My Career

As I look back on my career, I have two distinct memories. The first is that of being career-confused. For the first twenty years of my career, I had many different jobs. I worked as a school teacher, supervisor of school teachers, director of volunteers for a non-profit, purchaser of office supplies, assistant director of personnel, and director of operations for a limousine company.

The second memory involves finding my labor of love and being incredibly fulfilled for the rest of my career. Once I discovered that my “right work” was being a professional speaker/seminar leader, it was a major turning point in my life. In fact, if I were queen, the one law I would have is that people can only work at things that they love. When you find work that you love, it affects every other part of your life.

Over the past years, people often ask me how I went from career-confused to labor of love. I took the following steps.

1) Understand that discovering your right work is like putting together a jigsaw puzzle. Gather pieces one at a time and when you have 80% of them, suddenly you see a picture!

2) Become incredibly self-aware. (But remember that being self-aware does not mean being self-absorbed.) Take career assessments. I recommend the Strong Interest Inventory for interests and the Personal Profile System for personality types. Take a Values Assessment and an Aptitude Test (Johnson O’Connor). Each one of these will provide a puzzle piece for you.

3) Notice what other people do for jobs. Identify those who make you envious. (Envy can be a good thing – it helps you clarify what you want). Analyze why you are envious of them.

4) Use affirmations repeatedly. Say to yourself “I am crystal clear on my right work.”

5) Volunteer at things you think you might like. And when you decide “no, this isn’t for me”, realize that every “no” will lead you to a stronger “yes”.

6) Think back on your past. What were the strong milestones for you. Again, analyze why they were so important for you. Your important past milestones can lead to incredibly important future milestones.

7) Read some books on finding your right work. I highly recommend Barbara Sher’s books: Wishcraft, I could do anything if only I knew what it was, It’s only too late if you don’t start today.

8) Spend time with people who have found their labors of love. (We become like our reference group.)

9) Continue to focus on the puzzle pieces you do have. (What you focus on expands).

10) Find a good career counselor.

If you are career-confused, realize that the journey to find your right work is worth every tough step you take. Keep going, even if it takes you years. It will not be a waste of time!