The Wrong Way and the Right Way To Find Work You Love
When I speak with people about a direction for their career it can become apparent they are trying to excel in something that is not in alignment with their strongest talents and skills.
Davide Cassanello via Compfight
For example, it may be they are trying to do well as an engineer when they are more gifted at sales.
Or they think they might be a good accountant when they are more talented in teaching others.
Other times people believe they can do well in any job regardless of the skills required to excel in that job. As long as the job is a “promotion” they want the job.
The problem is we try to make ourselves good at something God did not design us to do well. Part of this is the value we place on certain types of work or certain skills. We would rather be a mediocre attorney than an exceptional plumber.
Read More3 Kinds of Skills You Need to Love Your Job
In seventh grade I was chosen to be something called a peer counselor. I had no idea what this was at the time.
All I knew was that I liked being able to get out of school to go to a nice hotel with free pastries for a day of peer counselor training.
It turned out the training helped us learn some skills to counsel other kids who were dealing with problems they didn’t want to talk about with adults.
Unbeknownst to me at the time, this would be the spark that made me aware of my ability to counsel others and help them solve their problems.
Read MoreThe Way to Get the Job You’ve Always Dreamed Of
Gary was always good at fixing things. He could take a car engine apart and put it back together. If your washing machine had broken he could fix it.
In high school Gary was always in the auto shop classroom and never in the library. He was that guy.
Yasser Alghofily via Compfight
However, when the time came he thought he needed to go to college in order to get a good job.
He went through college hating every minute of it, wishing he could spend more time refurbishing the 1969 Chevy pickup waiting in the garage at home.
After graduating from college with a low GPA and a headache, Gary went looking for a job.
Read MoreHow to Choose the Work You Love When You Feel Stuck (Part 3)
(This post is part of a series. Read Part 1 and Part 2)
Ultimately, choosing a career direction comes down to one thing.
Photo Credit: hobvias sudoneighm
What do you want to do?
That’s it.
You can take all the personality assessments in the world, go through tons of exercises, and work with coaches.
However, when all is said and done you have to make a choice and move toward a goal.
You may say, “but I still don’t know what I want to do”.
Read MoreHow to Make Better Decisions and Feel Good About Them
We all have decisions we make on a daily basis.
Do I go to Starbucks or Peete’s?
Should I wear the blue shirt or the green shirt?
Photo Credit: Julia Manzerova via Compfight
What about big decisions?
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