatever it takes to achieve our goals.
Remember it takes time, courage and willingness to discover your purpose, passion and authentic self! For most people, it can feel stressful, overwhelming and hard to know where to start or what you are doing will work. Having a trusted career expert by your side can make all the difference to help navigate the career change process.
Research from the Association of Psychological Science has shown individuals who have meaningful careers have a higher work and life satisfaction, live longer and earn more money. They know what they want and how to get there, have a higher level of confidence to articulate their unique abilities, are inspired to make a difference, more fulfilled, motivated and have financial stability.
So start exploring! Remember that joy-filled and meaningful work is out there waiting for you to discover it!