3 easy exercises to start your career pivot

Do you often think to yourself  “I’m totally unsatisfied at work and I have been for a long time, but how do I find a career that I’m passionate about and enjoy doing every day?”

Starting is the hardest part, right?  Especially with a big life event such as a career pivot.  But if you’re not satisfied and your energy isn’t naturally replenished after the workday, it’s time to course correct.  You are experiencing a slow death and it’s time to reinvent yourself!

Below are three quick exercises to start your career pivot.  Make sure to document your experiences for each of them.

Exercise 1: Name the top ten things you love to do or have always done and loved. List out your examples and be descriptive.  Write a few sentences or bullet points about each experience.  Make sure to span the entirety of your life.  A place to is to think back to when you were a kid.  What made you a happy kid?  What activities did you do every chance you had?

As an adult, when do you lose track of time?  When do you feel like you are on purpose or in the flow?  When was your intuitive sense aligned with your sense of purpose?

Exercise 2: Name the top five elements that you need to feel satisfied at work. Give this some thought.  To help you get started, here are a few ideas: autonomy, income, working on a team, leadership that matches my values, making a positive impact, excitement, low stress, travel (restrictions or you must be able to travel), passionate about the product/service.  Start to think through jobs that will meet and exceed your five top elements.  Write them down.

Exercise 3: Picture yourself one year from today. Visualize yourself as if you are there now.  Use the present tense when describing the environment.  For example, “I am excited to get up each morning and go to work.” Versus, “I will be excited…”  What does your life look like since you started your new job?  How do you feel?  What are your days like?  How does it feel to be passionate about your work each day?  What does your day look like?

Compare that to if you were in the same position as you are now.  Ask yourself the same questions.  Give a lot of thought to the scenarios.  Describe them out loud to yourself then close your eyes and truly visualize yourself as if you were there.  Tap into how you feel in each situation.

After you’ve pictured both situations, journal about your experience.  Which one did you feel the most enjoyment?  Which scenario felt like the right fit?  Where were you the happiest?  What were the ingredients that made one feel like the right fit versus the other?

Woodrow Wilson said “You are not here merely to make a living.  You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement.  You are here to enrich the world…”

How do you feel after finishing each exercise?  Did they give you energy?  It’s not easy to think deeply about what you want makes you happy at work and in life.  It takes energy and dedication.  You have started the process!  Write to me and let me know your thoughts on this experience and if you have questions about where to go from here.