The best career path is one that will not only help you pay your bills but will also provide you with satisfaction and fun. But how can you be sure the career path you want is the best one for you?
Uncertainty about where your life is going is one of the most frustrating things. We are afraid that we will choose the wrong career path and face a life full of frustration, low motivation and sadness.
Although it is never too late to change your career path, it is better to save yourself the disappointment of making the wrong choice. Meet the 7 questions that will help you check if you have chosen the right career path for you.
DOES THIS CAREER PATH SUPPORT YOUR DREAM LIFESTYLE?
Each of us has different needs, values and aspirations that influence our choices and determine what our career path looks like.
For some people, it is important to clearly distinguish between work and private life. Others prefer a flexible approach – to freely alternate working hours and family life. There are those who prefer to work in an office and others who want to be free to choose their workplace. It’s important to find out what you prefer.
Think about what lifestyle you are pursuing and whether this career path will support it.
It will be easier for you to answer this question if you create a clear vision of the life you are striving for. Once you have a more complete picture of how you would like your life to be, you will have no doubts about choosing the right career path.
DOES THIS CAREER PATH CHALLENGE YOU?
Many people believe that once you choose the right career path, everything will be easy, smooth and fun. In fact, you can have such an impression at a high expert level, because we achieve proficiency in what we do. However, if we do not set ourselves new challenges, there is a risk that routine and boredom will eventually get us.
Imagine you are an athlete who has been preparing all year round to compete in the Olympics. Your condition is at the highest level. In the end, you get to the start, look around to check your competition and you are surprised to find that they are… children. Surely it would be easy, smooth and hassle-free to win a victory, right? But would you feel satisfied with this victory?
The right career path gives you the opportunity to deepen your knowledge, gain new skills and experience. At the same time, the discomfort of entering new unknown areas cannot be avoided.
Each new challenge widens your comfort zone and gives you a pinch of more courage for the next one. Something that frightened you a year ago is so tamed by frequent practice that it no longer impresses you today.
I remember a few years ago, after publishing my first blog post, I was dying of fear of what would happen next. The first time you post something online, you think everyone is looking at you and there is going to be a wave of hate. Today I want to laugh at the fact that I thought so because compared to how many people read me today, a handful of people used to visit my blog and probably by accident.
After publishing the first post, nothing happened. My brain said this job wouldn’t kill me after all, so I wrote and posted another one. Fear and discomfort decreased with each subsequent entry. Today I don’t feel it anymore, and instead, I have fun writing and a desire for new challenges.
The feeling of discomfort is therefore constantly felt on the right career path. The reward for overcoming this discomfort is satisfaction, a sense of development and fulfillment.
WERE YOU WILL BE READY TO WORK FOR FREE?
Every job involves some effort that we must put into it. Often it is not only an intellectual and physical cost but also a mental and emotional cost. Therefore, it is not easy for us to agree to work for free, being aware of how much this work costs us.
And yet job satisfaction can be so great that it exceeds these costs. It is easier to say, “this job gives me so much that I could work for free.”
Of course, this is not the case for that to happen – you have an absolute right to be paid for every work you do. The point is rather to reach a point where the profits from work: that is, satisfaction, joy and fulfillment will exceed the costs that you incur in performing it.
DOES THIS CAREER PATH SUPPORT YOUR VALUES REALIZATION?
I like to compare values to road signs in life because often our career path is structured according to the choices of what is important to us.
If your career path supports values that you would be willing to fight for, chances are good that you are on the right track. Working in line with your values gives you a sense of acting in harmony with yourself. By following the right career path, you do things that you will always be proud of.
A career path in line with your values also gives you the opportunity to go beyond your micro world. Values bind you to a greater whole – of what you can bring to the world and the lives of the people around you.
Following a career path that conflicts with your values may be simply impossible in the long run. It happens that for a short time you are able to accept a job below your professional capacity. This is often the case when we need to maintain the family’s financial security.
However, if the situation normalizes and development is an important value for you, you will strive to change. Sooner or later you will start looking for a job that will allow you to realize the value of development.
DO YOU FEEL THAT YOU WILL GROW?
In the current labor market, learning new skills and learning difficult things is even necessary to keep a job. If the work you are doing does not give you the opportunity to develop, then at some point you will realize that you are standing still. It’s easy to see if you compare yourself to yourself over a period of a year or two ago.
When you are on the right career path, you are constantly learning new things. You keep coming across new and exciting topics that you are eager to explore. It’s the same with skills – one skill combines and develops others.
The best career path for you offers you many career opportunities. Development goes hand in hand with higher earnings and job satisfaction. It helps to build your sense of agency and self-confidence, which translates into a higher sense of self-worth. And this, in turn, gives you the courage to take on new challenges and learn more and more difficult things.
DO YOU HAVE A FEELING OF BELONGING?
Many people find it difficult to identify their personality type, strengths and predispositions. However, even without realizing all of these things, everyone intuitively feels like a fit or not. It is not only about the scope of duties, but also the conditions and place of work that fit into your preferred style of action and thinking.
A job suited to your personality type translates into many benefits in life. Knowing what is right for you will protect you from choosing the path that others – your parents, friends or the company you work for – are taking you on.
Friends and family can provide great advice, but happiness is hard to find when your life is dictated by someone else’s expectations. You deserve to find a career path that suits you.
DOES THIS CAREER PATH ALLOW YOU TO FULFILL OTHER GOALS?
The right career path helps you put your goals into practice. In the long term, by following the right career path, you should also be able to pursue goals that will support others.
The right career path translates not only into your family’s financial security but also into its development. By adjusting your work to your lifestyle and continuous development, you can afford additional education for your children or partner and the development of their interests.
When you follow the right career path, you overcome your weaknesses, strengthen your character and build self-confidence. It gives you the strength to pursue the most difficult goals – making your dreams come true.
HOW TO MAKE SURE YOU CHOOSE THE RIGHT CAREER PATH
By reading this post, you may get the impression that the right career path leads to the perfect job. But you and I both know there is no such thing. Every job has some aspects that you will not be comfortable with and will be reluctant to do.
Even if there are aspects of your career path that do not suit you, they will be in the minority. The main content of the work and its envelope should give you joy, satisfaction and a sense of fulfillment. You can always delegate tasks that do not arouse your enthusiasm.
No matter how long you analyze everything and ask yourself questions, you cannot predict the future. You can only check whether a given career path is the best for you when you take the first step. Reflection and analysis in your head are very important, but the only action will make you sure that you have chosen the right career path.
By acting, you have a greater sense of control over life because you shape it. You start to create your career path. You do not wait for someone to spot you, you are actively engaged in looking for opportunities for yourself. Knowing yourself, your values and aspirations well will help you find the right direction.
So at some point, you have to accept the unpredictable nature of life, stop analyzing and start living more in the present moment. What is one thing you can do today to enter a career path that will bring you joy, satisfaction and fulfillment?
