If you don’t know what kind of career you want, you’re not alone. According to The Conference Board’s 2018 survey, about half of all Americans are dissatisfied with their jobs.
Career counselors often use a Venn diagram to help a person choose a career. Its three circles encompass your interests, your skills, and other’s needs: What do you love? What are you good at? What will people pay you to do? Where these circles overlap, the theory goes, you’ll find your ideal career.
It’s really much simpler.
Ignore your skills
Your skills are irrelevant because if you love it, you’ll spend time building your skills.
“Only love will give you the drive to stick to something until you develop your gift. That’s the way really big things get accomplished in this world — by people no different than you and I who know what they want and put everything they’ve got behind it.”
– Barbara Sher, speaker, career coach, bestselling author
On the flip side, you know that when you try to sharpen your skills in an area that doesn’t interest you, it’s like trying to run in chest-deep lake water. (As much as my husband tries, I will never master his preferred method of dishwasher loading.)
Ignore the market
Wondering what people will pay for isn’t worth your energy either. When you’re pursuing work that you love, others won’t be able to resist your authentic and joyful energy.
Think about someone you know who loves their job. Even if their profession’s lingo goes way over your head, don’t you find yourself wanting to soak up their enthusiasm? Now imagine what it’s like for someone in their target market, rather than their bff, to be listening!
Choose what you love
Choose what you love over what you’re good at, or what you think people want. Focus only on desire, and the other pieces will fall into place.
“I don’t believe you live the good life by doing what you can do; you live it by doing what you want to do… All of us are good at things we’re not madly in love with. And all of us have talents we’ve never used.”
– Barbara Sher
Looking for more?
Notice I said discovering your dream career is simpler than you think, not easier. It can be super challenging to know what we desire!
If you’ve already focused on what you love, and you’re still feeling unclear about your dream career, I can help! Click here to learn more.
PC: Kimberly Bailey