Photo by Ian Schneider on Unsplash
The sad reality for many people is that the place where they spend most of their time (work) often doesn’t align with their passions and talents.
This leaves a lot of people feeling stuck. And then they wonder if they are missing out on something, missing their chance, if they should switch jobs or if there is any hope of living a life of passion and purpose.
Over the years, I have noticed a trend among many adults that gets to the heart of why most people miss their chance or miss living a life of passion and purpose.
They don’t know who they are, how they are wired, and what fires them up.
Look at the questions below and see how you line up for you:
What are you passionate about? Another way to ask this is, what keeps you up at night? We often overlook our passions when looking for a job, and when we do, we miss out on so much. We often feel that we are too old for a job that aligns with our passions. But, if you aren’t in a place you are passionate about, you will find it hard to be excited about work. Eventually, you will ask, “Is this all there is?”
Now, this isn’t always possible, but I’d encourage you to think about your passions in terms of values and ethics. Can you find a company that cares about what you care about? More and more companies are seeing the importance of values and ethics, which is a good thing.
What are you wired and gifted to do? This is about understanding your personality, temperament, talents, etc. I am stunned at how few people know where they are on Meyers-Briggs, the enneagram, the working genius, etc. While those don’t tell the whole story of who you are, they tell you many things and help you understand what kind of job you are looking for.
Do you like working alone or on a team? At home or in an office? When are you at your best during the day, does your job line up with that? Are you creative or analytical?
Knowing these things helps you make wise decisions about how you spend your days.
Are you getting to use those gifts, passions, and wiring in your job? When you know those things about yourself, you can ask if you are getting to use those gifts, desires, and wiring. If not, can you make some changes to your current job to fit that better?
In reality, you may not get to use all of your gifts, passions, and wiring in your job. If that’s the case, that doesn’t mean you need to find a new job (although you might.) It might mean you need to find a place to volunteer and use those gifts and passions outside work.
What opportunities do you see knowing these things about yourself? When you take all these together, you can ask, “What’s next? What opportunities are there in front of me?”
Most people do not step back to dream about what could be, which is a sad reality. But take a moment and see what opportunities are before you. What might you be overlooking in your life? If you aren’t where you want to be, what will it take to get there? How can you start moving in that direction?
