Figure out your Career Calling today!
/ Blog
Life is a long journey towards an inevitable conclusion.
Many of us don’t decide how we really want to spend our days until we’re well into our thirties. Life takes us in many different directions, and it can be incredibly difficult to know whether we’re on the right path until we get where we’re going.
When you’re young, it’s easy to know what you want to be when you grow up. We’re usually guided by inspiration, or excitement. However, there are only so many super hero jobs available; sometimes we have to adjust our expectations.
Forget the future for a moment.
Forget the future, and focus on the present. Take some time to be mindful of your environment, and get a feel for where your life is right now. What are you doing, and how do you feel about it? What do you enjoy about the current direction your life is taking?
It’s easy to get caught up in plans and intentions and forget to focus on the “now”. Sometimes, it pays to live in the moment and make the most of whatever is happening in your life today.
Know your options.
Shop around and see what’s out there. Get a feel for a range of different industries and vocations. You might surprise yourself and find that you enjoy something you would never have previously considered.
It pays to try before you buy. If you’re thinking about making a major career change, dip your toes in first. See whether it really is what you want, or whether you like it just because it’s different.
Be the solution.
Many people begin to feel disenfranchised with their career choice because they feel as though they’re not making a genuine contribution. If this is you, find a problem and solve it.
By addressing real needs, and solving the problems of people (whether they’re customers or team members) you can honestly say that you’ve made positive change in peoples’ lives, and that’s what leads to career satisfaction.
Forget about your “plans”.
If there is one thing that’s certain in life, it’s that nothing is certain. Your life will absolutely not go according to plan. So, forget about plans. Goals are fine, but if you beat yourself up because you haven’t achieved some arbitrary metric at the exact time you expected to, you’re going to have a bad time. Life isn’t just a series of one promotion after another.
Life is a long, meandering journey, and sometimes we take paths off to the side for odd reasons. There’s nothing wrong with that – as long as you’re pursuing something worthwhile.
Pursue your own dream.
Everyone wants something from you. The sooner you learn this, and accept it, the better off you’ll be. The easiest way to figure out your career calling is to forget whatever it is your parents, your friends, your boss and your partner want you to be.
Most people have good intentions. But that doesn’t mean they are the right intentions. You have to tread your own path, and do what helps you sleep at night, not somebody else.
Combine your talents.
We all have things that we’re pretty good at. We may not be the best at them, but they’re things that we’ve practiced, or enjoy, and can easily see ourselves doing for a living. The key to getting by happily is to combine these things and get paid for it.
Your true career calling is likely a combination of the skills you have and the things you like doing. By combining your unique talents and interests, you’ll be more easily able to identify a career calling that suits you and you alone.
Surround yourself with people you like.
There are few things in life that are impossible to abide if you have the right people by your side. Many of us make the mistake during our early years in the workforce of seeking to surround ourselves with people who put out an image of success.
Nothing could be more damaging to your long-term happiness than associating with people simply because they add value to your career. Find people you enjoy being with, who make you happy, and spend time with them. In the long run, they’ll probably add more value to your career anyway.
Feel free to change your mind.
Change is good. Yet, so many of us fear changing our mind when it comes to figuring out our career calling. We settle on something in our late teens or early twenties, and remain steadfastly committed to it even when we realise we hate it.
It’s insane. Change your mind! Change it a few times a decade! There is nothing bad about gaining a wide range of experience in different roles and industries, especially while you’re young. If anything, it adds value to you as an employee.
Seek experienced advice.
Seek out the elderly and get their advice. Nine times out of ten, they’ll tell you to pursue happiness and satisfaction instead of money and keeping up with the Joneses.
Getting the advice of those who have been there, done that and have the battle scars to prove it is always a clever move. Find out what you’re in for, what pitfalls to avoid, and how to make the most of your career, or life in general.
Read.
Broaden your worldly knowledge from the comfort of your couch. Switch off the TV and stretch out the old brain matter with a good book. You never know which book, author or topic will rock you in a way that no one ever has before. Expose yourself to new writings and new experiences regularly.
Seek genuine support.
Some people will pat you on the back and say “good job” no matter what you do. This isn’t support, it’s empty platitudes.
You need genuine help and support in order to face life’s challenges head on. Seek honesty and constructive feedback from the people around you, and be sure to provide it yourself when others need it. There’s no need to be insulting, just be helpful.
What will your tombstone say?
At the end of your life, you won’t be remembered by your CV. What will be written on your tombstone, your GPA or the positive impact you made on the lives of those around you?
Want to get started on your career journey? Give us a call. We’ll chat about your interests, your goals and what you hope to achieve. Then we’ll work together to develop a plan to get you where you want to be.
