Why you will never find your Dream Career (and what you can do instead)
You can only find what you have lost.
Don't find your Career. Create your Career.
Fīnd - verb
1. discover or perceive by chance or unexpectedly.
2. recognize or discover (something) to be present.
Cre·ate - krēˈāt - verb
1. bring (something) into existence. "he created a thirty-acre lake"
2. cause (something) to happen as a result of one's actions
Do you spot the difference between the two?
“Find” something means you're placing a lot of the control elsewhere, outside of your power.
It’s happening by chance (if at all) because you won't be finding a career that is made for you by waking up one morning and discovering it has been just in front of your door, right under the door mat for the last 6 months.
It sounds silly. But this is also actually how we act (not judging, I’ve done it too, that’s how I learned all this stuff!)
Maybe some of the examples in the pursuit to try to "find" a career that makes us happy sound familar:
Surfing Seek.com and LinkedIn for job postings, hoping to find the 'perfect fit'
Taking tests and assessments, hoping it will reveal the answer, but when it tells you your choices are accountant or lawyer, we question the outcome
Simply accepting a new role, hoping this one will be it
Considering the options of further studies because without the paper, you can't pivot
What do all of those actions have in common?
Yes - exactly. Lots of hoping and waiting for things to happen. Not so much knowing and making things happen.
Successful careers don't just happen.
They are created. And whilst there are many unpredictable elements, you simply can't just go looking for it to then “discover” what it is.
However, it also doesn't happen overnight and is the result of many small but consistent and continuous efforts and actions.
Remember the saying 'Rome wasn't built in a Day'?
Same goes for your career!
Here are 3 tips from my experience, building my own but also helping others to build their career - on their terms.
1) If I want something different to everyone else and what you have had so far, you also need to do something completely different. Energy attracts Energy. Your decision what to put out there.
2) If you know what you want, you're more likely to get what you want
3) You can't prepare for roles that don't exist yet but you can prepare for setting the direction you want to head into
One of the biggest role models for pivoting and reinventing to reach new levels of heights is (and I don't mention him just because he is a fellow Austrian ...)
Arnold Schwarzenegger. He said he employed this during his quest for office in California: "It’s the same process I used in bodybuilding:
As powerful and accessible it is for everyone to have a vision to make big things happen, hardly anyone actually achieves their goals because they can't visualise their ideal state in the first place to then realise what it takes to do towards achieving it.
Why?
Because they simply lack a vision and have the blinkers on - living someone else's life, shutting down their own urge to do something bigger because of the fear 'what would others think about me' or the concern they might fail.
That's cool as long as you are happy when you are in the safe zone. Not so cool when you are tired of living the groundhog day, everyday.
If you want to get started on your vision, starting to realise what it takes to create a career you love and can excel in - on your terms - then check out the BRAND NEW impaCCCt Academy!
Petra Zink is a Coach, Speaker and Educator on all things Career & Personal Development, High Performance and Innovation.
She works with Companies and their Leaders to bring Entrepreneurship in-house and build intrapreneurial High Performance Cultures.
Petra helps Companies to initiate Change, innovate and make an impact - on their Terms.
Petra also works with Senior Professionals in a 1:1 Coaching Program to accelerate their Personal Brand Development. Click here for more information
