Do you ever get that feeling that you haven’t quite got it all figured out? That you’re surrounded by colleagues, friends and acquaintances who appear to be knocking this whole ‘adult’ thing out of the park – achieving goals, realising dreams and appearing the very embodiment of success and fulfilment? If nothing could be further from the truth in your world – if every day feels more like Groundhog Day than the first day of the rest of your life – then it’s time to redefine your goals and rewrite your future, whatever your age or stage of life.
Let’s assume nothing is drastically wrong with your job. The pay’s OK and you have no job security worries. You rub along with your colleagues just fine, and feedback suggests that you are performing well. On a personal level, it ticks certain boxes, such as paying the bills and adding valuable experience to your CV. There’s a decent set of employee perks, and all the mod cons in the office. ‘Keep on keeping on’, you tell yourself, ‘It could be worse.’
Of course it could. The very opposite of all those things could be true, and more. But so could this: you could love your job. You could be fulfilled by the work that you do, inspired by your colleagues and completely engaged with the organisation’s cause, culture and vision. Really. You could. If – and it’s an important if – you could only pinpoint what on earth it is you actually want out of your career and how to make it happen.
To get what you want out of life, you’ve ideally got to know what you want. Even then, there are no guarantees, but it’s a good start. Not knowing what you want is the ultimate blocker to clawing your way out of life’s ruts. Logically speaking, if you don’t know what you want, there’s zero chance of you formulating a workable plan towards purposeful change. If you’re risk averse, you’ll do nothing and exist in Groundhog Day mode for the foreseeable future. If you’re more plucky, you might jump ship to something – anything – new, but it will be luck rather than judgment that dictates whether you’ll land on your feet.
The tricky thing is that the deeper you get into the adult world, the less support people assume that you need, especially when (on the face of it) your life seems pretty ‘sorted’. It can be hard, as well, not only to recognise that you’ve fallen out of love with your career (perhaps you only ever fell into it, rather than in love with it), but also to convince people that there is a real problem. This is compounded by how easy it is to do nothing, which is a stark contrast to the difficulty of making a change. But the sooner you confront the issue head on, the closer you will be to creating a more fulfilling life and career for yourself. It’s unlikely, after all, that a solution will land in your lap if you just sit back and wait.
Where to start, though? The answer lies in getting to know yourself better – your likes, dislikes, values, drivers, strengths, weaknesses, skills, traits and preferences. All of these things will point towards where your true sense of purpose and fulfilment lie and will guide you towards a career decision that is perfectly matched to your unique qualities. This is easier said than done, of course, because this is the kind of self-knowledge that is buried deep beneath a whole heap of other ‘noise’. Noise like the experiences that shape our behavioural choices and decisions, the expectations and norms that can curb our ability to be truly authentic, and the endless and inevitable distractions that life puts in the way of us actually taking the time to properly engage in self-reflection.
At FindMyWhy we’re no strangers to all of these challenges. We also know that with a few nudges in the right direction you do have all the answers. We’re here to provide you with the framework to shape your thought process, the feedback and analysis to interpret your answers, and the guidance to turn all of that into meaningful and actionable solutions. Not only that, once you’ve figured out what it is you really want, we’ll give you access to an extensive range of resources to support you in re-shaping your career – and life – into something that enthuses, fulfils and engages you. Even better … all of this comes free of charge.
Here’s how it works. Created by our expert team of psychologists, FindMyWhy starts with an online questionnaire, which drills down to the core ‘you’ and produces bespoke reports to help you to channel your focus and purpose accordingly. FindMyWhy will provide you with meaningful insight into who you are – everything from your preferred work styles and personality traits, to your personal values and motivational drivers – producing informed and relevant guidance that is tailored to you in a way that’s informative, cost free and accessible. It will give you the clarity and insight you need to figure out your next step and make it happen.
Transform ‘It could be worse’ into ‘It couldn’t be better’. It’s time to create a new reality that you love with FindMyWhy. You won’t look back.