Job satisfaction comes from using your qualities as well as your passion. By qualities I mean not only your skills, abilities and talents but also your values, needs, motivation and, importantly your interests.
The better you know yourself, the more likely you are to choose a satisfying successful job.
How do you discover yourself?
One suggestion is to write things down. Have your own journal in which you can jot your musings, thoughts, and feelings down. And you can add results to any of the self-exploratory exercises or psychometric tests that you may take.
Some simple helpful steps:
- Think carefully about your achievements at school, college or work and identify where you have done well. What particular subject have you excelled and enjoyed, and at work what tasks and aspects go well? What does this tell you about your interests and abilities?
- Write down three headings – Abilities, Interests and Values and under each heading write down your thoughts regarding how you use your leisure time. So whether it is a hobby, social, political or religious activity, note the theme and points that reoccur when you are enjoying yourself.
- Complete self-assessment tests or inventories that measure your abilities, interests, values and personality. Do these results reflect a true picture of how you feel and what you are good at?
- Invest in some professional career counselling.
- Identify your skills. Work through different exercises and talk through activities with a career counsellor or friend/family member to discover which transferable and employability skills you have; and which ones are your strongest and the ones you really want to use.
- Write a personal mission statement including what you want to be, what you want to accomplish and what principles you want to guide you. Reread it regularly and add to it the skills, strengths and motivators.
Self-understanding happens over time. Sometimes it is a light bulb moment, but more often it happens over a period of time and with serious reflection it can be an invaluable investment in time and self-awareness.
