HOW TO MAKE BETTER DECISIONS ABOUT YOUR CAREER

Text type: Essay/Article Theme: Soft Skills/Innovation Subthemes: Decision making

In this unit the students will be able to

1. What are your feelings telling you?

If you want to find a fulfilling career, it needs to align with your values. Your feelings can help you discern this, even if you haven't consciously named what those values are. Think of it this way: When you're faced with an important decision, what's the first thing that happens in your mind and your body? Usually, before logic kicks in, you'll experience a strong emotion. Pay attention to that. Your emotions are connected to who you are at your core and can provide important insights about your identity and the values that may be driving your actions but that are also, at times, beyond your conscious awareness.

So, think about the kind of work you're doing now, or the kind of work you're planning to do.

Brainstorm and jot down ideas of different careers you're considering. What feelings come up? If you feel anger, sadness, or even fear and anxiety when you're looking at the choices on your list, consider those red flags. If, on the other hand, you feel happiness or excitement, that's an indicator that what you're considering might be a good decision.

If you don't come up with anything that elicits positive emotions, go back to the drawing board. Keep looking for different careers until you find something that is in alignment with your emotions.

Once you've connected with your emotions, you're ready for the next step: consciously identifying your values.

What are values? They're simply defined as what really matters to you, or your "why." That is, they can help you define why a certain decision feels more meaningful to you than another.

Understanding your "why" will allow you to make choices that align directly with the things you care about - choices that will keep you fulfilled longer term.

For example, let's say you're trying to decide between two jobs that you've been offered. One is a high- paying corporate job and the other is a job working at a nonprofit with a reasonable, but lower, salary. If you take the time to identify your values and find that helping others is one of them, but money isn't high on your list, that makes your decision to work at the nonprofit a bit easier.

There are a number of ways to figure out what your values are. One of the best is through formal psychological assessments. My favorite is the Enneagram personality test because the results describe your personality traits and motivations in the context of ideal circumstances and stressful situations, which can give you a more holistic look at who you are.

None of us exist in a vacuum. Just as it's important to get clear on what matters to you, it's also important to consider how your decision will impact your loved ones - because it probably will.