Are you ready to find your dream job? Except the only problem is you have no idea who ‘you’ are? Then it’s time to stop reading the same old ‘Here’s a List of 10 Ways to Find Yourself!’ and get some serious help. Lucky for you, you’ve come to the right place.
Why You Need to Ditch the List
When beginning the process of finding ‘you’, it’s important to understand it’s not as simple as ten steps, it involves complex thinking and oftentimes help when you want it the least. It means diving into your inner-self and breaking it into little pieces to dissect the most valuable parts. Only then can you have some idea of what career is a good fit for you.
Common Misconceptions When Finding ‘You’
Most people believe that once they start the journey of finding themselves, the realization is going to hit them instantly and everything in life will start to make sense. However, don’t give up if this isn’t the case for you. Finding yourself takes patience, and the truth be told, it’s really a lifelong process. So, in the meantime, stick with figuring out smaller pieces, like things that you value or what makes you motivated. Each of these little things add up to form a beautiful image of you in the long run.
A Good Starting Place: Diving into Your Past
Now that you are ready to start your journey, think back to a time in your life when you really felt comfortable in your own skin- moments that brought you feelings of happiness and confidence. Try and figure out exactly what it was in those moments that produced those feelings, and look for ways to mimic them when trying to figure yourself out.
The same goes for times when you felt at your lowest point in life- pinpoint exactly who or what made you feel that way. But do not dwell on these events, simply use them as a guide to reflect on your surroundings during that time.
Target significant moments that may have led you to where you are now, the good and the bad. It’s important we must make sense of our past and come to terms with why or how certain eventful things happened in our lives, and accept that they’ve happened and move on. To not let the past be what ‘defines’ us.
The Importance of Realizing your Self Worth
Once you can accept your past, it’s time to move forward on creating the person you want to be in the future. To do so, we must analyze each part of ourselves, even the parts we don’t like- our insecurities, doubts, and fears. Tell the inner critic in your head to get lost, and create a set of positive affirmations to remind yourself of when you start feeling down. Learn to be your own best friend and motivational speaker all in one.
After you have removed all the negative weight from your brain, begin to fill in the gaps with the traits about yourself you value, and focus on using them to achieve any goals in life you may have. Learn to differentiate yourself from others and accept yourself as your own individual, but understand you will come across people who may not accept you, and that’s okay- you will be better off without them. When you start to feel confident in yourself, you may realize the process becomes a lot easier.
Seek Out Support – Why Relationships are Necessary in Finding Yourself
Now that you can separate the traits about yourself that you like to the ones you don’t, apply them to the people in your life. Look at the relationships that provide you with the most happiness, and make sense of the characteristics of those individuals. Do the same for the people in your life that you may have experienced conflict with, or have negative emotion towards. What about those people caused you to have those feelings?
It’s necessary to get rid of the relationships in your life that make you feel weighed down, or less like yourself. If it feels like you are more unhappy with them then you are happy, chances are in the long run you will feel better if you ditch them, even if it hurts in the moment.
If you can’t decide if a relationship is worth it, remember this trick from Dolly Alderton’s book, Everything I Know About Love; If you had the ability to press a button, and everything about that relationship would be forgotten from both your memories, and neither of you would feel anything afterwards- would you press it? If the answer is yes, then you should think about removing this person from your life.
Remember, the people in your life aren’t there because you force them to be, they stick around because they care about you. Seek out help from them if you are feeling stuck in a rut with your journey. Even consider reaching out to a therapist or school counselor, anyone who can help guide you through the process when you feel like you can’t. If you feel uncomfortable with one-on-one help, this podcast is a great place to find advice:
https://therapistuncensored.com/episodes/
Applying the ‘You’ Towards a Career
Now that you have a better understanding of yourself- there is a few things to consider when looking for a career best suited to you. Put the values, skills, and habits that you love most about yourself, and apply them towards certain career fields. Do as much research as possible. When you can narrow down a few possibilities, get a better understanding of the environment offered with these sorts of career choices. You want to make sure you will be around people who reflect the same attitudes and mindsets that you seek out in others.
Think about your long, or short-term goals out of life. Certain things you couldn’t live without, and make sure you can earn them through your career. Whether that be salary, benefits, or even vacation days, if it’s important to you, it must be accessible. If you’re looking for a great place to start this process, try the Myers-Briggs personality test with MBTI:
https://www.mbtionline.com/en-US/Products/For-you
Another thing to take into consideration is whether you are promotion or prevention focused. Promotion focused individuals look at a career as a means to an end- you want to work to achieve something out of it. You tend to have a strong work ethic and value creativity, while always looking to find solutions. Look for careers where you can quickly move up the chain, or where things are always evolving.
If you are prevention focused, you value what you have, and see yourself as a sort of rock for the things or people around you. You are very thorough and stick to a plan or schedule, and want things to be accurate and consistent. Seek out jobs where it pays to be meticulous, and is key to know set guidelines for how the company is run.
Starting your Career Journey
Once you have narrowed down a few career choices, get some practice in. This may mean trying out internships, or actually visiting the company for a day to see what it’s like. You do not have to apply for a job out of the gate just because it seems like a good fit for you.
And remember, chances are your first career choice may not be your favorite, but know that doesn’t mean you have failed. Look at the opportunity as practice for the real deal, and reflect on what you didn’t enjoy about it, then apply that when moving forward.
Something people often forget, is that you can always fall back on your education if you feel as though nothing is working in your favor. Go back to school if you need to. Apply your education towards a similar field that focuses a career that interests you or may fit more towards your personality.
One extremely important thing to take away from your career journey is the people you meet. Put yourself out there with your newfound confidence, and network with as many people as you can. It’s a good possibility they have similar mindsets or goals that you find in yourself, and you never know, you may find job opportunities through them.
Continuing the Journey – What Comes Next?
As you may know by now, finding yourself is a lifelong process, so your self-evaluation story does not end after you have found a career. It is a continuous process of ups and downs and bumps and curves, and it’s important what you take away from the journey and how you apply it to the future. However, never settle and never limit yourself to the endless possibilities’ life offers. Don’t be afraid of change, seek it out and embrace it, take everything in with an optimistic view. If you find your dream career- hold onto it, but know that’s not where your story ends, and don’t give up on all the progress you have made.
For more information about the job search process, visit https://www.ourfirstjobsearch.com/job-search-steps/