How do you feel about your job or career? Do you truly enjoy what you do for a living? Or, are you like most people: dreading going to sleep at night, hitting the snooze button many times… barely able to face another miserable day at work?
According to a study published in Inc.com, 50% of workers surveyed in 2007 reported that they disliked their jobs. And, I used to be one of them.
For a very long time, I felt trapped in a career that came with a lot of financial reward and status, yet left me unfulfilled. What I feared most was a loss of identity and pride. What would others think about me if I bailed out? Would they call me a failure? A quitter? A hopeless dreamer? I feared that I’d “never figure it out” and that years from now, I’d be in the exact same place I yearned to move away from, for lack of a decision or solid plan.
Many people stay put at jobs that don’t excite them, don’t challenge them, and don’t inspire them. In many cases, the job is “what they know,” or what they went to school for, or what their parents wanted for them. Now they’ve been in it so long that they fear rocking the boat of their security by going after their true passion. Hey, it pays the bills… right?
Do you have a picture of the “ideal career” in your mind? Pull it out and take a close look.
What do you do at your dream job? Does it have something to do with your talents, or your hobbies… things you love to do, and are good at? Maybe you’re a budding artist or crafter. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to make your living by creating?
What are your surroundings at your dream job? Maybe you enjoy the great outdoors. Does your job allow you to commune with nature? Perhaps your dream is to work from a home office. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to conduct business with your family close by?
No matter what the ideal profession looks like to you… chances are, you’re far away from where you want to be! Try this five step plan to open your mind to new career possibilities and “move through” the fear that immobilizes you.
Step one: Make a list of everything that you love.
Step two: Make a list of everything that you are good at.
Step three: Make a list of everything that you enjoy.
Step four: Now look for the patterns. Do any themes come up? For example, do what you love and enjoy involve the outdoors? Animals? People? Are your talents and skills related to using your hands, creating art, music, speaking, using your body? If your lists are long enough, you will see some patterns.
Step five: Now get busy and do research: Search out every possible career that emboies what you love, enjoy and are good at. Search the Internet, look in the yellow pages, go to the library, ask friends and family members for direction. Interview people, gather facts and information. Involve yourself in activities related to your themes. Attend some networking functions, career workshops, adventure groups, writing clubs… whatever it is for you!
Today I challenge you to step out of career dread and into empowerment. If you are living to work, then you’re not really living. You spend a lot of your life working in your career. Why not create a life that includes loving what you do?
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Susan Liddy is the author of the “Body Benevolence eBook; 8 Weeks to Loving Your Body” and “The Secrets to Ultimate Living; What You Wish You Knew When You Were 20!”. Find more of her tips and articles to create an ultimate life and an extraordinary business here: SusanLiddy.com
©copyright, All Rights Reserved Internationally, Susan Liddy, Susan Liddy International
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Attention Entrepreneurial Women:
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Feeling stuck in a career you do not enjoy can really be an energy drain. I remember hating Sunday evenings (because it meant Monday was around the corner) and feeling so unmotivated through out my work week!