Career Success Begins with Knowing Yourself

I find people often wait until they are middle aged and go through the horrific experience of job burn out, from doing a job that they were never created to do, before they start looking at making some changes. But not always.

Sometimes I come across a person who tells me a story that does my heart good. I was speaking with a young woman the other day who had taken the initiative early. She had trained as an auditor and was doing well in her job, but it didn't really feel right for her. She looked around at all of the other auditors and saw what had become of the ones that obviously didn't really enjoy it. The ones that had been doing the job for years and had just got "stuck" there, miserable and grumpy!

She suddenly realised that if she didn't make some changes, and soon, she would end up just like them. Grumpy and Miserable! Now she's working in recruitment and loving it! It took courage, but she made the leap and is now reaping the rewards. She decided that even though she had spent years and loads of money training to be an auditor, it would cost her a lot more in her future happiness if she stuck with it.

But you know, I think a lot of people don't think they deserve to happy. They probably wouldn't admit it, but deep down, I'm sure that's what they must think. How else would you explain the fact that so many people end up
being stuck in dead end jobs that they hate? Why would they put themselves through that day after day after day, if they truly thought that they deserved better? Why would they continue to towards job burn out.
Unless people have a healthy self-esteem and a sense of their own uniqueness, they aren't going to have the ability to do what needs to be done to get happy and to avoid the dreaded job burn out!

Maybe there is a little voice inside of them, way down in their subconscious that is telling them lies. Telling them they don't deserve any better. Maybe they have been comparing themselves unfavorably to other people.
The best thing that I have found to help get your self-talk sorted into a more positive dialogue, is finding out who you really are. Career success begins with knowing yourself. When you realise that you are truly unique, that you weren't made exactly the same as anyone else and begin to explore this reality, it is such an incredibly freeing experience. Myers Briggs Type indicator is one way that people find very eye-opening towards finding out who they are and what makes them tick. There are lots of other assessments available. Coaching
can help you explore this subject in a confidential and safe environment. A good starting point could be to ask somebody who knows you well to tell you how they would describe you. That can be a very interesting exercise.
I hope you aren't making the same mistake that so many make and that is trying to be somebody that you are not. Remember that career success begins with knowing yourself, it really does. The best thing that anyone can do while looking at their career path is to be honest with themselves about who they really are and then move towards career success by utilising this knowledge.

About the author:

Deborah Prideaux is a Career Coach who works with peoples
strengths and passions to help them discover their unique career
path. Visit www.CareerImpactCoaching.com