Daunting as it might be, it’s still possible to find the job you love or at least be on the path toward a more fulfilling career. As springtime transforms the earth from barren grays and browns into tapestries of green and carpets of wildflowers, we are reminded that life is about renewal and reinvention. It’s in the cycle of the seasons and our DNA as human beings. We are constantly evolving to find new ways. We grow. We adapt. We push forward. I have some clients who have recently lost their jobs but thankfully have received solid severance packages that have given them the breathing space to really think about and possibly push the envelope on what they want to do next with their career and lives. However, plenty of people who have lost their jobs recently don’t have that luxury. There’s no point in dreaming about the future if you’re not prioritizing your physical, mental, and financial well-being in the present. The job that’s actually right for you right now may be driven more by finances than it would have been if you had done these exercises three months ago. Don’t feel alone or shame in that. Everything has changed. To figure out how you want to or need to adapt, start by defining your context and work on building a plan that either regains or sustains your personal stability. As with any proper experiment, you should set an aim: perhaps to understand yourself more fully and figure out what job would actually be most satisfying. You also will need a hypothesis: an educated guess as to what you expect to find. But remember that the key to being a good scientist is to make sure that as you go through the steps of experimentation, you are objective and unbiased. Have an open mind as you explore who you are and get feedback where needed. As for how you explore yourself, you’ll need more than a pen and a blank piece of paper this time around. There are many different tools and assessments you can engage with to learn more about who you are and what you want. I like to start broad with a holistic life exercise (for example, “The Wheel of Life”) and then go into more details to determine what their values, character strengths, personality traits, and belief systems are. Two of my favorite assessments are the VIA Survey (to understand your character strengths) and the Enneagram Test (to understand your personality traits) that anyone can do online. These tests, however, are only as useful as you make them—you need to spend the time and energy to think about what they are telling you and how you can apply them to your life and decision making. It is helpful to have a sounding board as you explore, so I recommend finding a friend, family member, or professional to help you create the space to experiment, discover, and reach some conclusions. An environment isn’t just about physical space but also has aspects of time and energy. There are various exercises you can engage in here, but without a coach, I would recommend simply going back to a blank sheet of paper to start brainstorming and taking notes. Ask yourself questions like what are the aspects of the environments I like to be in? What do these environments look, feel, sound like? Do they need to be visually stimulating? Are they fast-paced? Are they time-pressured, high energy, and noisy, or do they tend to be calmer, more quiet, and relaxed? Think back to times when you felt stressed and times you felt confident. Are there any emerging patterns you can see here? Start getting specific and see if you can visualize your ideal environment or at least list out the aspects of the environments that suit you. You can also do the same for the environments that hinder your ability to thrive. Once you have done this you can start thinking about how these environments—the good, the bad, and the ugly—show up in your life. Are you currently in a work environment that gives you or takes away your confidence and energy? If the environment you have visualized seems out of reach right now, then you will need to think outside the box and bring aspects of that environment into your current reality. For example, if you love nature but work in the middle of Manhattan, maybe you could invest in some indoor plants, nature photography, and Spotify playlists that bring the sounds of birds and the ocean waves into your workspace. Creativity and imagination are paramount for you to empower yourself to build the reality that you want. As we all know, we can’t only be around people we like and relate to, but we can at least increase our knowledge of the kinds of people who inspire us and help us grow and then seek them out. Workplace culture is highly influential on a person’s happiness and success, so it is paramount to know the kinds of cultures that you are more likely to grow and be successful in. There are emotional intelligence, team, and leadership assessments that can be taken to help you navigate cultures and teams. But for the point of this exercise, it is enough to just give yourself the space to think about the relationships you have been in that worked for you and those that were challenging. Similarly to your work on understanding suitable external environments, you can ask yourself a series of questions to determine what kinds of cultures work best for you. And finally, as you look to find the job that is right for you, spend quality time thinking about the actual tasks you want to be engaged in day-in, day-out. Growth and success at the end of the day are about repetition, stamina, and perseverance. If you actually want to find that job that is right for you in the long run, you will want to be clear on the tasks and activities that you won’t give up on the minute times get rough or boring. Here are some questions to ask yourself to be crystal clear on the job that’s right for you: Seize the day. That is what springtime is all about!
