I thought, “Maybe it’s time for a career change”. My first career seemed like a good idea at the time but, looking back, it wasn’t. After years of suffering I realized that, if I wanted work that fit me like a glove, I needed to dig in and make choosing my future work into a project: a career design project. I became a career detective, looking for clues about how I best connected with the world. Instead of looking for fingerprints and DNA, I need different clues:
Natural talents Everyone is born with a unique group of talents that are as individual as a fingerprint or snowflake. These talents give each person a special ability to do certain kinds of tasks easily and happily, yet also make other tasks seem like pure torture. Can you imagine your favorite comedian as an accountant? Talents are completely different from acquired knowledge, skills, and interests. Your interests can change. You can gain new skills and knowledge. Your natural, inherited talents remain with you for your entire life. They are the hand you have been dealt by Mother Nature. You can’t change them. You can, however, learn to play the hand you have been dealt brilliantly and to your best advantage.
Personality traits and temperament Are you engaged in work that make it necessary to suppress your true nature. An elegant fit between you and your work includes and supports the full self-expression of your personality. Telltale signs of a career that doesn’t fit your personality include: the necessity to assume a different personality at work, restricted self-expression, activities that conflict with your values.
Passions, meaning, mission, purpose People who are enthusiastic about their work are usually engaged in something they care about and are proud of what they do. They feel they are making a contribution. They may need to work to pay the bills, but that is not what gets them out of bed in the morning.
Fulfills your goals Having something to shoot for is an important part of the joy of working. A custom-designed career supports you to fulfill your personal and family goals and gives you a sense of challenge on the job.
Rewards fit your values Like a biscuit you give a dog, rewards are the motivators that help keep you happily performing your tricks at work. Some rewards mean more to you than others. That is because they are linked with your values. Values and rewards are the opposite sides of the same coin.
Compatible work environments Each person flourishes in some work environments and finds others stressful or otherwise inappropriate. If living a full life outside of work is important, don’t succumb to
Go for vitality, not comfort. Be unreasonable. At every moment you have one essential choice: to let the programming steer the boat or to take the helm yourself. Your present circumstances, your mood, the thoughts that pass by all have a life of their own, independent of your will. You can, at any moment, take flight on new wings into an unprecedented life by making a choice for vitality, for designing a future, a life you will love.
