I have been struggling lately with finding my purpose in life in regards to my career. I have taken all the personality tests and even hired a coach to help me determine my career passion(s). So far, I have not been able to pin point anything that really gets my juices flowing. Does anybody have any advice? Do I just visualize how I would feel once I attain my dream career? CMI? Am I trying too hard? Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

John

Hi John,

This is not altogether an easy question to answer. I read somewhere that to do one job effectively a person utilizes/develops three or more skills..some natural, some developed.

One place to maybe begin looking for your "purpose" is the last job you had. What part of that job gave you absolute joy? What part did you hate?

How about childhood? What did you get carried away in doing/playing and totally found yourself absorbed in for hours?

Just a couple places to start. Hope that helps.

Michael M.

Maybe try working in reverse. What do you absolutely hate and could not stand to ever to do or see again?? Once you figure out what you don't want, then you can move toward something that would give you ultimate joy.

What I had to learn was that my life's purpose did not have to be something grand or bigger than life, it just had to bring me joy and fulfillment.

And your life's purpose and your dream career may not be one in the same. Although I am sure they would harmonize with each other in some way.

Take your time in figuring this out, you know the answers...

All the best,

quote:

Originally posted by JohnR:
I have been struggling lately with finding my purpose in life in regards to my career. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

I’m probably not one to give advice on this. My life has been much like a mish-mash of doing whatever seems best at the moment. But still, I have a thought or two on this subject. But if you take any of it, you’ll be doing so at your own risk.

One idea that I came across that helps me is to create an imaginary scenario like this: Imagine that you ALREADY have all the money that you could possibly use, for even TEN lifetimes. In other words, take money ABSOLUTELY OUT OF THE EQUATION. If you can do this (and it’s really not so easy, because most of us are so ingrained with the idea of always associating work with money or vice-versa) it might help free up your mind and imagination to explore the world of real possibilities. In other words, ask yourself:

What would you do, if money was not a consideration? (Now, of course, when it comes to actually doing the work, you'd probably want to get around to making money with it. But as a starting point, try just considering what you'd do, if you DIDN'T have to consider money.)

Certainly, one of the things you would want your life to include is FUN. So, what do you do for fun?

Or, what do you already enjoy doing? What do you enjoy seeing? What do you enjoy learning about? In what ways do you enjoy being helpful? (I love giving advice or making suggestions. Can’t you tell?) I love getting people to feel genuinely good about their selves (and others). (I also love getting myself to a good feeling.) Which brings me to another ‘clue’ for a career path:

What gives you a good feeling?

What do you do, that gives you a good feeling? Hopefully, it’s more than one thing. But if you just list things that help you feel better, you should start getting a kind of ‘overview’ of yourself. And this might help direct you.

Here’s another thought, one put forth by the Reverend Schuller. He says to ask yourself: What would you do if you KNEW you COULD NOT POSSIBLY FAIL?

Don’t be afraid to tell yourself what you would do. By that I mean, sometimes we won’t admit that we want to do something because we feel inadequate about it, or inept or unworthy, etc.

And also, what I believe is, sometimes we ARE inadequate or inept,… BUT that does not need to stop us necessarily. Let me explain with a story.

There was once a girl who thought she wanted to be an actress. So she moved to a big city, to give herself a good shot at this. She also went and studied acting, put in a lot of time studying. She started to get better, more aware, even getting some good comments and notice. But after awhile, she began to notice that she wasn’t really great at it and also, she wasn’t really thrilled about it.

But what it DID lead her to understand was, what she really like was being up in front of people, being the center of attention. So, with this awareness she started looking at other career possibilities. She finally ended up in public relations, taking jobs where she was indeed the center of attention. She found she was so happy doing this, she started her own company and is now very successful with it.

In other words, she found something that really suited her personality, and something that she FELT good doing.

So again:

What FEELS good to you?

What would you do if money was not a consideration?

What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?

And here’s one more idea:

What would you do, if you knew you only had ONE YEAR TO LIVE?

Maybe put these questions (and your answers) together and see what you come up with.

One more thought: Don’t worry about a life with a single career. You may end up having several. Look at Arnold Schwarzeneggar. Muscle Man, Actor, Politician. Or, look at Oprah. At one time she thought about being a preacher. Then she also spent some time as a TV journalist. (But interesting to me, it was her failing as a journalist that led to her success as a TV talk show hostess. As she said, she couldn’t go out and just interview people who were suffering some tragedy that was making the news. Sometimes she’d just end up crying, and not ‘getting the story.’ So, her ‘weakness’ was also her strength. So, that’s also a hint.) She’s also done a little acting. And she’s certainly done a fair share of public speaking and teaching.

I also read about a man who had a successful career in banking. Then he retired, and wanting something different to do, he bought a little fish tank and some gold fish. Then he got into this, and bought some exotic fish. Then he got into this and came up with new ways to keep exotic fish alive, and he got so knowledgable about this he went and turned this into a successful business.

So, to me, what I’m saying is, a part of it seems to be about elaborating on things you just enjoy doing, and being the person you enjoy being.

And that ‘one year to live’ question might help you keep it in the right perspective.

Phil

John,

After reading Phil's excellent post, I just want to add one more thing. Do not make a big deal out of making the perfect choice. The perfect choice for you now, at this moment, will be a different choice 5 years down the road. And even if you end up making the "wrong" choice (like the girl who thought she wanted to be an actress), making a choice in the first place, will get you closer to finding out what you (do not) want.

Vstolinr

Hmm. Interesting name I get when I place my fingers on the wrong keys

Caroline

Desiree posted:

quote:

And your life's purpose and your dream career may not be one in the same. Although I am sure they would harmonize with each other in some way.

Somehow I keep forgetting that one. Thanks for reminding me Desiree

Caroline posted:

quote:

Do not make a big deal out of making the perfect choice. The perfect choice for you now, at this moment, will be a different choice 5 years down the road.

This too, I keep forgetting.

These are some good examples of "old thinking" that we don't seem to realize is in our heads. And Mr. Wattles says "this will be some of the hardest work we ever do" getting rid of these old thinking patterns.

Yes Caroline, that is quite an interesting name. I suppose it's similar to getting our focus on the wrong thoughts.

Enjoy the journey!
Sherri

I just finished a class that I thought was about helping to find a life purpose and it was all about conventional ways to make money and be happy based on traditional definitions.

I was disappointed to be sure.

But I am grateful I could come back here and find this thread with suggestions that do apply in more open and user friendly ways.

I am also grateful for the freebies. In particular, I am now asking myself, based on some freebie info from one of Rebecca's links, "what problem do people have that I can easily solve?"

So there is my new question to ponder at home and at work, and I got it for free here. Who knows? Maybe it is the question that will lead to the perfect opportunity for me.