One of the more essential questions in life; where am I going? What are my talents and how should I use them? As a career coach there are a few people coming to see me with these kinds of questions.
One way of reviewing your talents is to ask for feedback from trusted colleagues, supervisors, family and friends. Or even send out a 360 survey to a number of people in your network. Another is to list down tasks you love to do and that you have received good feedback on. A third is to write down your dream tasks, your dream job, what you could do when all is possible and there are no limits. I see with my clients that the latter comes out easily when someone guides you through a visualization.
The interesting thing is that the question “where am I going” isn’t coming up just once..
We go through cycles of life, and what matters in your twenties might not be the case in your thirties, forties, fifties, sixties, seventies; we are constantly in change. These changes might be confusing, annoying and creating frustration; a sense of discomfort. Maybe you didn’t follow your heart when you chose your studies, maybe you didn’t know what were your real interests back then, or maybe your interests just change with time, experience and age. One of my clients, in her seventies, is now writing books, something that was difficult to find time for earlier (or even currently, this is an active lady).
The great thing about this change is that we do have a choice whether we want to do something about it or not. We can attend evening classes, virtually or face to face, if we want to change profession. We can volunteer some of our time to learn a new skill. We can reach out to someone we know, who does what we want to do, and ask for advice. Or we can decide that it doesn’t work out to change profession and that our talents and skills should be used in activities after work hours. A client of mine discovered that when she imagined doing her favourite activity all day, it wasn’t so appealing anymore. She realized she should keep this activity as a hobby only.
The discomfort I mentioned, these changes of interest can be door-openers to a new life with new insights and fulfilment. You can choose your perspective; do I want to see this from the angle of difficulty or the angle of opportunity? A tip; it’s more comfortable being in the latter perspective!
“It’s easier to take a small action now,
than taking a big action later”