Why Do You Work in Your Job Anyway?
Are you one of the people who is up before dawn, under constant pressure with enormous demands, leaving work late, leaving the kids to your partner to raise, complaining about work and not doing anything about it?
Is there a person you work with who is doing the same thing and seems to be happy all the time? Are they thriving with all of this and you are dying a slow death inside? What’s the difference between you that makes this person so vital and you so dull, even to yourself?
So many of us work in demanding professions now with enormous responsibility. We travel with Blackberries, cell phones, laptops, electronic organizers, multiple email accounts, instant messaging, and ipods. The list seems endless as does our work day.
Let me ask you a question?
Why did you choose this career any way? What was it that you hoped to get, other than money, that attracted you to this field anyway?
Too often, we (myself included) get caught up in the immediacy of our work that we forget the context of it—why did we enter this field? What do you hope to get out of it? What is your professional mission that gives you a compass for wise decisions?
Without a professional mission that you can constantly revise, you will wander aimlessly and unhappily from one professional situation or crisis or job to another, without having a true internal understanding of what is right other than the immediate.
So, take a moment and remember what it wa like to be a beginner and remember why you entered the field? Give yourself time to think about it. Now give yourself time to think about what you hope to accomplish professionally.
Do you see yourself managing or being on staff.? Big company? Small company? Self-employed? What are you earning? Are you an acclaimed industry leader? Are you an anonymous cog in a successful organization?
Write everything down.
A formula I learned from Melanie Strich is Vision + Action + Systems = Success. In other words, “Your Vision for Your Future + The ActionsYou Take + The Systems and Relationships You Employ will lead you to success.
One day, you will die. Between now and that inevitable conclusion, how do you want to live? Do you want to enjoy your career or complain about it some more?
Jeff Altman Concepts in Staffing jeffaltman@cisny.com © 2006 all rights reserved.
Jeff Altman, Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in technology, accounting, finance, sales, marketing and other disciplines since 1971. He is a certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.
For additional job hunting or hiring tips, go to http://www.sayhi.to/JeffAltman. If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at jeffaltman@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).
If you would like to subscribe to Headhunt Your Own Job, Jeff Altman’s job searchzine, send an email to jeffaltmansearch@gmail.com. To welcome you as a subscriber, I’ll forward a list of employment job boards to help you with your job search.
