Your Dream Career
Posted on March 05, 2013 by Russell Heath, One of Thousands of Leadership Coaches on Noomii.
Finding your dream career can be daunting. Often, the approach we use paralyzes us.
Until recently, you had no choice of career. You were a hunter/gatherer, a subsistence farmer, or you did what your father did. If you were female, you were a mother and housewife. You worked to survive.
Today, basic survival is easily accomplished, and we now look for a job that challenges and fulfills us—and we have the freedom to choose from an almost unlimited selection of possible careers. We are truly fortunate to have this opportunity.
Yet, too often, this choice paralyzes us: What do I want to do? What if I make the wrong choice? What happens if I fail? I don’t know what would fulfill me!
Most of us use the following approach to find a career:
o We think that we can “think” or “reflect” our way into the right career. If we think hard enough about what it is we want to do, we’ll find an answer.
o We think that a fulfilling career can be found outside of us. Like a treasure hunt, if we look under enough rocks, we’ll find the perfect job.
o That we’ll know it when we find it; that we’ll be transfixed as if struck by lightning. Anything less than fireworks means it’s not the right job.
This approach works for some—but fails for most of us. And when we fail, we convince ourselves that something is wrong with us, or that we can’t be fulfilled, or that we don’t fit into the world.
Nothing is wrong with us; the problem lies in the approach: it’s not very effective.
A more effective approach entails:
o Act now, think later: try different jobs, job shadow, talk to people who inspire you, network beyond your immediate circle. Finding the right career is a contact sport.
o Looking hard at what gives you meaning, freedom, and focus in your life. A job must provide these three elements for a person to be fulfilled in their work.
o Prepare to create your career and to grow into it instead of “finding” it ready-made. It is your job to create your fulfillment.
When I coach people who are looking for a fulfilling career, I keep them in action. I coach them through anything that keeps them out of action such as, fear of failure, fear of risk-taking, procrastination, past-based thinking, and the like. I coach them to unleash their greatness.
There is no point in the 21st century to be trapped in a dull, soul-draining career. The choice is yours.
