Tips for Achieving Fulfillment at Work
For many people, working is a means to an end, rather than a true vocation. If this is the case for you, then perhaps you need to shake things up a bit. It isn’t always easy to find a job you love. Often it’s a case of trial and error, of taking a journey into the unknown and discovering along the way that the career you thought you wanted is not for you. Not everyone is able to find fulfillment at work, but if you feel like something’s missing, here are some tips to help you take your career in a new direction.
What’s Your Dream Job?
Everyone has a dream job. Some people want to be an astronaut, even though they flunked science at school. Others dream of being an actor or a famous novelist. The point is to sit down and think about what you would do in an ideal world, and then consider whether it is in any way achievable.
It may be that all you need to do is retrain. For example, say you wanted to work as a probation officer, but you have spent the last twenty years as a school admin assistant. You could do an online masters in criminal justice and start looking at career opportunities as a probation officer. Criminal justice masters programs open doors into many areas, so your dream could quite easily become a reality if you are willing to work hard enough.
Write a List
If you don’t have a clue what it is you really want to do, or where your talents lie, start by writing a list of everything you are good at, no matter how small. Seeing a list of your talents on paper could make it easier to see where your skill-set lies. For example, if you are a great listener, you are good at helping people figure out their problems, and you are very organized, you could consider a career in nursing.
Start Networking
Use social media to contact people who might be able to help you in your preferred career. The contacts you make now could be invaluable to you further down the line. If possible, find a mentor, someone who can help you move into your dream career.
Small Steps
Start small and move a step at a time. In the movies, people hand their notice in some suitably dramatic fashion, stride out of the door without a backwards glance, and walk into a dream job, cue happy ending. In real life, it rarely happens like that. People have families to support and they can’t just quit. If this sounds like your situation, start researching online and find out more about alternative careers. Once you have a plan, then you can put it in motion.
Be Brave
Changing career is always a leap into the unknown. There is no guarantee you will find fulfillment and it could all go horribly wrong, but if you don’t try, you will never know. Do you really want to wake up in 20 years’ time with regrets that you never took that leap of faith? No, of course you don’t.