Do you feel unsatisfied and uninspired at your job? Do you feel restless and disengaged with your daily duties? Have you often wondered, “How exactly did I get here?”
For some people, it takes a major transition moment, like getting laid off or moving to a new city, to spark that thought process. For others who may be caught up in the day-to-day grind, they might not realize their career is on autopilot until many years in. Regardless, at some point, you may find yourself wondering if what you’re doing is really what you want to be doing.
Given that we spend most of our day at work, it’s important to think about how our work makes us feel.
Serena Kappes, author of Finding a Job You Love: How to (Really!) Do it, recommends undertaking regular career check-ins, even while you’re employed, to help you set out some career goals. “You may come to the determination that the job you have isn’t really utilizing all your strengths or the goals you had earlier in your career may no longer be the ones you have now.”
Here are five tips to help you figure out if your current job is in line with what you really want to do:
1. Identify your goals and values
Identifying your goals and values will help you figure out why you may be unhappy or unfulfilled with your current job. This may seem like a daunting task but it is invaluable when it comes to discovering your ideal career path. Take the time to consider a few important questions and write out a personal vision statement:
- What kind of people do you want to work with?
- What makes you feel engaged and happy?
- What kind of impact do you want to have?
- What do you need to do to align your work with what you care about?
If, when writing your vision statement, you begin to recognize that your current job is misaligned with your values, then it might be time to consider making some changes. If you’re working in a profession or workplace that doesn’t align with your values, it’s likely that you will feel unfulfilled and unsatisfied.
2. Visualize and plan out the steps you need to take to reach your ideal career vision
Once you’ve set up some goals, outline specific steps and micro-goals that you would need to reach in order to make your ideal career vision a reality. By breaking down your larger career vision into several smaller action steps, you will feel more inspired and you’ll be setting yourself up for success. “You want to be SMART about setting goals—that is, goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely,” says Kappes.
Ask yourself what kind of experiences you would need to equip you to reach your goals. For those considering a career change, this can sometimes involve an educational experience or further training. Ask yourself what kind of relationships will help you reach your end goal. Start networking and develop relationships with those who can help you get to where you want to go.
3. Figure out what you’re good at
It’s easy to focus on the negative aspects that need improvement but rarely do we lead from our strengths. Some people don’t even know what their strengths are because they take them for granted. Stop and consider what tasks or jobs in your daily work that come easy to you. Are you able to whiz through emails and admin tasks easily? Or, perhaps you’re good at project management, sharing a vision, or connecting with others. Once you’ve identified these skills, seek out opportunities to utilize them and flex those muscles.
“So much of our performance reports in our culture focus on areas for improvement and instead, if you can approach your job and your career from a place of strength, how much more empowering is that going to be?” says San Francisco–based career coach Amber Rosenberg.
4. Stop to consider how your job makes you feel at the end of the day
Given that we spend most of our day at work, it’s important to think about how our work makes us feel. At the end of the day, do you feel depleted and worn out or do you feel energized and excited? For some people, work environment is everything and for others, they just want to feel that their work is contributing to make the world a better place. Think about how you feel at the end of the day and analyze why you may be feeling that way. Refer back to your goals and personal vision statement to give yourself some perspective.
“A lot of people want to feel like they’re making some sort of difference,” says Rosenberg. “Is your job helping people to live better lives? Is it helping companies to produce more? Getting a sense at the end of the day what people are contributing to helps them evaluate, ‘Is this really feeding my soul?’”
5. Have a career accountability partner
As with any other personal goal you set for yourself, it always helps to have a trusted friend to keep you accountable. If you’re not feeling fulfilled at your current job, share your career vision with a friend and set up periodic check-ins to help nudge you in the right direction. Kappes recommends doing this at least twice per year but if you feel that you might need to be motivated and reminded of your resolutions more frequently, a check-in every few months might be helpful.
“Have these kinds of check-ins where someone can pose some questions to you: ‘Are you sure you want to be doing this? Is this taking you far afield?’” says Anna Marie Valerio, psychologist and author of Executive Coaching: A Guide for the HR Professional.