Lately, you\u2019ve been feeling kind-of rudderless in your career. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After digging in and working hard for several years, the glitz of prestige and pay no longer seem attractive to you like they did back in college. When you first graduated into the working world, you felt grateful for your first job. You could finally look forward to a real career path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fast-forward through your twenties. The magic of new co-workers and responsibilities have faded, and you have realized that this first career path hasn’t exactly aligned with your innate strengths<\/a> nor interests<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Every morning you wake up with a sense of dread filling your stomach, \u201cugh, how do I get out of going to the office today??\u201d <\/em>And, as of late, your inescapable feelings of apathy sitting at your office desk has made it abundantly clear to you (and let\u2019s be frank, everyone else around you) that now is the right season for a career change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Through speaking with hundreds of clients, I\u2019ve discovered that often at the root of this mini-existential crisis is an issue of personal values<\/strong>. The sinking feeling in your gut is triggered by the misalignment between your personal values and the work you do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first step towards professional success is re-defining your career navigation GPS<\/a><\/em>. <\/strong>In other words, using your personal values to guide your career choice<\/strong> \u2014 instead of forcing your career choice upon your personal values.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Personal values are a useful GPS in navigating your career IF the following principles hold true:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The values-first approach is for you if work, in your eyes, is not only about prestige, pay, or getting a paycheck to fund the rest of your life.<\/strong> There is nothing wrong with any of these reasons to work, but this article doesn’t make them its focus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the other hand, if you care about developing a craft, making a significant contribution, and building towards a vocation \u2014 or dare I even say calling \u2014 then personal values are going to be a fantastic element to add to your career map<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m going to be straight-up with you. Vocations are built off of making hard choices. While it may have been possible to \u201cdo everything\u201d in your early career years, the reality is that developing expertise takes time \u2014 which you don’t have. So unless if you are absolutely convinced that you\u2019re cut from the same cloth as Elon Musk, then get ready to pick a direction and commit to seriously exploring that path.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhen to Use This Framework<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
You define career success by deep fulfillment you get from your work.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019re open and willing to making (difficult) trade-offs.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n