Have the career you want
Are you happy with your occupation? Fill in the questionnaire to find out what, if anything, you want to change about your work.
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How did you do? Is there anything you want to change about your work? Spring cleaning your approach to your job and your work/life balance will make you happier and healthier and will also make you wealthier, if that’s what you want.
Your job
What does your job mean to you? Is it how you define yourself? Do you spend the whole day watching the clock and looking forward to going home? Do you find yourself going out more than you can afford to and really have the strength for, just to get some stimulation and affirmation? We spend far too much time at work to be doing a job we don’t like.
Careers come in all shapes and sizes these days. The traditional one, going to 
work every day and making your way up the corporate ladder, is just one option. It’s a good option but there are also many others: freelancer, business owner, part-timer, part-time with the company and part-time elsewhere, full-time parent, working from home…
More and more people are changing career after a decade or two in one line and choosing to follow a completely different path. This is not always easy but it is stimulating. If you’re not happy with your situation, change it. Of course, you will probably not be able to do this overnight, particularly if you have a family depending on you, but you can work towards having the career you want. Retrain in the evenings, start your own business on the side and build it up gradually, ask your employer for a leave of absence while you explore the options… there are many ways to approach spring cleaning your career.
Job or vocation?
There are times when it’s necessary to take a job we wouldn’t have chosen if we didn’t need the money – and, actually, I think it’s good experience to have been through this – but what we mustn’t do is settle for that job for ever.
Apart from anything else, if you work at something you don’t like, your heart won’t be in it and you’ll never make a real success of it; you’ll just go on going through the motions. If you work at something you feel passionate about, you’ll really put your back into it – because you want to – and you’ll get better results. If we make a career out of what we enjoy, what may at the moment be a hobby, there’s a very good chance that we’ll actually make more money!
Millions of people make a good living from doing what they love doing. I am (now) one of these lucky people, as is my best friend, the world-class magician Iain Moran. You can do it too. Honestly. It would hardly be possible to see fewer options for oneself than I did, up until pretty recently. I’m beginning to realise that the world is my oyster – and it’s yours too.
Have you got a job if you want one?
OK, it’s all very fine talking about your dream job. If you’re unemployed and struggling to find a job at all, this can seem like a luxury you can’t afford right now. Unemployment can be grim; I’ve been there and I hated it. If this is your case, I encourage you to keep as busy and as positive as possible. From experience I know that if you let it get you down, your negativity will come across in interviews and your chances of landing a job will diminish even further.
You are most likely to be offered a job if you don’t really, really need it. If you can get yourself involved in other things – perhaps temping or running a very small business of your own – so that you don’t have too much riding on any one application, you’ll give yourself the best chance of getting a job you want.
For detailed information and assistance about careers and finding a job, have a look at the Government’s careers advice website.
Another useful website for job-seekers is Interview Advice.
Are you employed?
If you’re employed, what sort of feelings do you have towards your employer? Loyalty? Resentment? Indifference? Perhaps none of these and perhaps a mixture but, if your feelings are consistently predominantly negative, I urge you to consider your position. I’m not saying hand in your notice on a whim because, particularly in a recession, that would be reckless. What I am saying is, you don’t have to stay with this company for the rest of your life. If this sounds obvious to you, you’re already much better placed than a lot of your colleagues. It’s amazing how many people (including, until very recently, me) find it difficult to grasp that, once we’re grown up, we can choose our own destiny. We have OPTIONS!
Are you self-employed?
If you’re self-employed, this gives you some freedom - in theory, at least. The danger is that work can take over your life even more than it can if you work for somebody else. And clients can be as tyrannical as any boss.
The main lessons I’ve learnt from being self-employed for nearly 20 years are:
- Charge what you’re worth and no less (see Your Money). Don’t prostrate yourself for clients. If they don’t appreciate you, you don’t want them as clients.
- Keep work separate from your home life, so you can leave work at the end of the day. If you work from home, be sure to get a separate telephone line for work and don’t answer it when you’re off duty.
- Find an accountant who believes in you and your business and who can offer you sound advice as well as sorting out your tax return.
Your working style
As important as what work you do is how you do it – and how much of it you do.
Are you a workaholic?
If so, why? Are you keeping yourself busy to shut out thoughts and feelings about how your life is going? (See Your Spiritual Life) Or are you a control freak who is afraid to let other people make decisions and do things you might not like? If this is your case, I can tell you from experience you are fighting a hopeless, self-defeating battle. Try to loosen up and go with the flow. People may just surprise you by how competent they are… or they may not… What swung the argument for me was when I finally realised that people have got to be allowed to make their own mistakes if they are going to learn and grow.
Are you a perfectionist?
If you can learn to be happy with ‘good enough’, this will save you endless time and worry. Tests have shown that virtually nobody notices the difference between 90% excellent and 100% excellent, so stop bothering with the final 10%. I’m still struggling with this one but my experience is definitely consistent with the test findings.
Do you procrastinate?
Procrastination comes about for all sorts of self-protective reasons. A book I’ve found very helpful for understanding and getting over my tendency to procrastinate is:
The Now Habit
by Neil Fiore
This book explores the reasons that people procrastinate. Once I understood what was behind it, I found it much easier to stop myself procrastinating.
Read more about The Now Habit.