When it comes to a career it can seem like navigating without a map or a compass, when these are in fact the exact things we need. The map shows us where we want to go and how to get there, while the compass provides the bearing to keep us on course. Some of us may have a working compass but no real idea of what we want our career end goal to be, and so we settle for a job that does not inspire or excite us, it just pays the bills.
What we need to do is find out what we were born to do, what we excel at and what we love doing. If we can find the right career then it will not feel like work.
I believe that there are four stages to finding the career you were born to do. I call the stages Foundation, Grounding, Vision and Actions. The Foundation is the Values you have, the behaviours and beliefs that shape who you are, it is your culture and your upbringing. Your values should form the foundation of your life, so exploring what your values are and having them in your mind will give you a compass to navigate through your life. It is important to check your bearings at regular intervals to see if you are still on course.
The Grounding, as I call it, is taking a good look at where you are now, in the present. What are your skills, experience and achievements? What makes you feel positive emotions and what makes feel negative emotions? It is an audit of your life and yourself, it is where you begin your endeavour towards your ideal career. This is the starting point on your map for success.
With the Foundation and the Grounding done you should have a better idea of where you want your career to go. Start with broad things like customer service face to face or working independently at home and then zone in on what role you really want to be doing. This is a big decision and listening to your gut can really help. The part of your brain that makes decisions, called the Limbic brain, does not have the capacity for language and this is why we feel it rather than think it when we make ‘gut’ decisions. Listen to this and let it guide you. Once you have figured out your dream career this becomes your destination on the map to success. This becomes your Vision.
So how do you get from where you are now to where you want to be? Just thinking about what you should do here is not enough. You need a plan, but without Actions to back it up it will never happen. This is the forth stage. The best way I have found is to firstly list the actions you need to take. This could be training, shadowing someone, getting advice or applying for a position that starts you on your way to the career you want. This is essentially a To Do list, but as you may well know To Do lists often become lists of things we don’t get done.
To get past this there are some steps you can take. For each action write down why you should do it, followed by how you should do it and then, the crucial part, add a time frame for getting it done. A time frame puts pressure on yourself to get it done, and you can decide on the level of pressure by adding realistic timescales. Knowing why you should do the action also speaks directly to the decision making part of the brain, which thinks in terms of why rather than how and what, as Simon Sinek has taught us in his book ‘Start With Why.’
The reason why you do each action should be guided by both your values and your vision. This will keep you on course on your map for success. Once this framework is set up you will need to keep moving forwards, achieving the actions and following your values and vision, but the thing that is crucial is the application of consistent actions, every day, every week and every month. It may take years to get to where you want to be, but with patience and persistence I believe you can get there. You can have the career you want by following your compass and your map to success. Good luck.
Foundation: Values
Grounding: Skills, achievements and experience
Vision: The dream job/career
Actions: What, Why, How, Timescale
#career #findyourwhy #values #vision
The Fullfilment Project 