Career Tip: Take time to reflect and be honest with yourself.
A few days ago, I had lunch with one of the managers on the leadership team at work, who heads up a pretty large group. We were talking about the key lessons she’s learned throughout her career, and she mentioned that she always advises individuals early in their career to “take time away from the ‘busy-ness’ of life and cell phones and Facebook and have those tough and honest conversations with yourself about what inspires you, what drives you, what motivates you. Staying true to yourself, being genuine and authentic, is incredibly important because life will throw twists and curves at us all the time. The more you can stay true to yourself, the more empowered, equipped and self-confident you will be to navigate your way forward. And that will go a long way to helping you achieve your goals.”
It’s often easy to take the simple route that’s been laid out to us by others – the step-by-step formula to become a doctor, lawyer, or CPA. It’s not that these paths are easy. On the contrary, they are very difficult and challenging, but they are certain – as in you know what you are getting into. You know almost exactly what you need to do achieve these goals since there are so many others who have paved the way. Moreover, you know what the end result will be. You have a destination in mind and a path to follow. In that sense, in spite of the challenges in your way, choosing these career paths without truly taking the time to evaluate what you like to do, what you want out of life and the career you want for yourself can often be a cop out.
It takes time, a lot of experimenting and self-reflection to understand what motivates and inspires you on a regular basis. When you finally have this answer, it’s scary to choosing an alternative career path or just realize that you don’t have definitive and concrete end goal because for a lot of people in the business world, this answer changes over time. Our paths are not a straight road. Our lives are full of pit-stops, u-turns, and winding roads taking us in directions we never planned, but if you know what drives you and resonates with you, none of this will matter much because you’ll have the confidence to go forward, full-speed ahead.
So make it a habit to reflect once a week or every month on the things you’ve accomplished. Determine what achievements or actions brought you the most joy, made you feel proud or made you innately want to keep going even if you weren’t being compensated. Keep this up and you’ll find a pattern, one that if you embrace will make sure you thrive.