9 Sure Steps to Your Dream Job
Are you dragging yourself in a job that is so boring? Time to dream your job in technicolour. You can have that dream job you so desire.
Your Career: Dream in Technicolour!
My husband and I are enjoying our dream jobs right now. Our life is an international adventure as we work in countries where we can make a difference.
Out of North America in winter and back in summer, we return to our cottage on the lake and enjoy the family. Because we are in a warm place during the northern chill, family and friends come and visit. We have the best of two worlds and can do these because of our jobs. How did this happen?
Have the gods blessed us by sending our guardian angels to make this happen? Have the spirits of our ancestors chosen to bless us? Why are we so lucky, or is it luck at all? Maybe or not. We may have worked hard. What is true is that we chose courses and alternatives when they presented themselves, leading to specific directions. We took the risks and never looked back.
My husband and I are enjoying our dream jobs right now. Our life is an international adventure as we work in countries where we can make a difference.
Out of North America in winter and back in summer, we return to our cottage on the lake and enjoy the family. Because we are in a warm place during the northern chill, family and friends come and visit. We have the best of two worlds and can do these because of our jobs. How did this happen?
Have the gods blessed us by sending our guardian angels to make this happen? Have the spirits of our ancestors chosen to bless us? Why are we so lucky, or is it luck at all? Maybe or not. We may have worked hard. What is true is that we chose courses and alternatives when they presented themselves, leading to specific directions. We took the risks and never looked back.
Creating your Dream Job
There is more to finding a dream job than just luck and hard work. This, I know, and you do, too. There are choices, decisions, work to do, and more. Remember, it is not only a job. It is a dream.
If you sit and wait for fortune to smile, you will pass on still occupying your cubicle in the office.
You can get your dream job. These nine steps will show you how. It's an excellent guide to start your thinking. The decision is still yours, but when you start taking the steps immediately after College, you have a better chance at success.
There is more to finding a dream job than just luck and hard work. This, I know, and you do, too. There are choices, decisions, work to do, and more. Remember, it is not only a job. It is a dream.
If you sit and wait for fortune to smile, you will pass on still occupying your cubicle in the office.
You can get your dream job. These nine steps will show you how. It's an excellent guide to start your thinking. The decision is still yours, but when you start taking the steps immediately after College, you have a better chance at success.
Don't Quit the Cubicle Yet
Hold on. Wait to quit your cubicle. Take a leave first. It would help if you had lots of leave days you have accumulated. Use these days to try out new things. Explore new possibilities. You never know what alternatives might interest you if you never try them. Usually, we do things we are used to and learn about repeat, repeat, repeat.
Dig out other activities and events and see how you can get engaged. There are so many circles you can be part of in your life. You can engage in many activities right now that you may need to be made aware of or have just dismissed all these years. Give these a try. Get into sites that focus on changing directions, careers, self-development, or any job website and wander. The variety is fantastic.
Hold on. Wait to quit your cubicle. Take a leave first. It would help if you had lots of leave days you have accumulated. Use these days to try out new things. Explore new possibilities. You never know what alternatives might interest you if you never try them. Usually, we do things we are used to and learn about repeat, repeat, repeat.
Dig out other activities and events and see how you can get engaged. There are so many circles you can be part of in your life. You can engage in many activities right now that you may need to be made aware of or have just dismissed all these years. Give these a try. Get into sites that focus on changing directions, careers, self-development, or any job website and wander. The variety is fantastic.
And to push you further, here are nine steps to the job you dream about:
1. Itemize activities that grab your interest and magnet your energy
What jobs grab your dreams? What job is the magnet for your energy? Itemize the activities that capture your interest and draw your power. Learn more about these items from people, books, websites, and the experiences of others. Watch your reaction as you get more engaged, and they give you feedback. If you feel the passion in you building up for whatever you get engaged in, go for it.
Countless experiences and research have validated for us that people who engage themselves in pursuing their dreams are massively more successful not only in their work but, most significantly, in their own lives.
1. Itemize activities that grab your interest and magnet your energy
What jobs grab your dreams? What job is the magnet for your energy? Itemize the activities that capture your interest and draw your power. Learn more about these items from people, books, websites, and the experiences of others. Watch your reaction as you get more engaged, and they give you feedback. If you feel the passion in you building up for whatever you get engaged in, go for it.
Countless experiences and research have validated for us that people who engage themselves in pursuing their dreams are massively more successful not only in their work but, most significantly, in their own lives.
2. Monitor your day-to-day activities and write down the ones that grab your attention.
Which of these makes you feel good? What do you spend time on? What shops always get your attention when you go shopping? What magazines do you subscribe to or read? What television programs don't you want to miss? All these may be the clues you need to what your real interests are. Often, you can be good at what you love, but you will always be second-rate (and grumpy) with work that fills time.
Remember, some have one passion, while others bounce around a bit. You are different. That makes you unique. Just list down the things you love and enjoy doing. You will get your clues.
Which of these makes you feel good? What do you spend time on? What shops always get your attention when you go shopping? What magazines do you subscribe to or read? What television programs don't you want to miss? All these may be the clues you need to what your real interests are. Often, you can be good at what you love, but you will always be second-rate (and grumpy) with work that fills time.
Remember, some have one passion, while others bounce around a bit. You are different. That makes you unique. Just list down the things you love and enjoy doing. You will get your clues.
3. Scan and Dig Deep
I just came across a book by the New York Times best-selling author, Barbara Sher. Thank you, Barbara. All my life, I have envied people who, from an early age, have their dreams identified. I enrolled in university, not knowing what I wanted, so I went to engineering, where most of my close friends went. After a semester, I explored other things.
Subsequently, I bailed out of many commitments to endlessly explore, only to reach almost 60, and I am still trying to figure out what I want. Don't get me wrong. I enjoy many things and can truly focus on many of them. I am also good at them as I have the discipline to learn what I get my hands on. But I always felt guilty or incomplete because I could not choose. I love doing different things at the same time. Then, Barbara clarified this for me. I am a scanner.
I was happy when I finally understood my reality. I am a scanner! Now, I am so glad not to choose but to give way to whatever interests me. Wait a minute, though. I can do this because I am retired. However, when you love what you are doing, the money comes.
Scanners possess a unique type of mind that scans the horizon, eager to explore everything they see and pursue many areas rather than a single point of interest. If you know you are this, you can train yourself to focus. As Malcolm Gladwell said, you need 1,000 hours to learn a skill but 10,000 hours to master it.
The point is to know yourself. Listen to your inner self. That is your guide; if you follow it faithfully, you will achieve your unique mission. It will not be the same as the other person because you are different. So be a scanner, but listen to your inner guide.
I just came across a book by the New York Times best-selling author, Barbara Sher. Thank you, Barbara. All my life, I have envied people who, from an early age, have their dreams identified. I enrolled in university, not knowing what I wanted, so I went to engineering, where most of my close friends went. After a semester, I explored other things.
Subsequently, I bailed out of many commitments to endlessly explore, only to reach almost 60, and I am still trying to figure out what I want. Don't get me wrong. I enjoy many things and can truly focus on many of them. I am also good at them as I have the discipline to learn what I get my hands on. But I always felt guilty or incomplete because I could not choose. I love doing different things at the same time. Then, Barbara clarified this for me. I am a scanner.
I was happy when I finally understood my reality. I am a scanner! Now, I am so glad not to choose but to give way to whatever interests me. Wait a minute, though. I can do this because I am retired. However, when you love what you are doing, the money comes.
Scanners possess a unique type of mind that scans the horizon, eager to explore everything they see and pursue many areas rather than a single point of interest. If you know you are this, you can train yourself to focus. As Malcolm Gladwell said, you need 1,000 hours to learn a skill but 10,000 hours to master it.
The point is to know yourself. Listen to your inner self. That is your guide; if you follow it faithfully, you will achieve your unique mission. It will not be the same as the other person because you are different. So be a scanner, but listen to your inner guide.
4. Dream Big
New Year, New Job. Your reach should exceed your grasp, or why have heaven? Yes, dream BIG. Often, our lack of courage limits us. We get involved in things we thought were the biggies only to find out years later it was just a tired bog to sink into.
How do you dream big? First of all, make your mind "4 wheel drive" so you can explore any place you come to. Have the courage to be yourself, your unique self.
Listen to the inner voice. Our life is cluttered and filled with so much noise that we can hardly hear our inner desires and longings. The big things we thought about in our younger years when our passions were limited and the world's options had not much affected us. We thought we could be Superman, Luke Sky Walker, or a cartoon character rather than a human. Get a dream, not an escape. Give your new four-wheel drive mind a real chance!
New Year, New Job. Your reach should exceed your grasp, or why have heaven? Yes, dream BIG. Often, our lack of courage limits us. We get involved in things we thought were the biggies only to find out years later it was just a tired bog to sink into.
How do you dream big? First of all, make your mind "4 wheel drive" so you can explore any place you come to. Have the courage to be yourself, your unique self.
Listen to the inner voice. Our life is cluttered and filled with so much noise that we can hardly hear our inner desires and longings. The big things we thought about in our younger years when our passions were limited and the world's options had not much affected us. We thought we could be Superman, Luke Sky Walker, or a cartoon character rather than a human. Get a dream, not an escape. Give your new four-wheel drive mind a real chance!
5. Start Your Dream Job with YOU...Brand yourself
Forget the photo gambit. Instead, create a particular, targeted, and brief description that ties together your knowledge and experience and links it to the job you are after so that it grabs the attention of the person wading through the pile.
Your cover letter is the spotlight. Focus on the Spotlight. Highlight critical distinguishing characteristics of yourself. The CV or bid will cover all the regular stuff. Do a new cover letter for each job. If it looks generic, you are toast.
Back off the bling and go right for track record-proven characteristics that you would want in an employee or a small company providing a service. Problem solver? Quick learner? Team catalyst? Positive influence and upbeat? What is your PROVEN brand? This brand is what you need to highlight. You can use the keywords in the posting or the call for tenders addressing these specifically. Go for substance, not tap dancing.
Forget the photo gambit. Instead, create a particular, targeted, and brief description that ties together your knowledge and experience and links it to the job you are after so that it grabs the attention of the person wading through the pile.
Your cover letter is the spotlight. Focus on the Spotlight. Highlight critical distinguishing characteristics of yourself. The CV or bid will cover all the regular stuff. Do a new cover letter for each job. If it looks generic, you are toast.
Back off the bling and go right for track record-proven characteristics that you would want in an employee or a small company providing a service. Problem solver? Quick learner? Team catalyst? Positive influence and upbeat? What is your PROVEN brand? This brand is what you need to highlight. You can use the keywords in the posting or the call for tenders addressing these specifically. Go for substance, not tap dancing.
6. Find a mentor
Stretch your network to find a mentor. Meet new people. This mentor is essential for those of you who may have just lived in close circles of family and friends.
Try to hang around people who are entirely different from you, and chances are they will bring you to activities you never even thought about or have always dreaded doing. Churches can be a safe place to try this or continuing education classes or workshops. Even Facebook and its ilk can be helpful. Stretch your network and look for other networks in your new areas of interest.
Make a list of people you admire within your circles. Talk to them. Ask them how they built the traits you admire in them. Ask them for suggestions. Make another list of people who are the best in your dream career. See how you can connect to them. Once you start, you will realize how easy this is. When you truly desire it, you will make it happen.
7. To achieve your dream job, learn new skills if necessary
What education and experience would enable you to enter the unique career paths you're looking at? Make a list of the details of the knowledge, training, and experience related to the job. Learn new skills if this is necessary.
If you are a more mature applicant, focus on your achievements in the last five years. If it is a bid, link yourself to recent successful projects. Write down personal characteristics that you could bring to a new area.
Stretch your network to find a mentor. Meet new people. This mentor is essential for those of you who may have just lived in close circles of family and friends.
Try to hang around people who are entirely different from you, and chances are they will bring you to activities you never even thought about or have always dreaded doing. Churches can be a safe place to try this or continuing education classes or workshops. Even Facebook and its ilk can be helpful. Stretch your network and look for other networks in your new areas of interest.
Make a list of people you admire within your circles. Talk to them. Ask them how they built the traits you admire in them. Ask them for suggestions. Make another list of people who are the best in your dream career. See how you can connect to them. Once you start, you will realize how easy this is. When you truly desire it, you will make it happen.
7. To achieve your dream job, learn new skills if necessary
What education and experience would enable you to enter the unique career paths you're looking at? Make a list of the details of the knowledge, training, and experience related to the job. Learn new skills if this is necessary.
If you are a more mature applicant, focus on your achievements in the last five years. If it is a bid, link yourself to recent successful projects. Write down personal characteristics that you could bring to a new area.
8. Have a Roadmap to your Dream Career
A good strategy is a must. This map is the hardest part. Choosing your dream career can be a joy ride, but getting into it requires stamina and maybe a thick skin.
Sometimes, you may kiss a thousand frogs to find a prince. But you can't give in to discouragement or frustration. Just keep taking the steps until you get your dream job. Make ten thousand mistakes. You are no different. We all do. Listen to the stories of writers who had a hundred manuscripts turned down before they hit the big time. Faith in yourself is everything.
It needs discipline to stick to the path once taken. It needs constancy despite failures. Keep at it until you have a stable foothold in the business you want to be. Get that ladder against a suitable building.
A good strategy is a must. This map is the hardest part. Choosing your dream career can be a joy ride, but getting into it requires stamina and maybe a thick skin.
Sometimes, you may kiss a thousand frogs to find a prince. But you can't give in to discouragement or frustration. Just keep taking the steps until you get your dream job. Make ten thousand mistakes. You are no different. We all do. Listen to the stories of writers who had a hundred manuscripts turned down before they hit the big time. Faith in yourself is everything.
It needs discipline to stick to the path once taken. It needs constancy despite failures. Keep at it until you have a stable foothold in the business you want to be. Get that ladder against a suitable building.
9. Be persistent
Stick to your strategy even when you are hardly moving, even when setbacks happen. Success comes from persistence. Take the necessary steps, and then, one step at a time.
Stick to your strategy even when you are hardly moving, even when setbacks happen. Success comes from persistence. Take the necessary steps, and then, one step at a time.