“Work isn’t supposed to be fun,” some may say. “That’s why it’s called work.”
This mentality has led to a lot of unhappiness in modern life, as people force themselves into roles that don’t suit them or lives that don’t satisfy them, convinced there’s no other way.
What if I told you that the real secret to career success is to know who you are, to be clear about what matters to you, and to find positions (or create them for yourself) that make your days feel more like fun and less like work?
Do what you love
This isn’t a new idea – Richard Bolles wrote his pioneering classic What Color is Your Parachute on this topic decades ago (it’s still updated annually), inspiring legions of career counselors and career seekers to promote a self-aware job search.
Like Mr. Bolles, I have seen every client find better job satisfaction once they know who they are and what matters to them in their working life.
Once you’re more clear on this, you can develop expertise in a sector and a skill that will allow you to grow professionally for decades to come.
Here are three reasons why you’ll do better professionally when you’re more self-aware: you’ll create a virtuous cycle of results + action, you’ll be motivated from within to work hard, and you’ll be pleasant to be around – perhaps the most valuable skill of all.
Virtuous cycles
When you do work you enjoy, you’re usually good at it, which means you enjoy it more, and get better at it. This is a virtuous cycle, which gains momentum as you go: over time, you gain more mastery and enjoy your craft more, leading you to want to spend more time in the work, leading to better mastery and enjoyment, and so on.
You’ll be curious about and interested in your field or your tasks, and this will help you to learn more, gain confidence, and get better.
You’ll also get paid more as your expertise develops, so the cycle gets more fulfilling as long as you stay focused and engaged in the work.
Intrinsic motivation
Additionally, your enjoyment of an activity will propel you forward with intrinsic motivation. As Pauline Ndonga from Amani Institute highlighted in last week’s PCDN Global Impact Career Pop-Up, internal motivation is key to a person’s ability to perform over time.
Pandemics, geopolitics, climate change – any one of these forces can wreak havoc on our lives.
There will also be rejections and setbacks in your career.
You might find your field, your company, your division, or job in upheaval overnight.
If you’re motivated from within to do the work you do, and if you have both a sector and a skill area of expertise, you’ll be able to keep going, despite the circumstances.
If your sector experiences contraction, you can use your skill(s) to transition to another industry.
If your skills become outdated, you can leverage your knowledge of your sector to move to another role.
Not only will you be able to persist when things get difficult, but you’ll also be willing to put in long hours when you must because you’ll be interested in the work.
This motivation, pursued daily, will transform you into one of the most experienced people in your field over time.
Pleasant to be around
Self-aware people tend to be easier to be around than those who are in denial about some aspect of their lives. If they’re doing work they’re good at and that they enjoy, they’re already pretty satisfied.
In addition, by knowing what they’re good at, they’ve also identified areas of weakness and can be humble about them. Self-aware people take responsibility for their actions and can admit they are wrong.
All of these are delightful qualities to be around.
As a career expert once taught me: You’re hired for what you know, and fired for who you are.
If you’re an intrinsically motivated, talented person who can admit a mistake and be humbled in life? Now that’s a recipe for success.
Best career advice I can give?
Focus on doing work you enjoy, by identifying a sector and a skill/suite of skills that are a good fit for you.
Be fierce about insisting on this for yourself.
Enjoying your work will motivate you through difficult times, and will inspire you to work hard to develop expertise.
You’ll experience the benefit of enjoying the work, gaining confidence, and getting better at it, and you’ll be motivated to stick with it – or use transferable skills to move on – when there are setbacks.
That’s your special sauce for the career search: figure out who you are, what matters to you, and what you’re really good at, and channel this knowledge into building a lifetime of expertise in a sector and skill area that will allow you to consistently contribute, despite life’s upheavals.
This special sauce isn’t secret, so please: pass it along!
(And if you’re looking for clarity about your career search, or help with the basics like networking and resume writing, contact me to set up a free 30 minute consultation).
