“We all have [a] kind of song in our hearts, a song that tells us who we are and what we genuinely want from life. It may play very softly, and it easily gets lost in the random clamor of everyday living, but if you listen, if you develop an ear for it, you’ll hear it everywhere and your life will never look the same.” (Bill Strickland with Vince Rause 114)
WHAT DO I REALLY WANT? WHERE DO I START? At times these questions are hard to answer as an adult. As a young child, it was easy to list off what you loved to do. Eat ice cream, make a fort and play on the tree swing each rated pretty high back then. Children are creative. They explore what they love to do. Children are also young enough to ignore self-imposed barriers that we build in our minds as adults.
Despite any lack of experience, children believe they can do anything successfully, including a grown up career. What was on your ‘when I grow up’ career list? (I know my list included rock star, professional athlete, lawyer, writer and teacher!) As adults this list becomes increasingly challenging to write. Do you find yourself automatically inserting the “no’s” and mentally crossing off a possibility before even touching pen to paper?
- No, I’m too old to start a new profession.
- No, I don’t have enough time to go back to school and learn something new.
- No, I am not talented enough to pursue my dream. I might fail…
In your thirties you may realize you are bored with your job and need to do something more fulfilling. If you continue inserting the NO’s, then you again find yourself in your sixties still disliking your job. Since fewer people are retiring in their sixties, you still have a chance to reinvent your career and do something you really love. The alternative is to spend your last 10+ working years saying shoulda, coulda, woulda.
Find the song in your own life. Write down the things you love to do. They can be job functions in your current or past job(s), they can be college or high school activities. Your list can even include hobbies.
Now write down why you love to do each of these activities. How do they make you feel? Do you think they have long-lasting excitement? Do they help you get to another goal in life? Really explore why you love these activities. It may not be clear as to what you really want to do in your professional career until you spend some time figuring out the why.
Go through your list and decide if you can explore adding or highlighting some of these activities in to your current job or company environment. If not start thinking about which activities make you the happiest and most productive. Did you love volunteering to tutor another student in high school? Did you love being in student leadership in college? Did you love helping customers at work? Pick out the aspects that made these activities fun and make sure that your next job allows you to explore the things that you love to do. This process helps you understand the real qualities you have to offer to a company and make you much more confident in an interview.
Find your childhood desire to be happy and successful. Then make a plan and act on that desire.
“Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.” ~Dalai Lama
[…] FINDING HAPPINESS AT WORK […]