What Do You REALLY Want to Be When You Grow Up?
May 26, 2010
If you’re anything at all like me, you grew up in a time when parents told offspring either…
“Success is all about hard work. Work hard and you’ll go as far as you want.” Or… “You can be anything you want to be, dear, if you only put your mind to it.”
The fact is, to be truly satisfied, engaged and content (even happy!) with your career:
- Start with YOU and your goals.
- Intentionally design The 3 Elements of Your Ideal Career your “must-haves” are less likely to fall through the cracks.
- Take your unique 3 Elements for a test-drive to make sure they fit as designed. Tweak if not until you get it just right.
- Call on an expert career professional to help you think outside the job title box.
Reality Or…
To those parents I now say with all due respect and several years of confidence-building experience: HOGWASH.
Ballerina was never on my list of careers to pursue but it was fun when I was 4.
Growing up as a people-pleaser, comments like these did absolutely nothing to help me identify my talents, pinpoint my strengths and help me find ways to take my innate abilities for a test-drive in order to find my fit in the world of working professionals.
Quite the opposite infact: I was confused, left hanging and wondering if I was good at anything at all. So as the people-pleaser I started to think of vocation possibilities based on what those around me did themselves or thought I should do.
Accounting! Sure. My father was a numbers person as a financial planner. I could do accounting, just like several of my cousins. I loved playing on the now-considered-behemoth adding machine on his office desk. That was it: accounting. Until I saw my first manual cost accounting “spreadsheet.” Run!
Next: Teaching! Why didn’t I think of it before? My mother was a preschool teacher and became a middle school and high school English teacher later. My father had been a high school vocal music instructor prior to the financial planning shift. My grandfather devoted his entire career to academia eventually becoming a high school principal. Of course: teaching! It was in my blood! Then I reached my rebellious teen years and wanted nothing to do with any career path previously cleared by my elders.
Flight Attendant! That was surely it! Oh the adventure! The glamorous lifestyle! Yet, these first thoughts of pursuing a selfish desire (to travel… as far away from not-terribly-exotic Oklahoma as possible) was also short lived.
Finding — or better yet Designing — Your Sweet Spot
It wasn’t until I truly allowed myself to focus on where I knew I excelled (or could), on what I was passionate about and on what kind of place would bring out my best that I was able to be intentional about what I really wanted in my career.
Now I know. To be truly satisfied in a career, it must be comprised of exactly those three elements above and a somewhat selfish perspective. Before you start looking for a new house, for example, you make a list of “must haves” and “nice to haves.” Same with a new car, yes? Treat your career plan or job search no differently.
It has to start with YOU and your goals.
Get intentional about first carefully understanding what constitutes the three key elements of your ideal role, at the intersection of which you’ll find the sweet spot: your ideal career.
3 Elements of Your Ideal Career
Whether you are a highly motivated job seeker looking for a new position or a gainfully employed professional looking for the “next opportunity” internally, consider these three elements when asking yourself, “What do I really want to do?”
3 Elements of Your Ideal Career
3 Elements of Your Ideal Career
FUNCTION
This is the what you do piece. The tasks and activities you’re responsible for completing, the role you play, the duties and responsibilities in the job description. Marry your unique MO – how you naturally do the things you do – and your strengths with a role that needs those talents to accomplish the job most effectively and you have a match that allows you to do what you do best every day.
For example, if you are a gregarious brainstorming type who adapts every documented process to address the needs of the current situation and who thrives on experimenting with new ideas to see if they work… perhaps a role in direct marketing planning and analysis isn’t for you. (That was me, by the way. For the first 15+ years of my professional life.) No, no, leave that job to a systematic planner who decides, through strategic data analysis, what is feasible to try then carefully measures the results to gauge success and gather information on how to do it better next time. (Thank goodness for me there are people out there like this!)
PASSION
The why you do what you do piece. What difference do you want to make? What impact? What will be your legacy? What would make you excited to get out of bed every morning to work on and invest 8+ hours a day?
I’m not necessarily talking about finding the cure for cancer or saving the whales here. Unless that’s truly your thing. I’m talking about what you feel is important… what is meaningful to you. Just because your father wanted to fill the world with song doesn’t mean that’s what would make you race into the shower after turning off the alarm every morning. When you can work toward making a difference in some area that you feel strongly about, you will apply what you do best every day to something that matters.
ENVIRONMENT
The where you do what you do best piece. What does the “place” look like that will allow you to do your best work? Bright, open shared space? Private office? Your car? Outside? What is the culture/core values of the organization? Who are your colleagues (if any) and what are their attitudes, beliefs, work ethic? What are the ideal benefits and compensation?
From the physical space to the intangibles like values and benefits, outlining the characteristics of the right environment is just as important as what you do and why you do it in order to find — or design — the exact right fit for YOU.
3 Ways to Put These Ideas Into Action
1. Look back to past (or current) roles. At work. At home. In volunteer capacities. Pick one or two and list all the tasks for which you were responsible. As many as you can think of. From reading e-mails to project management to strategic planning. Then rank how you felt doing them 1-4:
1=LOVE IT! I love doing this and know I’m adding value! I could do this all day!
2=Good. I feel good about being productive and the work is essential to getting the job done.
3=Eh. A necessary evil. I could live without it but I know it has to be done.
4=HATE IT! Please don’t make me.
Those activities you ranked 1 are must-haves in your next career adventure and deal-breakers if they aren’t part of the job. The 2s are likely keepers. The 3s, well, we all have tasks that have to be done that may not be a favorite activity so which of these can you stand to do once in a while. That is compared to the 4s that drain you of energy and motivation. Are your 4s non-negotiables for your next position?
2. Ask yourself this question and write down all the answers you come up with: If I won the lottery tomorrow (and I’m talking the never-have-to-work-another-day prize), what would you do anyway? What is important enough to you that you would continue to work at it even though your financial security was no longer at stake? Now, go volunteer in some of these capacities to see if it’s worth pursuing as a vocation.
3. Remember your values. Write down the most important ideas about how you want to live your life and what you want people know about you. Write it down, post it where you’ll see it every day, and remind yourself that the new environment you will work in will respect and support these values.
“But I’m Stuck…!”
If your roof is blown off in a hurricane you would call a roofer to fix it, right? If your books are complicated, you would hire a CPA wouldn’t you? Need to build a bridge, hire an engineer to design it. You can also avoid costly career mistakes by getting help up front. It really isn’t as easy at 1-2-3 unless you’ve known since you were 5 that you wanted to be a prosecuting attorney cleaning up the mean streets of your hometown or until you’ve invested time for serious thought on all three elements with the help of someone who can hold up the mirror for you.
MPOWER can help. If you’re feeling stuck (either in your job search or in your current job), use me as a resource. Let’s schedule time to talk.
Comments
One Response to “What Do You REALLY Want to Be When You Grow Up?”
Got something to say?
AWESOME!!! I hope I haven’t waited too long butso well stated especially about the people-pleaser type.