From a young age you were probably told, go to school, get good grades, work hard, and climb the corporate ladder. By the sound of this advice, it seemed to be straight forward. One nice clean path to get you exactly where you want to be. If only any of this were true.
After walking across the stage, celebrating your success and keeping your head down at work, you discovered your career path was anything but straightforward. Rather it is more like being stuck in the movie Groundhog Day, but only each day gets worse.
The fear of not knowing what you want to “be” when you grow up sets in. You jump from one job to another all in the name of trying to find yourself. Or maybe you land a good job, that pays well, provides great benefits but finishing an 8-hour day is like watching paint dry.
For most, this begins the cycle of always looking for the next job and never building a gratifying career. Always hoping this next position will be the one. The one that will unlock your purpose in life. The one that will cause you to jump out of bed in the morning. When what you get, are hours of being frustrated, complaining, and counting down the days to Friday.
Does any of this sound familiar? It is the same story with a different cast. The good news, you can change your cycle. You can conquer trickiest paths. You can solve the most complicated labyrinths. You can climb over the largest roadblocks. And all you need is one thing. A vision!
Yes, a vision! No one can start a road trip and not choose the destination. So, if you must choose why not make your destination a place where you want to end up?! Ask yourself:
What do I enjoy doing? What are my hobbies? What am I naturally good at? What are the things I gravitate towards?
What are my career aspirations? Why do I want these things?
How can I make money doing these things? Does it fill a need in a business? Is there already an established industry? Do I have to venture out and build my own business?
Once you solidify your vision you will find:
Decisions will be easier. Anything that brings you one step closer to your vision is a yes. Anything that distracts you from your vision is a no.
Provides real success. Each milestone that is established provides you with the opportunity to have a small win. When you add up enough of the small wins, you will eventually obtain the bigger goal.
Ability to pivot confidently. Sometimes you must go backwards or move to the left or right before you can go forward. Because you have a clear destination, you will now when you need to make a detour, and if the detour makes sense.
Keeps you motivated. When you are passionate about your vision, you will work on it day and night. You will meet challenges with excitement.
Take some time to get clear on what you want for your career. At first, this may feel uncomfortable. It may even feel like a waste of time. However, once you tackle this critical step, you will be ready to pack up your car, let the windows down and enjoy the magic of the road, roadblocks, and all.
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