Simplify - Finding Your Perfect Job
Determine Your Direction
When you start on your journey to a whole new career and personal lifestyle, it will require some soul-searching, a re-discovering of self honesty, and a little hard work. A sincere commitment to put forth the energy in this effort will help assure you that in the not-too-distant future the majority of your waking hours will be spent doing something you really enjoy doing.
Herman Cain, CEO and part-owner of Godfather's Pizza once said:
"Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful."
Plus he probably gets a free pizza whenever he wants one! Now that's happiness to some people!
At any rate, you need to be happy with where you're going with your career, happy with the feeling that you really want to go there, and happy once you accomplish your individual goals.
So when do you begin?
It's while you still enjoy the "comfort" of being gainfully employed that you should take some time to begin listing the things you like and want to do. This is a good place to start changing your "I would like" thoughts to a definite "I want to" mode of thinking. It's an easy and wonderfully awakening process.
With a blank piece of paper, list in one column the parts of all of your previous work experiences that you enjoyed the most. This list includes both your paid positions as well as any unpaid and volunteer work you have done. Make no judgments. If you liked it, write it down.
Note if you're a people person, if you like activities where people interact with each other. Would you rather work alone on your own schedule meeting your own demands? Do you like giving or taking direction? What about traveling for work? Working at home? The goal is to focus on the kind of work environment and activities that make you happy, not what makes your spouse, mother, father, kids, or anybody else happy.
Next, in an adjacent column, list the parts of all of your previous work experiences for which you had the least amount of enjoyment, and those kinds of tasks you don't want to do again. Maybe it was the job that required weekly written reports, all those meetings, not being able to put your ideas into action, or one that required you to always work overtime. Again, whatever it is, write it down.
Remember, these lists can change as time goes on. But for now, when you feel they are fairly comprehensive, compare them to your present position. How close does your current job come to meeting your needs? If it doesn't, it could be time for you to make your change. There are many different types of jobs in the world with many different kinds of components.
Well, now you've started something!
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