Finding Work that you Love, Part 1
In my new series of posts, “Finding Work that You Love,” I hope to share a process of finding a career that you really love. Further, I’d like to stimulate thoughts and discussion around the way we express our true values and desires in our actions. I believe this process is the same for reaching any goal or result that you’d like. It always begins with the question: “What do I want?”
One of the most common questions that comes up from my clients is, “How do you know what you really want?” In my coaching program for young adults, The Path to Purpose, we begin to answer that question by looking at what’s important to you, what fulfills you, what brings you joy. Golden threads, themes, and recurring ideas emerge from this examination. We reduce these threads to the most simple and powerful words, combining them to create a purpose statement that announces to the world and to yourself: ”This is who I am at my best!!!”
The ideas, emotions, and words that make up this statement are the building blocks for the next step in finding what you want. Applying them to your life, your career, your relationships will lead to more productive use of your time and more success in every life area.
For young adults, this question of “what do I really want?” is most often connected to careers. I’ve worked with tons of young people who have spent their lives answering this question with other people’s words. Don’t let the words of your parents, friends, or larger social influences answer your questions. To find work that you really love takes hard work, lots of introspection, and mostly honest, authentic talk.
Paul Graham writes of this quest in his post, “How to Do What You Love”,
It’s hard to find work you love; it must be, if so few do. So don’t underestimate this task. And don’t feel bad if you haven’t succeeded yet. In fact, if you admit to yourself that you’re discontented, you’re a step ahead of most people, who are still in denial.
This is a fundamental point. You must be able to assess your situation with honesty and without judgment. Only then can you move forward to the next step of examining what you love.
To summarize, the first steps to undertake in your quest to find work you love are these:
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Start to think about what is important in your life. Write down 10 or so of the life experiences that have been the most satisfying, most joyous, most fulfilling.
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Look for golden threads. Examine the words that come up, see what recurs, what seems most true, which words really connect with you. Choose 7 or so words that really stand out to you.
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Create a purpose statement. Once you’ve determined the golden threads and themes, take those golden threads to the next level. Play with the words that you’ve written, move them around, speak them to yourself. Finally, choose the 3 or 4 words that are most powerful to you. Write them in a one sentence format beginning with “My Purpose is to…” (An example is my own, personal purpose statement: My purpose is to connect from the soul to create peace and learning.)
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Assess where you are. Take stock of your journey to find work that you love. Think honestly and without judgment of exactly where you are on your path. Are you just beginning to think about work you love? Has this idea been rolling around in your head for a while? What kind of work experiences have you had? What worked for you? What hasn’t worked?
We’ll move forward from here in Part 2. Feel free to comment and ask questions if something above is unclear.
Technorati Tags : Career, Work, Success, College, Student, Purpose
July 27th, 2006 at 3:33 pm
[…] In Parts 1 and 2 of this series, you’ve worked to identify a sense of purpose. Your next step is to use this life purpose statement to help find work that you love. How do you do that? […]
July 27th, 2006 at 3:33 pm
[…] « Finding Work that you Love, Part 1 Finding Work You Love, Part 3 » […]
February 17th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
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