Two focuses of my blog are Career Discussions and General Education. One our most important life decisions is the career we choose. The ideal situation is that our career helps makes us our best selves and aligns with who we are inside. The following contributed post is entitled, What Does It Take To Choose A Career That Brings Our The Best In Us?
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The most difficult aspect of getting our dream job is finding something that makes a difference. Finding the right career that fits us is not necessarily about finding a job that we’re good at, but it’s about having a career that brings out the best in us over the long term. We can experience many bumps in the road towards finding or carving out an amazing career for ourselves, but it’s about looking inwards as much as investigating outwards. What does it take to choose a career that brings out the best in us?
Is it About Reaching for the Stars?
When we’re young, we have dreams that soon become dismissed by everyone, even ourselves. When we’re young, we want to be a firefighting space explorer, but the fact is that these jobs are not out of reach, just as long as we understand how we can work towards that. The fact is that an organization such as the Space Foundation CI&E actually focuses on getting people started within a career in space exploration. It may not necessarily be as an astronaut but could be within so many different roles within that industry. This is a vital lesson we’ve all got to learn. If we want to be a firefighter, we may not necessarily have the skills or even the physical capabilities, should it stop us from working within this industry if we have a passion for it? Not at all.
Don’t Worry About Preparing Ahead of Time
It’s actually difficult to figure out what you are going to be good at in the future, and, in fact, requires a lot of self-reflection. When you are choosing a career based on what you are good at, the solution is to instead go and investigate by trying it out. If you have a dream to achieve, you just need to go and ask people questions. If you have a desire to work in an organization that helps people, such as a charity, you can reach out to so many people on Linkedin these days that you can easily get an insight into the industry. And by reaching out to these people, you could see if there is a possibility of volunteering. The fact is that speaking to people is a very quick way to gain insight into something, and you will know if you want to pursue it further because you will get a good feeling about it.
Keep Adapting Your Plan
You don’t have to hit your ideal career by a certain age. There are definitely a lot of people that talk about age being a barrier to their chosen career. But if you are trying to bring out the best in you, it’s not going to happen overnight, or even over a few years. This is why it’s so important for you to keep tinkering with the plan. And whether you are starting a business or looking for something else in life, choosing a career that brings out the best in you will be worth it.
