Three Revealing Steps Towards Your Ideal Career

Posted on June 03, 2016 by Julia James, One of Thousands of Career Coaches on Noomii.

Today I am going to show you three revealing steps towards your ideal career path that you can take right away, no matter how frustrated and unhappy you feel in your current job. When stuck in a job that doesn’t fit, most of us tend to complain a lot. I have been there and completely understand!

However, each time you complain about your job, you spend precious life energy building up the situation you don’t like and feeling powerless. You will learn how to “develop” the complaints about your current job and turn them into dreams of your ideal career. Your dreams will inspire you to take small action steps towards your ideal career path. With each step you will gain momentum and confidence.

As a child I was fascinated with looking at the negative transparent film that came along with the developed colour photographs. This was long before the days of digital cameras. I liked to compare the negative image to its positive partner, the picture that was developed in colour print. How fascinating that the somehow distorted looking negative film could be developed into beautiful photographs.

This interesting observation from my childhood taught me to look at frustrating, painful, unpleasant situations as opportunities for “photo development.” Along the way, I have refined my “photo development” technique. It is one of the many tools I use when coaching people to get clear on their ideal career.

Today I’ll show you how to use this technique to get your inner dream engine going. These three revealing steps towards your ideal career path will help you get unstuck from the job that’s not working for you and provide some of the fuel you’ll need on your journey towards career clarity.

FIRST of Three Revealing Steps Towards Your Ideal Career Path: DUMP YOUR COMPLAINTS

Take a blank sheet of paper and draw a line down the middle. On the right side of your sheet of paper, write down all the complaints about your current job.

If you need several sheets of paper, that’s fine.

Write down all your complaints. This is your opportunity to vent!

SECOND of Three Revealing Steps Towards Your Ideal Career:
REVEAL THE HIDDEN DREAMS BEHIND YOUR COMPLAINTS

Now, it’s time to develop your complaints.

On the top of the left hand side of your sheet of paper, write the question:

“Given that this is my complaint, what might I be longing for?”

Then take your time answering this question for each of your complaints. Get in touch with the emotion connected with your longing. Imagine your dream fulfilled and sense the feeling in your body. This will confirm that this is indeed a dream and not just a thought living in your head.

If you have a hard time getting in touch with the dream that’s behind one of your complaints, simply move on to the next one. You can always come back to it later.

THIRD AND FINAL of Three Revealing Steps Towards Your Ideal Career:
NURTURE YOUR DREAM

Look at your list of longings. These are the inklings of aspects of your dream career you already carry within. Choose the longing/dream you feel most strongly about, circle it and ask yourself:

“What small step could I take right now, to nurture that dream/longing?”

You don’t have to take this step in your work life right now. It is just as effective to begin nurturing your longing in your personal life or in a volunteer capacity. Nurturing your dream or longing will help you “develop” the negative film into its beautiful positive counter part.

Now, take action on the small step you identified and nurture your dream.

Approach the photo development process lightly, as if it was a fun game. Negative experiences become less threatening when you approach them with curiosity and a desire to identify the positive partner image.

It is most likely too soon to determine your dream career (e.g. real estate agent) at this point. Don’t try to extrapolate your ideal career from the dreams you just uncovered yet.

This exercise is designed to help you take three revealing steps towards your ideal career path, while you don’t yet know what career is ideal for you. By developing your complaints (e.g. too much repetitive work) into dreams (e.g. more variety) and by nurturing your dreams (e.g. changing up your commute or your diet) you are actually taking three revealing steps towards your ideal career path.

With each “photo development,” another beautiful colour photograph segment will be revealed and with that more confidence and joy reclaimed.

Congratulations, you have just passed the entrance exam for your FREE Career Clarity consultation! I believe that when you find the career you love your whole life changes for the better. When you are happy at work, you experience more confidence, better health and more fulfilling relationships. Now, imagine having the support and the insights to get you there. I would love the chance to help you get crystal CLEAR on the career that’s right for you. I truly believe it will change your career and your life forever.

Dumping all your complaints onto paper, can in itself serve as a cathartic release, but don’t stop here.

(You can also use this technique for relationships, health, finances, or any other aspects of your life that you find yourself complaining about.)