This is why it’s so important that you not start your career out uninterested and unengaged. Don’t look at your first jobs as meaningless. This mindset can cheat you out of what may be your true calling. A successful career starts with knowing who you are and creating alignment between your strengths, values and interests.
Know Your Talents (and Use Them to Create Strengths)
Strengths aren’t the same as talents. Talents are our natural inclinations, aptitudes and born-with-it biological attributes that set us apart from others in a positive way. Talents can be subjective based on environment and context — what’s considered assertive and decisive in a meeting at 35 can be seen as pushy, defiant and combative at 19. We can be naturally inquisitive and introspective, or artistic and extroverted…but when we don’t explore those talents or invest time and energy into developing them, they might never become strengths and skills that lead us to new opportunities, jobs and connections.
What’s so powerful about talents is that they are innate and can be built into strengths. That’s not to say that just because you aren’t talented in something, you can’t succeed. It just means that when we lean into our talents, we fast-track our abilities a bit.
When we are starting in our careers, we might get ahead quickly with our talents, but many of us become complacent as we advance in our careers and stop developing our full range of talents in favor of one or two that initially seemed to shine. At some point, we might stop taking classes or putting ourselves in new and uncomfortable situations in favor of what’s working and pays the bills. The truth is, you simply won’t have all the skills you need as you advance in your career because you don’t know what you don’t know. And instead of investing in just a few areas where you thrive, branch out and push yourself to build new strengths because what you might be thinking is a weakness is actually an undiscovered strength.
Maybe it’s not that you hate conflict, but that you really value collaboration. Maybe that natural inclination for consensus and communication, when developed into a strength, can create processes and systems where change and innovation thrive.
Identify Your Values
If you think of your life as a pie chart where professional life, family life and social life are all different quadrants, where are you spending most of your time? Where would you rather be spending your time? Values are often driving forces in our lives for how we make decisions, but sometimes in the day-to-day of our careers, we hit autopilot and stop asking ourselves, “Does this align with who I am and where I want to be?” Think about the legacy you want to leave behind, your biggest goals and dreams, and what it would mean to be your best self. Then, look around. Does the company you’re working for, or the work you’re doing, support your values? If not, create a plan and start making changes — even small ones. You get one shot at life, so make it count.
Catalog Your Interests
Cataloging your interests isn’t easy when you’re in the zone of life and there are many things competing for your attention. While it may be hard, it is important to slow down and ask yourself:
• What brings me joy?
• What is my purpose?
• How am I supporting my joy and purpose?
Make it a point at least once a day to reflect on what you enjoyed and why. Doing so will help you understand more of what you gravitate toward in life and how to create more opportunities to incorporate your interests. This can be done in potential job roles and projects. Don’t be afraid to explore interests. To be interesting, you must be interested.
Stay Flexible
There are more jobs in this world than you may realize. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates there are roughly 10.9 million open jobs in the United States today. When looking for new opportunities, keep in mind that titles may be different and roles may change, so it helps to stay flexible and open to new opportunities. If you don’t think you have the skills for a new job or career, and that’s holding you back from making a transition, talk to someone. There are many people who have successfully done what you want to do.
It doesn’t matter if you’re just starting out or looking to make a significant change. When you start from the ground up and channel your talents into strengths, align your goals with your values, and keep a pulse on your interests; you’ll gain invaluable insights and confidence to always create a space for yourself.
