Are You in Love with Your Career or Another Profession?

What profession fuels your greatest interest?

The happiest employees, job seekers, and professionals have one thing in common, a love for what they do. Are you in love with your career? Or have you ever wondered about venturing into another profession? Many people struggle in silence with an unfulfilling career, hopping from job to job seeking new opportunities they think they’ll love.  Before considering another profession, work towards understanding your true career motivations, must-haves, nice-to-haves, can’t accept and nonnegotiable items.  Get a good snapshot of yourself by asking tough and transparent questions.  You see what makes you happy will make you fall in love.  If your love for your current career is much stronger than starting over with something new, then focus on nurturing what you currently have.  If the opposite is true, then it might be time to explore another profession.

Here are 4 things to consider:

1. Be Selective: When choosing a career path, it’s just like choosing a mate. You can decide which path is most suitable, uplifting and complementary to who you are and where you aspire to be.  Don’t select a career based on short-term gain.  Take time to evaluate the long-term benefits and try picking something based on genuine interest that also allows for growth. Avoid selecting careers solely based on money, trending professions, or based on what others see you as.  Ask yourself the tough questions 1) Who am I now? 2) Who would I like to become? 3) What investments should I make now to prepare for long-term success? This doesn’t mean things will always work out, but questioning yourself allows you to focus on finding a career you’ll love and a profession to growth into.
2. Partner with your career: Your career is like a partnership meaning both must work together. A healthy partnership requires a certain amount of time to nurture and develop.  This means spending time to learn and be curious about every component of your business, studying the market, trends, talking to stakeholders, gathering data that will help you really get to know your career. You are establishing a strong foundation of working together with your career and not letting your career just work you.
3. Remain Committed until You Can’t: So many people have great aspirations, ideas, and start out following their dreams and land in the right field. Then something happens that derails their career motivations. Maybe it’s the lack of finances to pursue an education, a toxic manager who doesn’t believe in the employee’s ability, and/or other internal or external factors that overwhelm a person tricking them into believing they can’t remain committed.  Whatever the case may be, try hard to focus and remain committed, unless your career is causing you more harm than good.  Then you just might need to pivot and explore another profession.
4. Don’t be afraid to explore new opportunities: When you discover that you’ve been selective in choosing a career, partnered with your career, remained committed and see the fruits of your hard work, stay the course! If you’ve tried all of the above options yet constantly find yourself longing and looking for more, if might be time to walk away and explore another profession. Before you pivot, always prepare and have a well-defined plan to step into something new. This would be a great time to consult a neutral party that can offer clear guidance.

Please feel free to share this article with anyone interested in career growth and professional development. Contact us at www.15leader.com or [email protected].  15 Leader, 15Leader!