Crafting Your Personal Career Compass – Defining Purpose-Driven Work
Traditional career paths are becoming increasingly obsolete as people seek more fulfilling and purpose-driven work experiences. The notion of climbing the corporate ladder no longer holds the same appeal, with individuals realizing that job titles alone don’t correlate with job satisfaction or life fulfilment. Balancing work and personal life has become increasingly important, and many are questioning whether following a traditional career trajectory truly honours their unique interests, skills, and beliefs.
The plethora of career options, upskilling opportunities, and possibilities for lateral and geographical moves can be overwhelming. What to do next? Moreover, the rise of self-employment and entrepreneurship adds another layer of complexity to the decision-making process. With so many choices available, we often find ourselves grappling with anxiety and uncertainty. How does one navigate this sea of options and determine the "right" next move?
For those seeking greater meaning and alignment with their values in their careers, the decision-making process becomes even more nuanced. How do you incorporate personal purpose into the decision making process to guide your career choices? And even before being able to answer this question, how do you go about defining personal purpose, a term that sounds appealing but vague that goes beyond mere passion?. I for one am passionate about lots of things that I’m not good at and am likely to fail. Probably not the wisest more to make them a personal career mission. Purpose should be a combination of something that feels worthwhile and sparks our curiosity and drive and at the same time utilizes what we are uniquely placed to achieve.
To begin crafting a compass for navigating professional career options, here are four key areas worth considering:
Passions – What are the activities that you come back to over and over again? What is it that feels restorative rather than draining? What is it that you would happily do free of charge all day as it doesn’t really feel like work? Make a note of these activities as you will need a good dose of them (or a version of them) as you consider future possibilities.
Values – What is it that is more important to you than money? And more importantly WHY? As we consider purpose, we need to consider some of our principles; Is it sustainability, diversity, justice, creativity. Whatever it is, make sure you capture your values as your future roles will need to align with them in order for you to feel that you are achieving something meaningful and worthwhile.
Talents – What are the gifts that you naturally possess? Is it an ability to connect with those around you? To come up with new solutions? Problem solving or meticulous planning? These are talents you most likely take for granted. Ask those around you who know you well, your friends and family; what do they consider your talents being. Consider taking a reputable personality assessment that can also help shed light into some of your innate talents. You may not always be the best judge of your own talents as it's difficult to look at yourself objectively.
Skills/Experience – What are the skills you have picked up along the way. The things that required training and repetition that you have spent time and effort to master. Whether that’s your professional qualification or your captivating presentation skills, you will want to include those as you consider future possibilities. The more your next role draws from them, the more likely you are to succeed.
Take the time to map out each of these four pillars – passions, values, talents, and skills/experience – as they will form the foundation of your personal purpose. This simple framework will enable you to evaluate career options more comprehensively and serve as a compass for brainstorming new career paths or business ventures. In the future, rather than asking yourself questions like "How appealing is this opportunity?" or "How likely am I to succeed?", assess the opportunity against these four pillars. The work you've done will serve as your guide for evaluating opportunities and making decisions, helping you say no to options that may be tempting but misaligned with your purpose. Additionally, ensure you regularly revisit and refine your purpose to ensure it evolves in line with your aspirations and experiences.