Take a Chance:

We are told too often to go after the jobs with the "money, power, title, and status." And we do that. We get the great-paying job, the fantastic home, the latest gadgets, the stylish clothes. But what we don't get is the happiness, the sense of fulfillment, or the passion that makes us love what we do everyday. So instead, we work 50, 60, 70 hour or more weeks to pay for the home, gadgets, and clothing. In the end though, we have our doubts whether it's really worth it.

Some people recently have found themselves in the position of looking for a new job. Many of them feel a sense of excitement since they see this as an opportunity to take chances on their careers. They are tired of having a "job" and are ready to start having a "life." The fear though lies in not knowing where to begin or in the possibility of failure.

Identify Your Ideal Job:

Some people have no clue what their ideal job would be. If that's how you feel, don't worry. The answer lies within you. In fact you already know what you'd love to do with your life it's just that it's so close to you, you can't see it. You know that saying about the forest from the trees? Exactly.

If you find yourself searching for your ideal job, try some of these activities:

1. Pretend it's 5 years into the future. Write a letter to a friend you have not seen in awhile and tell them what you've been doing for the past 5 years. Describe your career and personal life to get an all around picture.

2. Survey friends and family. Ask 5 people whose opinion you trust to tell you what kinds of jobs they see you doing. You'd be surprised how often others know you better than you know yourself!

3. What do you value? To be completely satisfied and fulfilled with our daily activities, they must be oriented around what we value. List the top 10 things you value such as learning, guiding, self-expression, order. Then choose the 3 you couldn't live without. What kind of job would let you honor those three values 80% of the time?

4. What do you do for fun? What are your hobbies? Is there something you're always doing for friends and neighbors just because you love doing it? Maybe that hobby is your life's calling.

A Plan:

Once you've realized what kind of work you want to be doing, the next step is to develop an end-goal. You need something to work towards. It's okay to feel hesitant about this. Remember, goals are not written in stone. They simply allow you to have something concrete to work towards. You can change your goal at anytime.

Once you have your goal set, you need a strategy and then an action plan. What's the difference? A strategy is the "what" and the action plan is the "how". For example, you want to become an editor of children's books.

Your end-goal might be to be employed as an editor within one year. Your strategy could include things such as:

1. Become active within the publishing circle.
2. Become educated on specific knowledge needed to edit children's books.
3. Build a reserve of cash and cut expenses by 50% to prepare for pay cut.
4. Find ways to apply editing skills in current job or through volunteer activities.

Your action plan might look like this:

1. Attend 2 networking events each month
2. Become a member of a publishing organization by the end of the month
3. Sell car within 3 months to save money
4. Make appointment with financial advisor to learn how to better manage expected pay cut
5. Volunteer to be an editor for a community magazine by May
6. Take continuing education classes
7. Set up one informational interview each month