|
Articles on Jobseekers Advice
If you would like to submit an article
to Jobseekers Advice, then please feel free to
contact us. We are always looking for a wide range of articles
dealing with career advice, CV advice, interview advice, working abroad,
employment issues, education and training and other recruitment or careers
related topics. The articles can be the result of professional
experience or personal insight - we are looking to offer all points of
view.
|
|
Identifying Your Passion's "Building Blocks"
If you're reading this article, you are probably giving some thought
to how you can build a career that you can be more passionate about.
A great first step as you begin exploring the possibilities for a
passionate career is identifying your building blocks. Take a look
at the things that you have really loved doing over the course of
your life and break them down into the reasons ~why~.
When you say "I'm passionate about ______," or "I love doing
______," that's not really the complete picture. Whether you're
conscious of it or not, what you really mean is "I love doing _____
because _____, _____, and _____."
You identify your building blocks by exploring those underlying
characteristics. Having an understanding of those characteristics
can open up a whole new world of potential.
It's like an erector set for your career. Once you have the basic
pieces, you can start taking a look at all the different things they
could be when they come together.
Thinking about the ~what~ of the things we love doing tends to have
a limiting effect. For example, let's say you're passionate about
travel photography. OK, so what can you do with that knowledge? It
seems to suggest one possible path. Be a travel photographer.
Exploring the ~why~, on the other hand, expands your horizons,
providing the raw material to help you look further. It yields the
building blocks that you can look at and ask, "what other kinds of
opportunities incorporate those elements?"
So instead of "I'm passionate about travel photography," you dig
into the reasons why and find out that "I'm passionate about travel
photography because it gives me a medium for exploration. And for
discovery. It helps me constantly find new ways of seeing things.
And it encourages me to connect with people in a way I otherwise
wouldn't."
So the juice doesn't just come from taking pictures in exotic
locales. It comes from exploration and discovery, and connecting
with people, and seeing things in new ways. For another person, it
might be something else entirely.
You can also use those building blocks to evaluate existing
opportunities. Let's say you're in the job search, and are trying to
decide whether a particular job is a good fit for you. With your
list of underlying characteristics of the things you love doing, you
can take a look at that job opportunity and say, "Does it have these
elements?" If not, it's a pretty good bet that you won't be happy
there for the long term.
Your building blocks are there already - you just need to uncover
them and put them to use. You may be surprised where they take you.
As a Passion Catalyst (sm), Curt
Rosengren helps people identify their passions and create careers that
ignite them. He works with individuals, conducts workshops, and speaks on
passion-focused topics. He also publishes PassionKey (sm), an online
newsletter dedicated to helping you live your passion.
Web:
www.passioncatalyst.com
|
|
