What is next in your life? How to choose the right career.

Some of us are very happy with the current situation, job, or just life in general, or at least we do not question those things. Others, on the other hand, constantly seek for ways to achieve more, improve the life, change things, or figure out what they really want to do in life.
The issue is that sometimes we do not know which way to go or what career to choose, or we’re not sure what we want. This happened to me and, I’m sure, to most of us.

2 Step plan to figure out what you want

Ask yourself these questions, don’t think much, just jot down several ideas that come to your mind

1. First of all, figure out if you want to have a job or a business. You need to figure out whether you want to find a job or work for yourself and own a business. People are different and everyone has different capabilities and wants. It may seem that owning a business should be the right way to go, but not everyone is capable of doing this, and not everyone wants such route.
2. Now answer this: If you had all the money in the world, what would you like to do, what career or business would you choose? Brainstorm and write down things you enjoy doing, work you like to do, career you’ve been dreaming about, etc. Take a look at your list and pick your top 3. Does any one of your top three choices reflect what you do now? If yes, GREAT! You are moving the right direction. However, don’t forget to assess your progress and reevaluate your goals from time to time (whether they still relevant or need to be tweaked).

If your current job or business is not even close to what you want to do, start taking action to move towards your dream job, business or whatever else you want to do.

I know that sometimes it seems impossible to achieve the dreams, but the reality is – all is possible.

The only person that is stopping you from achieving what you want is YOU.

Just start thinking and working towards what you really love and want to do. The best deal is to do what you love and make some money out of it. However, not everyone can do this. So try finding a job or a career as close to what you like doing as possible.

How to choose the right Career?

•    Assess your interests, passion, skills, abilities, and personality. Since you already identified your interests and passion in the previous section, now you need to figure out what you know and what you can do. Based on what you know and can do, think about what kind of work could you do. If you’re not sure, don’t worry, there are lots of career assessment tools that can help. I would suggest reading “What Color Is Your Parachute” by Richard N. Bolles. This will give you a better idea of yourself, possible careers, and career assessments.

•    Research your career choices. Since you know your likes and dislikes, now it is time to see what is out there. If you know what job or career you want, all you need to do now is start working towards that. If you’re not sure, what you could possibly do for a living or what job or career is right for you, don’t get stuck, there are many books and online resources to match your skills with possible careers.

Here are a few career choice resources:

Books on Career Change
Books on How to Find a Perfect Career

Online resources:
O*Net Online
Occupational Outlook Handbook from the Department of Labor
Career Research Center
O*Net Skills Research
Career Interests Game

Here are some questions and the answer to these should give you a pretty good idea of what career or job might suit you best. Write down answers to these questions and look for a pattern and common things. You will be able to narrow down to several choices.

• What area/field would interest you? E.g. IT, travel industry, history, beauty, politics, communications, agriculture, etc.
• Are you people’s person or you’d rather stay away from interactions with people?
• Are you a team member or an independent worker?
• Do you like managing or supervising others?
• Do people come to you for an advice?
• Are you a quick learner?
• Do you like children (so you could work with them on daily basis)?
• Do you like teaching?
• Do you want to work for yourself or you don’t mind having a job?
• Do you usually need a support group or are you an independent person?
• Are you a business person or can you/do you want to run a business? Be realistic. It is not what you think you want, but what you can really do.
• Is a flexible work schedule a must?
• Do you like structure?
• Do you like numbers? Could you work with numbers every day?
• Would you prefer day or night shift?
• Could and Would you travel for work?

After you narrow down your choices, do research on your possible job or career options. This may achieved by talking to your family, friends, coworkers, etc., doing research online, interviewing people who have careers that you’re seeking, or simply hiring a career adviser.

Now that you have an idea of what you want to do, you need to figure out how you can get from where you are now to where you want to be.

A fast track to your goal. 7 steps will get you what you want.

1. What is your goal? Write down (yes, you need to do this) what exactly you want to achieve (your goals) or what you want to change and describe everything as best as you can.  Check “SMART” goals in “Your New Year’s Resolution Tips” for more information on how to set goals or write what you want.
2. Start with the end result in mind – Describe how your life would look like if you achieved what you wanted. As much as it may sound strange, act and think as if you have already achieved your goal; moving forward in your mind will take you much closer to your “wants.”
3. Now think of the steps that would take you “there.” Whether it is going back to school to gain some knowledge, volunteering, hiring a career coach, or something else, think it over and write down every step you need to go through in order to achieve your goal.
4. Develop an action plan. Take each step and develop an action plan on what exactly you need to do to get to your milestone (a step in your plan). Think of what it would take to get you from one step to another and what actions you need to take.
5. Commit to your goal. If you’re not committed to achieve what you want and change things,you will go nowhere. If you do not want to hire a life or business coach, work with your friends or family. Tell 5 of your closest friends what you want to achieve and what you’re doing ask them to hold you accountable. Then tell 5 strangers each week about what you’re trying to accomplish. Only spreading a word out will make you feel differently about the road to success.
6. Evaluate your progress. From time to time you need to evaluate what you achieve, to stay on track, and recommit to your goals. Timing really depends on what you want to achieve and how fast you can move forward. There is no rule how often you need to check your, but make sure you track the progress often enough and modify things as you, if needed.
7. Celebrate your achievements. This will keep you motivated and eager to move forward and act faster.

Good Luck!

RM