“The worst days of those who enjoy what they do, are better than the best days of those who don't.” - E. James Rohn
“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.” - Albert Schweitzer
“Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it.” – Buddha
Career happiness involves doing what you love.
Career success is excelling at doing what you love.
Everyone has passions, often many. One of the beautiful things about college is
that it provides you with the opportunity to explore and find areas of interest
that you are truly passionate about.
This post is all about determining the
long-term goals in your life – the ones that really matter. Discover what you
are truly passionate about. This, in turn, assists you to make better decisions
about your choice of major, your career, and which pathways to pursue in life.
But this section is also about learning how
to pursue those goals – not with a mindless devotion to achievement of the
goals, but also by treasuring the journey along the way. In essence, you should
venture down the path, toward the desired goals, with a positive attitude each
and every day; this in turn will make achievement of the goals far more likely.
Assignment #1: “The Five-Year Question.” To assist you
in uncovering your long-term goals and passions, ask yourself this question:
If a physician told you that you have
five to six years to live, but during that time you will be as healthy are you
are now until suddenly you pass away without pain, what would you like to do or
accomplish during that time so that, at the end of your life, you have no
regrets?
Write your answers in your journal.
Be specific. For example, if you desire to travel, exactly where to and how
would you travel? With whom? If you desire to spend more time with family and
friends, what specific activities would you do? If you desire to volunteer for
a charitable cause, what charity would you benefit, how would you volunteer,
and how much time would you spend on that activity? If you desire to pursue an
art, craft, learn a skill, or pursue any other form of education, where would
you do it and how much time would you spend doing it?
If you have children, answer the
question but assume that your children are grown, self-sufficient, and capable.
Make the focus of the second answer on you and what you desire to
accomplish for yourself, even if this feels a bit “greedy.”
Assignment #2: Identifying Ideal Jobs. Pursuit of your passions is not just
about undertaking personal activities, but also involves pursuing a career that
you love. Next, ask yourself these questions:
- “What is your ideal last job, before you retire?"
- “What is your ideal job, ten years from now?”
- “How will you lead your life in a way in which you are happy and successful”?
Write your answers to these questions
in your journal.
But before you begin writing, read
the following on the distinctions between motivators and incentives. The insights
you gain may well influence your answers to these questions.
INCENTIVES vs. MOTIVATORS
What truly motivates us in life? In How Will You Measure Your Life, author
Clayton Christensen explores the types of satisfaction we can find in careers.
This may have important implications for your choice of career.
Four Possible Career Quadrants You Can Land In.
If I were to paraphrase and re-organize the author’s thoughts, there are
four possible career results which can follow:
Low Incentives
|
Highly
Motivated
|
High Incentives
|
|
highly motivated and lack of
one or more incentives
|
highly motivated and incentives present
|
||
poorly motivated and lack of
one or more incentives
|
poor motivation and incentives present
|
||
Poorly
Motivated
|
|||
Key to understanding the chart above is to understand the differences in
what spurs on our happiness as we go through life and various careers.
“Incentives” are those elements of work which, if not present, can cause
us to be dissatisfied. These elements (called “hygiene factors” in
Christensen’s book) include:
- adequate and fair compensation;
- job security;
- status;
- work conditions;
- company policies; and
- supervisory practices.
Yet, realize, that it is the absence
of any one or more of this factors which lead to job and career
dissatisfaction. Even if these factors are present, it does not mean that you
will love your job; you just will not hate
your job.
“Motivators” are the things which will truly, deeply satisfy us in our
careers. Motivation factors include:
- challenging work;
- recognition;
- responsibility; and
- personal growth.
In essence, these factors lead to the
feeling that you are making a meaningful contribution to your work. Motivation
“is much less about external prodding or stimulation, and much more about
what’s inside of you, and inside of your work.” [Christiensen, Kindle edition
p.34.]
Career Paths and Jobs Focused on
Incentives. Many
persons choose career paths, and particular jobs, based on incentives as the
primary criteria. For example, they seek out a high-paying job and/or a career
path leading to high pay in the future.
There is nothing wrong with this
approach. It’s just that – if you pursue a career only for purposes of making
an excellent salary – chances are that you will not be doing “something
important” or “something you really love.”
Some persons pursue jobs with high
incentives (such as high compensation) first, believing that they will later –
after financial security is achieved – turn to a different job (or career) that
they love. Unfortunately, changing careers in this fashion rarely occurs, as
higher pay usually leads to adopting a lifestyle which is difficult to give up.
The result is that many highly compensated individuals work in jobs with low
motivation factors – and they are dissatisfied.
(Although Alfred State’s business
professors may be among the exception – for many, having been highly
compensated in their business careers, they chose to eschew continued high
compensation in order to turn to their love of teaching.)
Career Paths and Jobs Focused on
Motivators. By contrast, other persons purposely forego
jobs or career paths which promise higher levels of compensation or status in
order to pursue careers in which motivation factors are present. For example,
many persons pursue careers in the military – not for the high level of
compensation, but rather because they believe they are making a real difference
in the world. Similarly, many individuals work for nonprofit corporations,
rather than for-profit corporations, for the same reasons.
In other words, if you love your job
– even if you are not making piles of money – you are going to be immensely
satisfied.
Can You Have It Both Ways –
Incentives PLUS Motivation Factors? Are there jobs, or career paths, in which the ideal exists –
not only are you highly incentivized (compensation, status, job security, and
good company policies), but they also are in a career in which they find the
work is challenging, they are provided with great levels of responsibility,
they are encouraged to grow, and (for some) they believe that the work they are
doing is “making a difference.”
Yes, such jobs do exist out there.
That’s the upper right quadrant of the chart, above.
Assignment #3: Understand How to Enjoy the Journey.
How you pursue these goals is as
important – if not more so – than whether the goals are accomplished. For to
truly appreciate life you should “live in the present” – be thankful for who
you are and what you have already accomplished. While it is important to
possess goals and aspirations, it is equally important for you to realize that
“happiness” is not necessarily tied to the accomplishment of any particular
goal. Realize that happiness – and a positive attitude – can contribute to, and
lead to, success.
View this Ted Talks video: Shawn
Achor: “The happy secret to better work” http://www.ted.com/talks/shawn_achor_the_happy_secret_to_better_work (12:21).
As set forth in the video by Shawn
Achor, discover “The Happiness Advantage” and its major benefits:
- Better health.
- More productive.
- Greater social connections.
- Less stress.
Next, if you find yourself concerned
about your direction in life, consider asking for assistance. Your college has
a career center and within it are a number of personality tests you can take.
Your personality often drives your interests and passions. More importantly,
the career counselors are trained in how to interpret the results of those
tests and to guide you in considering career choices.
If you desire to take a free version
of the ever-popular “Myers-Briggs” test online without professional assistance,
visit http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp. Simply complete the test and the result will
be provided to you. (There is no charge
for this online test.)
Then, learn more about the typology
which results (such as “ISTJ” or “ENFP”) from your Myers-Briggs assessment. Simply
type your typology into a browser search window, and you’ll find many articles
that describe that typology. Write a summary of what you learn about yourself
in your journal.
Lastly, find some quiet time and
peruse a college catalog. See which courses naturally interest you. Ask
yourself, what would you study if you could do it all over? And also ask, what
courses do you think you could teach, or would want to teach? If money were no
object, how would you desire to further your education? Write your answers to all
of these questions in your journal.
Dr. Ron A. Rhoades is an Asst. Professor of Finance at Western Kentucky University's Gordon Ford College of Business, where he chairs the (B.S. Finance) Financial Planning Program. An innovative, passionate teacher, he is the author of Choose to Succeed in College and in Life: Continously Improve, Persevere, and Enjoy the Journey (2014), from which many of these blog posts are derived.
Dr. Rhoades also serves as a consultant to the Garrett Planning Network, a nationwide network of independent, Fee-Only financial planners making competent, objective financial advice accessible to all people. He is the author of several books, dozens of articles, and he is a frequent speaker at financial planning and investments conferences. He is the recipient of many awards for his advocacy on behalf of the fiduciary standard. Dr. Rhoades is also a member of The Florida Bar, and he practices estate planning and transfer taxation for select current clients.
Dr. Rhoades and his wife, Cathy, reside in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
Dr. Rhoades also serves as a consultant to the Garrett Planning Network, a nationwide network of independent, Fee-Only financial planners making competent, objective financial advice accessible to all people. He is the author of several books, dozens of articles, and he is a frequent speaker at financial planning and investments conferences. He is the recipient of many awards for his advocacy on behalf of the fiduciary standard. Dr. Rhoades is also a member of The Florida Bar, and he practices estate planning and transfer taxation for select current clients.
Dr. Rhoades and his wife, Cathy, reside in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
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