By: MJ Gonzales | Executive Chronicles
Experiencing lost in the abyss happens in the work field. Sometimes, it’s because of the turn of events like layoffs and toxic demand of the jobs. On the other side, directionless career path is also the struggle of those who earn high salary. Is it because they’re still figuring out what’s their real dream job?
Sitting in front of a highly equipped work station, doesn’t always mean awesome. Perhaps, employees may even complain about small issues like wall colors and what brand of printer to buy. The important note is why they just not be thankful because they’re unemployed or underpaid? Sad isn’t it, especially if you’re like them? What you can do to figure out your dream job?
Be open about the unconventional ideas like career shift, part-time gigs or reinvention. If you pursue similar jobs just to apply what you learned in college, then that sounds logical. However, it’s not good if you feel bored and unsatisfied all the time. A job is an ideal if it makes you happy and driven to do it no matter what.
As early as possible scout a particular field that’s interesting for you to do. If you need to go back to school and take a short course, go for it. It’s better to risk for your passion than stay pale and desperate with your current work condition. Maybe what you took in college wasn’t even your third choice, but was a choice for you of your parents or peers.
Join professional groups and find mentors. Your dream job may not totally different and far away from your current field. To help you to asses, it’s better to socialize with diverse people outside from your office. Getting relevant insights from career coach and mentors will give you solid ideas and let you recognize your potentials.
Go for a spiritual/ meditative retreats or work hiatus. Work hiatus, travel, and meditative retreats look ridiculous ideas, but revolutionary. Do you know that before rocking the technology world, young and lost Steve Jobs stayed in India for few months and came back differently? Most reports said he practiced Zen Buddhism since then and went for occasional meditational retreat for his mental processing as per biographer Walter Isaacson.
“If you just sit and observe, you will see how restless your mind is. If you try to calm it, it only makes it worse, but over time it does calm, and when it does, there’s room to hear more subtle things – that’s when your intuition starts to blossom and you start to see things more clearly and be in the present more. Your mind just slows down, and you see a tremendous expanse in the moment. You see so much more than you could see before. It’s a discipline; you have to practice it,” the late Apple founder shared with Isaacson.
