Ask the Expert
Deb is a Career Coach who specializes in helping adults to discover and attain a career they love. Over the past 10 years, Deb has inspired, empowered and coached hundreds of diverse individuals to turn their professional and personal dreams into reality.
Finding a meaningful career
Q: I'm a 35 year old recently divorced mother of three. Before I had children, I was on a fast track career with a major television network but stopped work to raise my children. I am now in the position where I must re-enter the work force. Although I liked my former career, I feel like I want to do something that carries more passion with it and is more meaningful. The only problem is that I need to make money so non-profit work is probably out of the question. How do I find a career I am passionate about?Sincerely,
Cathy
A: Dear Cathy:
As a single mother who also went through a divorce, I can personally empathize with your situation. Additionally, in my career coaching practice I have coached numerous women who have gone through divorces and are now on a quest to discover a career they are passionate about.
Before you can begin the process of discovering a career you love, you need to ask yourself if you have healed from your divorce. Divorces are traumatic events in one's life. It usually takes up to one year to recover mentally and emotionally. Ask yourself, do I feel emotionally stable and am I thinking clearly? If not, it will be difficult to truly invest in choosing the career path that is meant for you. And if you are still recovering, continue seeing a counselor to help you through this difficult time. After you have recovered from the trauma, then you will be ready to work on finding passion in your career.
To find a career you love requires integrating who you are and what you want with what you do. It demands that you know what your gifts are. Your gifts are your natural talents that you love doing. Although you may have many learned skills, you may not necessarily enjoy using them. So ask yourself, what comes naturally to me, what do I get excited about, what do I love doing?
The second part of this is identifying how you want to use your gifts to make a difference in the world. By making the world we live in a better place, you will experience the meaning and fulfillment you desire. This is not limited to non-profit work. You may work for a corporation that works to clean the environment, a hospital that cares for the sick and injured, a manufacturing company that produces educational computer software. There are limitless possibilities for careers and work environments where your work is meaningful to you. Ask yourself, what has given me the greatest sense of satisfaction and fulfillment, both personally and professionally?
What is truly important to realize is that each of us is a unique individual. We all have our own gifts to offer this world. What brings joy and meaning to one person will be very different for another. Your challenge is to uncover your unique gifts and find what is meaningful to you.
The last issue of concern you brought up is financial. It can take some time to do the inner work that is necessary to create the career you love. With a career coach it usually takes at least 3 months of coaching to get to the point where you know what it is you want to do, and then an additional 2 months to 2 years (depending on if you have to take additional training, etc) to attain your goal. On your own it could take much longer. In order to take care of your immediate financial needs, take a position utilizing the skills you already possess, even though it is not your dream career. Then at the same time do your inner work and develop a plan to transition into a career you are passionate about. Finding a career you are passionate about is really about finding yourself first.
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