Your Complaints Could Be Clues to Your Happiness

To create a truly fulfilling career, focus on your passions and talents before looking at possible careers. This way, you custom design a career and life path that fits you perfectly rather than your trying to squeeze into a job that doesn't.

One of the first steps in designing a career you'll love is to look at the clues in your life that can tell you something about what makes you happy – clues that indicate your heart-felt desires and the gifts you possess. For instance, asking certain questions about your current work or recent employment can be very informative.

Picture yourself in your current or recent job, and ask yourself these two questions:

1. What do I like about this work?
2. What do I dislike or regularly complain about in this job?

Answer each question separately. And don't do this in your head; write down or type your answers. They may be short phrases rather than complete sentences. Answer quickly with what comes to mind without editing.

Let's say one of the things you like about your job is interacting with your customers or clients. Then ask, "What is it I like about interacting with my customers or clients?" You might answer, "I like listening to them, figuring out what they need, and then helping them solve their problems." Perhaps it reveals a gift you have for creative problem solving, or an interest you have in immersing yourself in other people's stories.

Now if one of the things you regularly complain about (at least silently to yourself) is your boss, you could then ask, "What do I dislike about her?" Let's say your answer is, "I don't like that she seems to always be looking over my shoulder, keeping an eye on me." Now ask yourself, "What am I committed to or what do I value, that has my boss's behavior be a problem?" In answering this question, you may discover that you need autonomy; you want to be fully trusted to do your work without being micromanaged. Or maybe you want to be the boss!

Of course, these are just examples. You need to work with your own lists, and answer the questions in a way that is true for you. Also, you can look for clues in your life outside of work.

There is more to figuring out all of the crucial ingredients of your ideal career, but the exploration in this article is a start. Through individual consultations, detailed exercises, natural talents and personality testing, and expert coaching, which I provide in the Pathfinder Career Choice Program™, you'll obtain a comprehensive picture of everything that is most important to you. You'll discover the specific career in which you'll excel – one that is pleasurable and uses your unique genius. Contact me HERE to set up a free in-depth informational consultation about this program.