Introduction Are you wondering whether you are in the right field or moving in the right direction? Are you a typical job-hopper? Is the grass always greener somewhere else? If this is the case you might not have clarity on what is important for you and what makes you thrive.
You are perhaps trying to achieve goals that are not aligned with your values, and you might not even be aware of that! This article gives you 4 ways to support you in pointing your career in the direction you want.
Dreams First of all, how cliché, it starts with comparing your current situation and career path with that what you are dreaming of.
Forget those limiting beliefs and the negative self-talk for a moment, and all those excuses for not pursuing your dreams - just start visualising yourself doing that what you've always wanted to do.
If you don't have that very clear, I'm sure you can think of how you want to feel when you're doing what you want to do: what is that feeling that you want to achieve and that you don't have at the moment? Of course, later on in this brainstorm phase you'll be looking at those limiting beliefs and excuses more in depth, as you need to know what is holding you back and where the fear comes from.
That will enable you to find out if you feel up to the challenge to overcome your obstacles and pursue that what you really want.
Reflection on your career Now that you've refreshed your dreams, and know a bit better what that feeling is that you would like to get out of your career, it is time to reflect on your career to date.
What are aspects of your professional life that make you proud? What are your strengths? Where do you get your passion from? Which aspects of the role(s) you have (had) did you really enjoy to spend your time on? What are the conflicts you have about? What do you admire in your professional role models? All the thinking you are doing now lead to clarity about elements in your professional life you would like to get more or less of.
An example: Adam is reflecting on his current role and discovers that he currently spends a lot of time on operational management, and more specific the administration side of his management role.
A big chunk of his working day goes up on writing reports instead of communicating with his staff, something which attracted him to apply for this role a year ago in the first place.
What he really wants is to put his energy in coaching his staff.
The reflection on his role put things back in perspective for Adam; he knows what he wants more of in his role and can start with putting the necessary structures in place to achieve this.
It isn't going to be easy though, because those administrative tasks need to be done somehow, but he is motivated to do things differently.
Reflection on your life Just as you've done a reflection on your career, reflect now on your life using the same questions as you did before: what do you consider major achievements in your life of which you are most proud? What are your strengths? Where do you get your passion from? How do you like to spend your pastime? Your values It is very important to work towards goals that are aligned with your values.
Your values are those things that are important to you and define you.
If absent you will feel out of context, find that something is missing, you'll be not very motivated and you could become quite unhappy.
Examples of values are: family happiness, health, competitiveness, friendship, affection, wisdom, fame, achievement, wealth, freedom, integrity, and so on.
If family happiness is your most important value and you have a very demanding job requiring you to work more than full-time, it could be that this value is being challenged.
Or if personal development is top priority for you, but not for your manager, to remain satisfied in your current role you have to step up for yourself and come up with options to align your role with this important value.
Conclusion There are several ways to support you in pointing your career towards the direction you want: comparing your current career path with that what you are dreaming of, reflecting on your career to date, reflecting on your life and identifying your key values.
The outcomes will clarify what is important to you so that you'll be able to put the necessary structures in place to start making changes.