Redesign Your Career
Module 3: Reveal your dream job

Welcome back to Redesign your Career. This module brings together your purpose and your values and will guide you to revealing your dream job.

Part One

Our generation has changed the way we live, the way we work and our values. We know the need for self-expression through work not after work. Previous generations lived from a sense of poverty. They were controlled by the feeling of lack – lack of self worth, lack of freedom, lack of housing, lack of food, lack of money and lack of purpose.

We have, quite rightly, higher expectations for ourselves. The world is constantly changing and, with the introduction of computers and the World Wide Web we now have access to the world. We can have friends around the world and easily get in touch with people who have the same values as we do.

The power of the group

People used to believe that they had no power as an individual. It wasn’t true, but it was still very hard for them to make a difference, because how can one person change millions of people’s lives? Nowadays, we can reach other people around the world who think the same way we do. Once a group of people get together the power of the group is stronger. And as the group grows so does its power.

As I said in Week 1, the way new technology is shaping how we live means these are incredible times. We are lucky enough to be living through them and able to take advantage of them. You are using the World Wide Web now to change your life!

There is absolutely no excuse for any one of us in the developed countries to go to a job that we loathe. We have unlimited opportunities to create meaningful work for ourselves, whether it’s setting up our own business or creating a new and interesting career. The first step in the direction of a more exciting work life is to grasp this truth.

Decide right now to take total responsibility for making work work for you.

Part Two

Live your life all day

We spend more than a third of our life at work, so it makes sense to make our working life work towards our purpose and values. It truly can be done! You can combine your whole self into what you do. You don’t have to put away the real you every morning and pick yourself back up again at the end of the day.

How are you expressing your purpose and your values in your life right now? You may have already discovered that the job you are doing is the right job for you. Let me give you an example. Say a driving instructor signed up for this course. She completes Week 1 and, after working seriously on the exercise, comes up with the following purpose:

‘I can help people with my teaching skills achieve independence and because of this I am fulfilled.’

Week 2 reveals her life values which are freedom, love, respect, sense of achievement and peace.

Is she in the right job? She is living her purpose and values because she works the hours she wants to and therefore has freedom. She also gives her pupils freedom of movement, independence and help because she is teaching them skills they can use. She gets her sense of achievement when the pupils learn new skills each lesson and, finally, when they pass their driving tests. She is respected as a competent teacher and driver and she can only get results from pupils by respecting their learning pace and style.

This week helped her to consider her values and life purpose in relation to her current job and she found that – yippee! – she was already doing it. She revealed her perfect job was the job she is doing. This changed her feelings towards her pupils, her job and her family. Now she knows that she is fulfilling her purpose and is congruent with her values, her job is more fulfilling and worthwhile to her.

But perhaps you have discovered that your current job is not fulfilling your purpose and values. It’s time to make the changes to achieve personal integrity, wholesomeness, and live your life as you really are.

Action!

Actions of the Week

1. Write a list of jobs, careers, industries, businesses or occupations, any that have ever occurred to you as something you might consider, however unlikely it may seem that you would succeed.

2. Beside each job write some words that you would associate with this job. Just positive words for now.

For example,

Nurse: love, honesty, energy, dedication

Self employed: freedom, peace, independence, leadership

Take time over this and list as many words as seem relevant to you.

3. Find your list of 5 primary values and put them on the table along side the list you just made.

Look down your list of jobs and, next to the ones who have one or more of your values, circle the the values that coincide with yours.

3. Now get out your purpose statement. Select the roles on the list which have the most of your values against them  and see if your purpose statement can be achieved by doing that job.

Now you have a list of suitable jobs you’re ready for next week’s lesson when you’ll find out how to start on your new journey of life.