Building Your Path: How to Think About Your Ideal Career and Life
We are all inevitably faced with questions about who we are, what’s our ideal job and life, and...
“…how am I going to get there?”
Here’s what I can tell you from my experience (so far).
After taking nearly every career aptitude test and reading every book about what to do with a law degree when you don’t want to practice law, I found that taking chances and trying what intrigued me helped to narrow my path in the best of ways.
I won’t bore you with every detail, but now, over 15 years later, I find myself in a position that I wouldn’t have guessed coming out of law school.
For most of my career, I was fortunate to work in a service-oriented field, in one of my favorite cities, San Francisco. In taking chances and following that intrigue, I am now able to work in the same field while living in Michigan and raising my children around family – which is a huge blessing.
And having the autonomy to run my own business consistent with my values is the cherry on top.
You’re probably thinking, “great for you, but what about me?”
I definitely felt that way when I read every success story in the books.
“the more authentic connections you make with others in areas that interest you, the more doors will open for you.”
Sometimes thinking about your “dream” can be intimidating; there are so many choices, ideas, and opinions that it can be difficult to know where to start. It’s tempting to think it can’t happen for you, but imagine this: what if you cast aside your fears and failure wasn’t possible?
Here are a few steps to help guide you in the process of thinking about your ideal career and life.
Who are you?
Take the initiative, because who you are as a unique person with unique experiences creates a unique potential for success in life, no matter how you define it.
Before you begin thinking about your career, I challenge you to think about who you are. What values do you hold, or what personality traits make you, you?
For me, integrity, being an ambivert, and being a helper are three key intrinsic principles that guide who I am and how I live my life.
“take your strengths and use them to follow your curiosity”
Another area to think about is what are you good at doing and what skills do you bring to the table? Considering your likes and dislikes in the workplace is also important. Do you need consistency or do you like change? What management style do you prefer?
In my first recruiting job, I worked in a competitive environment where billable dollars went on a whiteboard to track our individual and company-wide success. While I enjoy a healthy amount of competition, my real motivation for caring about my work is helping people and companies get ahead. Needless to say, I found that the whiteboard approach wasn’t my preferred work culture.
What’s your ideal job and life?
One isn’t better than the other, but you need to know who you are; represent that and use it to find what you want.
Combine who you are with your strongest traits, skills, and desires. Then use those to guide you towards a career to achieve both satisfaction and success.
Think about the little things, think about what makes you tick.
Consider the following:
Do you like meetings? 1:1s, big corporate meetings, or no meetings at all?
Does your preferred lifestyle mandate working from home or can you go into the office every day or even travel 100%?
What about location? Silicon Valley is on the West Coast and Wall Street is on the East Coast, but if you want government, then Washington, D.C. is best.
Is it important for you to drive a Mercedes or is a reliable car good enough?
Can you commit to earning an MD and doing a 5-year surgical residency or will a less expensive and time-consuming path launch you into a role that is just as satisfying?
These are all important questions, but they’re not the only ones to consider.
For me, being a Mom is important, so I got creative about weaving my sense of motherhood into how well I could do my job. How I approach my role as the Founder & CEO of BloomBright has its similarities where I juggle many priorities and responsibilities while also giving our team my attention.
Being a Mom makes me better at my job, but it requires the support of my team to understand why they sometimes hear the howling of juvenile werewolves in the background.
So…
Take your strengths and use them to follow your curiosity;
Do something you’re passionate about and want to work to get better at doing every day; and
Find a role and a culture that fills your cup instead of drains it.
How will you get there?
Weave, build, and network. Map the possibilities in building your path from here to your ideal job and life.
Your story and experience matters. After all, there’s only one you!
It’s okay to look at jobs with curiosity and not be entirely certain if you’ll ever end up there because you’re still working towards it.
Imagine laying one brick in front of the other to build your path. What is that next step that will get you closer to your ideal job? Do you want to start entry-level in your ideal company and work your way up the ladder over the long-term, or do you want to gain experience elsewhere first and move around a bit more?
Look at those you admire and emulate them. Do whatever excites you and network with like-minded people! Find people with the jobs you want, in the companies you follow, making the career moves you want to make and talk to them. It’s a small world after all, and the more authentic connections you make with others in areas that interest you, the more doors will open for you.
In all honesty, I still don’t know exactly what I want to be when I grow up, but I find comfort and confidence in reminiscing about the path that led me here.
At the end of the day, just remember to be true to who you are, pursue your passions without fear, and enjoy the ride.
The path won’t always be straight, but that’s part of the fun.