By Donald MacDonald
Working away at a career you do not enjoy can be soul destroying. At the very least it can be unfulfilling. You may be successful in your career, you may take home enough money to live well, but it is no longer satisfying your need for fulfillment.
How long do you stay in this career? As usual the answer is a complex one., often prompting many other questions such as; What else will I do? Where will I find a fulfilling job that pays me what I need? What will my family and friends think if I give up a good career? What kind of career would I enjoy and can I get paid for that?
You could jump from job to job trying to find one that would satisfy your needs or you could try to figure out what those needs are and choose a career that satisfies as many of those needs as possible. So, how do you find out what these needs are? Often people start by thinking 'How much do I want to earn?' I challenge you to put this question to one side until you know more about yourself, it will be much easier to answer once you know what all your needs are and where salary sits in relation to your other needs.
Understand Yourself
Understanding your values is a great place to start. Which ones are important to you, family, money, health, etc. Once you have a list of at least six, but no more than ten, sort them into a prioritised list.
To understand more about you, outside of your current career, think about what your purpose is? Are you here to make money, help people, be liked or just to be happy? Take some time to really think this one through, often there is some truth in the first answer you give to yourself but you may dismiss it as flippant.
What are your interests and passions in life? What do you love to do on your days off, on your holidays, who do you like to be with, if anyone, when indulging in your interests?
What do you rate as your top three personal achievements? Why are they important to you?
What personal strengths can you identify? Would you like to develop these or some new ones?
Next, give some thought to what motivates you at work. Why do you work?
Which bits of your current career drain you, what elements energise you and make you feel great?
Think about your greatest work achievements? Do you feel proud of them or are they only achievements in the eyes of your colleagues? Make sure you find some you are proud of.
What are your professional strengths? What do your colleagues think are your strengths?
What are your favourite job skills? Not necessarily the ones you are good at but the ones that you really enjoy using.
Choose Career Change or Not
These are questions that will help you understand yourself, what is important to you and what is it that you enjoy doing. Reading this article will give you an overview of what you could think about when trying to decide on a new career. The more time and serious thought you give to these questions the better your understanding will be. The better your understanding of yourself and your needs are then the better your chances of choosing a career change that will really fulfill you.
On the other hand, maybe working through your values and needs will help to put your current career into perspective. You may decide to stick with what you are doing. It is better to make the decision to stay in your career because it fulfills what it needs to than it is to resent it for being unfulfilling.
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