When changing careers, it is all too easy to find yourself once more in a job that doesn’t truly give you a sense of meaning and purpose. When considering a career change, and in order to get a job you love, it is therefore vital that you take stock of where you are, what you have achieved to date, and where you genuinely want to take your life from now on.
As the daily routines and stresses of work take over, it is all too easy to forget why you got into your current job in the first place and what you would ultimately like to achieve from your career.
To help you make a successful and – more importantly – rewarding and purpose-driven career change, try the following exercise:
Take yourself out into the future, say at 80 or 90.
Imagine your grandchildren or great-grandchildren coming to you and asking you to tell them about your life, about what you’ve done, and what you have achieved.
Imagine the amazing life and career you’ve designed for yourself.
Take a few minutes to visualise and fully associate with it.
What do you see and feel? What can you hear?
Write down in as much detail as possible the story of your professional and personal life, the history of your future.
Jot down the things you’ve done, the things you’ve seen, the successes you have achieved, the people you’ve touched and the positive changes you have made in your life.
What legacy do you leave, both in your professional and personal life?
How will society look back on you?
How will your family remember you?
It will help for you to think and take notes as if you are looking back, so rather than writing, “I will have done or achieved such and such”, imagine you are already there, in your rocking chair, talking about the life you have already lived.
What have you achieved?
What are you most proud of?
What purpose and meaning can you give to the life you have lived?
By answering these questions, you will obtain a much clearer idea of the kind of career that would fit with who you are now, and who you aspire to be.
Susan Andrewes is a leading Career Coach based in London, UK. She helps professionals who are disillusioned with their current career get a job they love. To download your free 5-Step Plan, ‘How to Get a Job You Love’, visit http://www.getajobyoulove.com
