As a career-counselor-for-life, I love asking people not only what they do, but also the hows and whys of their career journey so far. It’s NOT so I can put a value on people based on their job title, education or experience level, or income. Your job and your paycheck do not determine your worth! I ask because I am genuinely interested in people’s career stories and motivations, and thrilled when I learn they are pursuing their “whys.”
Pursuing work that aligns with your ultimate motivation(s) leads to feelings of fulfillment and satisfaction, and often makes you work harder and excel within the position. Of course it’s more complex than this, because we have to consider the full “VIPs” package: values, interests, personality, and skills. I consider motivation (your “why”) the combination of your top interests and values.
So what is your “why?”
Do you know what your “why” is? Could you articulate it to a friend? To a prospective employer?
To explore your unique “why,” ask yourself these questions:
- What topic(s) do you love learning about?
- Who do you admire and why?
- What is something that you could talk about for hours?
- If you received a $5MM grant for starting a new business, what kind of organization would you create?
- How would you rank the following aspects of work regarding level of importance to you: altruism, creativity, leisure, salary, and variety?
Were any of them difficult to answer? Did you notice any themes? Do you see the themes reflected in your current job and/or extracurricular activities?
If you’d like to further explore your primary motivators, values, interests, personality traits, and skills, there are SO many resources to help you figure it all out. There are formal assessments you can take, such as the Strong Interest Inventory and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (beware of free online assessments that may not have been psychometrically validated). These, along with some good old-fashioned career counseling, can help you increase your self-awareness and get you closer to your “why.”
So why aren’t we all doing this?
Because life gets in the way. Bills, family and health situations, geography, financial resources, access to networks, the list goes on. And then there are workplace situations and people that are largely out of our control, like unrealistic workloads and toxic coworkers. To this I say:
Not sure where to start?
I would start with some self-examination. Where are you now in your career and are you happy? What was it like answering the questions up above? Do you want and/or need to make a change?
If it feels too overwhelming and you’re not sure which direction or action steps to take, I’m here to help! Check out the resources over at lifeworksource.com/resources/ and my career coaching page to explore options at lifeworksource.com/services/coaching/.
And best wishes to you in your career journey!
