You Create Your Career, Nobody Else - CareerAlley

You Create Your Career, Nobody Else - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. We have a tendency to fall into our careers. One day were in education, the next were looking for any job thats even vaguely related to what we studied, and then some time passes and hey presto, thats our life! It doesnt have to be like this, however. There is another choice, and that is to take control of your career and make it your own. If youre feeling powerless in your career, remember that its always up to you. Every day you make a choice; what will your decision be tomorrow? Will you stay on the path youre currently on, or will you start walking toward the career that allows you to say yes, Im happy with my job? How Do You See Your Life? Theres a question that few people ask themselves, but which every person should: how do you want your life to look? If you were able to read a story of your life 500 years from now, what would you want it to say? Thinking in these terms allows us to strip away the day to day issues that occupy our mind and think clearly about what it is we want from our time on earth. Once youve got an answer, your general motivation will be clear, and youll be able to think about the type of work that might best suit your driving forces. Establishing Whats Important Every single person has different wants and desires. What are yours? Whats important to you? This isnt a straightforward thing to determine, especially when were young. Thats why its important not to rush into a career straight after youve completed your studies. Instead, take a period just to live life and then slowly but surely your values and ideals will present themselves. Your motivation might be money it is a lot of peoples but it might not; its all about finding your way of doing things, and not your mothers or fathers or anybody elses. If youre struggling to determine what is most important to you, ask yourself what job you would do if money were not a factor. Lets say its a moneyless society, but you have to do something: what would you choose? Whatever it is is probably what you should be doing with your life! Location Matters There are some practical matters to think about when it comes to your career. Chiefly, where you can do it. If youre interested in working in fashion, then being located in a rural area away from a cosmopolitan city will not be the best spot for you. You can think about what you would like to do forever, but youll have to actually put yourself in a position to get the job if you want to make it a reality. If youre tied to a spot that isnt a hotspot for your intended industry, it doesnt mean that you definitely wont be able to work in it. You might just need to get more creative with how youre involved. Generally, though, moving to where the jobs are is the best course of action and easy enough to do if youre young and have few responsibilities or commitments. Blending Passion With Education Unless youre awesomely and naturally gifted in your intended career, you will need to have some education in that field for you to be employable. While it isnt the case for all industries, being passionate generally isnt enough to find gainful employment. Aside from finding a job, getting training will also turn your passion into a useful skill. If you want to make helping people your career, then an A degree in human services will give you the training you need to succeed. If you want to work in the media, then finding an internship at a company that reflects your interests will help you find a job further on down the line. What Feels Right Theres a lot of questions you can ask yourself if youre trying to determine what you should do with your life, but dont overlook one of the biggest tools you have: your intuition. If youre in a job that is unfulfilling and uninspiring, youll feel it. Itll be a Sunday evening and the simple joys of the evening will be eroded by the thought of having to go to work the next day. When you have a job and life that you love, you wont feel any trepidation at the prospect of going to work. Youll be able to reclaim Sunday evenings. If you can feel yourself get fired up by the thought of working in one particular field, you should ignore everything else: thats where you should be working. Looking for Inspiration Ask yourself this: which historical figure do you admire most, and why? We tend to think of the heavyweights of history as superhuman, but they were just regular people who pushed themselves to be more. And so can you. Theres a lot to learn from people who have refused to settle for less and carved out their own life. Its in this bracket that you want to one day be. Dont just read biographies of successful people in the past for your own entertainment; actively learn something and incorporate those lessons into your career and life. Hobby, Or a Job? That being said, it doesnt always go that just because youre excited about something you should make it your job. Some things should exist just as passions you indulge in your spare time rather than something you try to make a living from. Doing something for fun and doing something for money are two very different things. Instead, focus on the broader traits of your passions that make them enjoyable to you, and go from there. It might be that you like working out challenges or being creative, in which case there would be many jobs in which those skills are valued. Marking the Trail Look through the history of the world, and youll see inspirational person after inspirational person who have created their own destiny. It sounds grand, but hear us out. Sometimes, what you want to do with your life wont have a network established that allows you to get qualifications, find a job, and work your way up. Sometimes you need to do it on your own, or at least without the help that most people have. If you believe in what you want to do, youll find a way to make it work even if you have to establish the path yourself. Just because it hasnt been done before doesnt mean it cant be done in the future! Hard Times Come, Hard Times Go Theres an idea that if you love your job, every day will be one long rolling wave of unparalleled enjoyment and contentment. This is not the case. No job is perfect, and if you fundamentally love what you do, youll still find that there are days where your patience and happiness is tested. Getting a new job doesnt take away your humanness, and no human is happy all the time! Additionally, as you begin your journey toward your new career, youll find there are difficulties along the path. When this happens, you need to think of the bigger picture. Dont think of where you are, but where youre going. Source In for the Long Haul Talking about having patience, dont forget that youre in this for the long haul. Its not just about getting the qualifications and putting yourself on the track to a new job. If youve selected your new career path correctly, itll be a lifelong passion that will never end. As such, dont just think of your career switch as something for now. Think of it in terms of 5, 10, 15 years. Though dont forget that youll never be too old to switch careers should your passions change over time! Striking the Work/Life Balance Your job will be your passion, but it shouldnt be your entire life. A lot of budding entrepreneurs feel passion for what they do, but that passion only ends in them refusing to take breaks for vacations and ultimately burning themselves out. While its admirable to throw yourself into something you care about, if you fail to pay attention to the other areas of your life then you might find that later in life you have a career that youre proud of but that youve missed out on the other aspects of life that make living so enjoyable. What Color Is Your Parachute? Everyone is different. There is no one mode of living that suits everybody. In the 1970s, Richard Nelson Bolles asked, what color is your parachute? Everyones is different. If youre able to strip away the expectations and hone in on what you really what to do during your short time on earth, youll be on step closer to creating a life that leaves you fulfilled. Its not an easy thing to figure out, but probably the most worthwhile aspect of life when we finally do. We are always eager to hear from our readers. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or suggestions regarding CareerAlley content. Good luck in your search,Joey Google+