6 steps to your ideal career: Part 1 (Steps 1-3)

Working out the right career for you, the ideal career that will make you happy is no simple task.

There is no careers match software or simple exercise that could work this out for you and you should beware of anyone peddling promises of a quick fix solution because it just doesn’t exist.

What you decide is your ideal career today may change in the future as you gain more work experience or as your circumstances change. This is normal and all part of the journey.

So where do you start?

First of all you need to consider what the ideal career for you actually means. What are your priorities and what motivates you to get up in the morning. Working out what career is the best for you requires a level of self-awareness and to achieve this you need to ask yourself some fundamental questions about what you enjoy and why. 

Okay, so if we start with considering what you enjoy, or used to enjoy, doing and then break down those activities.

Confused?

Let me explain.

Whether you’re thinking about a previous or current job, a completed or current course or a hobby you need to consider what aspects of the job, course or hobby you actually enjoyed.

Take cycling, you might cycle socially, for exercise or as a means to simply get from A to B. You might plan your route, pack your cagoule in case it rains, some food and water, your phone, organise for others to join you or you may do none or few of these things. You may enjoy the physical side but not the social. Everyone’s different so consider what you enjoy and what you would prefer not to do.

Another example might be previous work experience such as an accountant or a forest ranger. In each case you might have enjoyed or not enjoyed the work but in neither case is it likely that you would have completely loved or hated the job. There will be aspects of both you may like a future career to involve. If you break down the activities involved in each of the jobs there may be some aspects of the work you have enjoyed and you might want to consider for a future career.

Try making a list of the jobs you have held and hobbies you are involved in and then consider in each case which aspects of the jobs and hobbies you enjoyed and which ones you didn’t. 

In step 2 you need to take the information you’ve gathered in step 1 to consider what that reveals about your skills and qualities.

For instance if you enjoyed all the preparation work including planning the route when cycling that might suggest you have organisational skills and these skills are perhaps something you enjoy using.

If you preferred to cycle for the physical endurance that might suggest you’re an active person and being active is important to you.

There are other reasons why people enjoy a physically demanding hobby such as road cycling or mountain biking, for instance the sense of freedom or the opportunity to clear the mind. In this case it might suggest you cycle for the benefit of your mental health if other aspects of your life are stressful.

Some people thrive in stressful environments but if this isn’t you you might want to focus on the aspects of your life that are causing you stress and consider if there is anything that needs to change.

These are only suggestions for illustrative purposes. You are the expert of you. In each case you need to work out what the activity and your enjoyment of it tells you about yourself.

This stage is all about motivation. What motivates you? What keeps you interested? What makes you want to get out of bed in the morning?  Knowing what motivates you is the key to finding the ideal career. I break motivation into 4 main categories: Emotional, Cerebral, Practical and Financial. 

It is unlikely that a person has all 4 of these motivations but it is normal to have more than one. If you choose more than one motivation you need to place each in order of strongest first.

Emotional motivation describes the satisfaction someone might experience from connections with people and objects such as art.

Cerebral motivation describes the satisfaction someone might experience from being mentally challenged. Problem solvers are cerebrally motivated.

Practical motivation describes the satisfaction someone might experience from being active and interactive with their daily activities.

Financial motivation describes the satisfaction someone might experience from financial reward. Sales environments where a person is paid according to performance typically suits a financially motivated person.

Now take a look at 6 Steps to your ideal career Part 2 (Steps 4-6)