meaning, engagement, and a sense of purpose. Or, to look at it another way; it's because much of our time is spent at work that it needs to be meaningful, engage us, and provide a sense of purpose.
What's Getting in the Way?
So, if a job, work, or career can provide meaning and purpose and can help us feel fulfilled, why don't we all just go get ourselves a brilliant, meaningful, purpose‐filled job, work, or career?
There are a range of reasons. Does one or more of these reasons sound like you?
I have no idea what I want to do. (But I feel that I should!)
There's nothing that really interests, inspires, or enthuses me.
I have a job or a career, but it's going nowhere. I feel there are few, if any, options.
There's more than one option. I can't decide; I'm going round in circles.
I have something in mind but I'm worried I might pursue it then not like it.
I know what I want to do but it will take years of study before I'd qualify and be able to earn a living.
I have a passion I want to turn into a career but I don't know how to go about it.
I know what I want to do but don't know how to get an ‘in’.
I know what I'd like to do but I'm not clever enough/I'm too old, it's too late/it won't pay enough/I'd have to move/I have physical or mental health difficulties/I have caring responsibilities for family members/there may not be opportunities for career progress.
I can't see the bigger picture; what might the future hold? What might I need to think about re future opportunities or problems – technology, world events, etc?
I feel pressured and confused by family, friends, or colleagues who are telling me to follow a particular job or career: ‘Choose this career; it pays well and/or will give you status.’ ‘Choose the safe path.’ ‘A job is just a job. Work isn't meant to be fulfilling.’ ‘So‐and‐so loves her job, you should do that too.’ Or, ‘So‐and‐so hates his job, don't ever do what he's doing.’
Not knowing what to do or how to go about it, or whether it will be the right choice, whether you'll be good enough, how you can do it with the commitments and responsibilities you have, etc. are all valid concerns.
But, the good news is that those concerns all come with solutions. And they're all in this book!
You don't have to know what you want to do and have one vocation for the rest of your working life. You might not have an idea of exactly what your career path looks like and that's OK. Yes, it's helpful to think where you'd like to be in two three, five, or 10 years' time, but also know that things can change; even if you did know what you wanted to do, you'd still probably change because of world events, technology etc. Your future job might not even exist yet! Whatever you do next or plan to do in the near future, you might change your mind after five, 10, 20, or even 30 years; it's likely you'll have several different paths or one path that will go off in different directions.
Instead of long‐term career plans, think along the lines of short‐term career plans: two to five years. Think in terms of a range of possibilities and opportunities that could come up at some point down the line. Think in terms of developing your knowledge, skills, and experience.
Perhaps you feel that there's nothing that interests or enthuses you enough to make a career out of. You don't need to start with a brilliant idea or burning passion; you just need to make a start with something and move forward from there. There's a wealth of ideas and information about a huge range of jobs and careers out there.
Perhaps you do have a passion: a burning interest that you want to turn into a career but you don't know how to go about it or you know what you want to do but don't know how to get an ‘in’. No problem! There's plenty of advice and information out there; you just have to do some research. Chapter 5 explains this.
Maybe, though, you're interested in more than one line of work or one specific career; there's more than one option, you can't decide, you're going round in circles. Not to worry; it's not so difficult to narrow it down – knowing your values, skills, and abilities can help; the next two chapters explain how. It's also possible that you won't have to make a choice – it's possible to follow more than one interest in an area of work/profession; to have a portfolio career. Chapter 7 explains how you can do this.
It could be that you have something in mind but you're concerned that you might pursue it then realize you don't like it. That's OK – there's no need to commit to something before you're absolutely sure; there are a number of ways you can find out about a potential line of work, profession, or career before you commit to it. And even if at some point you change your mind, it's not as difficult as you might think, to change direction. You simply need to take a path that feels right today and know that you can re‐evaluate in the future; change what you do or the direction you take as and when circumstances present themselves – opportunities, challenges, setbacks, etc.
Maybe you know what you want to do but you're concerned that it will take years of training and study before you'd qualify and be able to earn a living. Certainly, that's true for some professions, but for so many other jobs and professions, there's often more than one path; apprenticeships, for example, allow you to earn while you learn. You can find out more about apprenticeships in Chapter 6.
What if you know what you'd like to do but you believe you can't do it because you're not clever enough/you're too old, it's too late? Perhaps you believe that what you'd really like to do won't pay enough or you'd have to move to a different part of the country? Or you might have physical or mental health difficulties or else you have caring responsibilities for family members and think that would exclude you from pursuing a particular career. Maybe you believe that the career that interests you might not offer much in the way of opportunities for career progress? The answer to all these concerns is to recognize that they are assumptions; beliefs for which you may not have any concrete evidence. Again – there's a wide range of advice and information available that can help you navigate your way to the work you'd like to do.
Finally, what to do about the career advice and pressure from family and friends? Whether you told them you were planning on training to be a horse whisperer, a microbiologist or tarot card reader, a brain surgeon or a florist, there's always going to be someone who thinks you're doing it all wrong. Listen instead to Dave Grohl, the front man of the Foo Fighters, who said ‘No one is you and that is your power.’
Steve Jobs, co‐founder of Apple, had some good advice too, he said: ‘Your time is limited so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most importantly, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become.'
The quest to do work you enjoy, that's right for you, is a process of discovery and experimentation. There are three key steps. You need to:
Know more about yourself; what your values are – what's important to you, what your skills, strengths, and abilities are.
Know
