Discovering your dream job is one of the most important aspirations in many people’s lives. Most professionals will spend between 75,000 to 100,000 hours of their lives (if not more) working. So having a job that you are passionate about and love can help you have a happier life.
I know that, in a country with high unemployment, low level of work engagement, with difficulty moving in the labor market from the age of 45-50 (ageism) and others considering finding your dream job, it seems a somewhat utopian challenge, but, even if it’s hard to come by, I encourage you to think about what your dream job might be. A job that makes you wake up in the morning in a good mood, where Mondays are almost as happy as Fridays, in which you feel that your life has meaning and that you have a positive impact on others. As Mark Twain said, “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why”.
TO ACHIEVE THIS CHALLENGE, I RECOMMEND YOU ASK YOURSELF THESE 4 QUESTIONS:
- WHAT ACTIVITY DID YOU DO THAT SURPRISED YOU VERY POSITIVELY DUE TO THE GOOD RESULTS OBTAINED? Review your professional or even academic experience. Surely at some point, you have been surprised by achieving some results well above those expected. ACTIVITIES OR DISCIPLINES IN WHICH IT HAS BEEN RELATIVELY EASY FOR YOU TO EXCEL. Consider when you have been congratulated on your achievements, be it your parents, teachers, bosses, co-workers, or studies mates… Knowing those areas in which you have achieved great results can be an excellent clue to discovering your dream job.
- WHAT ACTIVITIES DO YOU INSTINCTIVELY VOLUNTEER FOR? Review those actions that, without thinking, you have offered to perform. Even if they didn’t pay you for it or didn’t bring an immediate professional reward. ACTIVITIES IN WHICH YOU HAVE VOLUNTEERED FOR THE SIMPLE PLEASURE OF DOING THEM, FOR PERSONAL SATISFACTION. Discovering these activities can also be an excellent guide to identifying your dream job.
- WHAT ACTIVITIES HAVE YOU BEEN LOOKING FORWARD TO? Remember those activities that days before doing them, you desired to do. ACTIVITIES THAT YOU REALLY WANTED TO DO. It is even possible that you even had a hard time falling asleep. Or that the day you did them, you woke up without an alarm clock, restless and motivated by the activity to be carried out. Discovering those activities that we are passionate about, and that we love, can be very useful to define your ideal job.
- IN WHAT ACTIVITIES DO YOU LOSE TRACK OF TIME? Think carefully about what activities you have lost track of time. ACTIVITIES THAT YOU HAVE BEEN SO FOCUSED ON, THAT YOU HAVE LOST SIGHT OF EVERYTHING ELSE. Activities that have “hooked” you in such a way that time has flown by. Perhaps the definitive clue to finding your ideal job.
I recommend you ask yourself these 4 questions. Spend time thinking about them and write down the answers. When you’re done, identify commonalities between the answers to the different questions. What conclusions do you draw? What do the answers have in common? Can they help you define your dream job?
I finish with 2 quotes that highlight the importance of loving your job. Steve Jobs said that “the only way to do great work is to love the work you do.” And Jack Canfield said that “If you love your job, you are already a successful person.”
