Many people feel unfulfilled in their work. 
They have the constant, nagging sense that they would
like to be, or should be, doing something different.
There are many different reasons people feel stuck:
- They don’t know what they should “be when they
grow up” - They like their job, but think they should be more successful, accomplishing or earning more
- They hate their job, but can’t walk away from the paycheck
- They know what they really want to be doing but it won’t bring in enough money
You can make a big improvement in your success and fulfillment by focusing in a very
purposeful way on what you are naturally good at and most enjoy doing — and then
incorporating those things into your work.
I certainly can’t do fully do this topic justice in a short blog post, but the idea itself is
worth focusing on and thinking through:
What do you love doing? And Why do you love doing it?
There are ways to incorporate the things you love about what you love doing into your work.
You need to get to the essence of what really matters to you, and make sure that you are spending time at work doing those things.
Given that they are not paying six-figure salaries to go scuba diving, skiing, visit museums, or spend time with family and friends, you need to focus on WHY you love the things you most like to do.
Is it the adventure, achievement, laughter, planning, being an expert, spontaneity, teaching, focus, challenge, teamwork, working alone, discovery, calmness, excitement?
When you really think about what you love doing, where specifically does the energy come from?
Once you clearly focus on what you are naturally good and, what you most enjoy doing, you can proactively manage your job description to be doing those things more and more of the time.
Here’s the BIG IDEA:
Great success is achieved not by doing a good job at whatever is thrown at
you, but by managing to put yourself in a position to do work that you are going to be great at.
If you do this you will:
- Feel much more like you are doing what you “should be doing”
- See your career advance much more quickly
- Become a more valuable employee
- Become a better leader
- Discover more interesting opportunities
- Get more recognition, relevance, and payoff
- Feel much more fulfilled in your work
You may want to change your work and life in a much bigger or more dramatic way, which is both fine and a whole other topic.
But you would be surprised how much more you can enjoy your current work, if you
maximize what you do to take advantage of your natural strengths and energy, and then tune your job over time so you can do what you are best at most of the time.
More resources on this topic:
- “What really matters to You?” Podcast.
- Working on your strategy for investing in your strengths is a big part of our Career
Workshops.
