People are now more career-driven than ever. Professionals are more competitive, more passionate, more assertive, and maybe even more picky about the work they want to do. This has become the norm for many skilled professionals these days. In a way, it’s changing the way people think about work.
However you want to look at it, you do deserve to find the perfect (or almost perfect) job for your lifestyle. It is becoming more and more difficult to settle for a job that does not provide the things you’re looking for, whether that be money, freedom, new experiences, or something else.
At the end of the day, most people just want to find a job that aligns with the way they want to live.
Often, the main challenge with this professional journey is the how. People tend to get lost in the ocean of professional opportunities. You might be trying to find your way across various career options that are pulling you in every direction, without a paddle or a map.
Then again, you don’t have to fret. As long as you take a deep breath and take a few minutes to focus on yourself, you can find the best job for your lifestyle. Follow these steps to find out how.
Know who you are
It is important to know who you are. Yes, it is deep, and yes, it is necessary. If you’re looking to begin a career that could last for a lifetime, you ought to know what types of jobs can and can’t fulfil your needs. Since working is part of your daily life, you will need to determine what about a job makes you, well, you.
The perfect example is how you deal with people. You may need to determine if you are better off working alone or getting things done as a member of a team. If you do consider yourself somewhere in the middle of those two, you need to know how much you want to work with others and how much you want to work alone. You need to determine that perfect balance for you to work harmoniously with the universe.
Knowing who you are doesn’t mean you have to know everything about yourself right now. You just need to know enough for you to find that comfortable space where you can function really well, and try to bring out your true potential. At the end of the day, you do need to let yourself wander a bit and find the right way to live for you. You can only do that when you are free from self-doubt and when you are sure how you want the world to see you.
Find out what you want
It seems like an obvious question, but this is simultaneously the most basic and most difficult questions you can ask yourself:
What do you want?
This existential question can guide you toward a career that best fits the lifestyle you want to create for yourself. In order to find out the answer, you need to first step back from the chaotic pace of your day-to-day reality, and calm down. When you get into this peaceful zone, you need to listen to your heart. Whatever immediately pops into mind may very well be the answer that you are looking for.
Do you want a work that challenges you mentally or physically? You can be a researcher or a gym instructor.
Does it excite you to work with people to bring about a lasting contribution to society, or would you rather to spend countless hours working on your own to develop an innovative product? You can be a teacher or an electronics engineer.
If you can answer all of these questions honestly and with confidence, you just might have a chance of nailing down the perfect career path for you.
Be open and honest with what you don’t want
At some point, you have experienced unpleasant things in your life. These may be heart-breaking, annoying, uncomfortable, or even uneventful things you don’t want to experience ever again.
It’s simple. If things about life bother you, don’t choose those things to be part of your career. If you don’t want to be bothered by unrelenting customers, stay away from retail or customer relations. If you no longer want to be annoyed by traveling from your home to the office due to seemingly endless traffic, you might want to consider becoming a freelancer and work from home.
Sometimes, it is more impactful to consider the things that can cause you negative emotions than the ones that can bring you joy and satisfaction.
However, you shouldn’t focus wholly on the things you don’t want. You just need to know the effects of these negative factors so that you know where and how to find a job that can bring you what you actually do want.
It’s really just addition by subtraction. If you know what you don’t want, you know which ones to avoid. If you eliminate all of the things you don’t want, the only things left are those you do want.
Do your research
At the end of the day, you do need to do the legwork to find the best job for you. You need to do your research, ask around for tips, and determine which jobs are truly the best options for you.
Now that you know the factors that would make up your ideal career path, you need to start going out there to find the job that matches your criteria. More often than not, you find the opportunities that you will work with, not the other way around.
When you have finally found that opportunity, learn how to negotiate. Speak up. It still part of your journey to find the best scenario for you. Remember: the answer is always no if you don’t ask.
If at any point you feel lost in your professional journey, remember that you can always go back to asking yourself what you really want. That can help you straighten out any challenges that might come your way. As long as you know who you are and what you want, no one can stop you.
