Part 1 of the article can be found here.
It’s up to you to put in the effort to start this process to define your why, it can seem overwhelming to begin with but once you start understanding your thoughts, feelings and habits it’s easier to see what motivates you.
“The WHY can help set a vision to inspire people. The WHY can guide us to act with purpose, on purpose.”
There are three pillars of self-awareness you can use to start to understand your WHY:
Skills: What am I good at? Taking time to get a sense of what skills you possess, will allow you to see where your true strengths are. Your strengths encompass your natural abilities, your talents, marketable (hard) skills, people (soft) skills and other life skills. It’s important to understand what your skills are as you work towards leadership, managing teams or switching careers. Being attuned to your strengths can help you find a role that is both rewarding and one that compliments your natural ability. We’ve written about strengths previously here, check this out to learn how to identify your strengths.
Values: What do I value? Knowing what is important to you in your work, it’s critical when you are planning your career. Consider values as your core beliefs that guide how you live and work. Those values (should) determine your priorities and evaluate whether you are on the right path. There are various free worksheets and tools online to help you identify your career values, when doing those activities aim to identify your 5 values most important to you. When your workplace, employer and your role reflect those 5 core values, the alignment will help you uncover your purpose.
Passions: What am I passionate about? Passion is an interesting concept, you will likely have more than one passion in your lifetime, so explore all the possibilities. Some passions will not necessarily translate to a career easily (or at all), however if you can tie what you do for a living to something you’re interested in or passionate about, work will become exciting and inspiring to you. Your passions are your interests that constantly leave you wanting more. Your passions and interests are those things that engulf your state of mind, those things that make you lose track of the world and time. To find your passion start by considering activities that make you smile, laugh, and feel most fulfilled.
Conducting a self awareness exercise like the above, can help you identify areas you want to pursue and steer you in the direction of your why – the reason we get out of bed in the morning and do what we do, the element in your life that you will not give up under any circumstance.
Be the CEO of your own career. Career management is all about planning the way you work and where you work to achieve your larger career goals. If you are ready to find a job that lights a career-long spark and outlives the ?honeymoon phase?, browse our recent opportunities on our JOBS tab or get in touch with one of our experienced consultants.