Are you doing what you SHOULD be doing? Does you job fill you with excitement and passion? (Not THAT kind!) Do you REALLY enjoy your work, or is it just a means to an end?

When job seekers contact me and don’t know what they want to do next, I tell them I can’t help them. Actually, that’s not exactly what I tell them. I do explain that I only work with people who know their next target job. I don’t write “general resumes,” nor do I do what I call “find your bliss” coaching. If clients need help figuring out their next steps, I can offer some suggestions about how to go about finding jobs you might not even know existed (maybe a topic for a future post), but otherwise, I will refer those clients to work with a trusted colleague and advise them to come back to me when they are ready to focus on a job search.

So, I don’t usually write about the topic of “figuring out your next step.” A few recent occurences have made me think about this, though...

A friend of mine, who has been running her own business for the better part of the last several years, recently took an opportunity to do some work that was very similar to what she used to do before her current gig. The money was too good, so she couldn’t pass it up. Unfortunately, she admitted to me how BORED she is with the work. Remembering her talk about her previous job, it never occurred to me that she had disliked it, so I pressed her to explain.

It turns out that she had really LOVED this job in the old days. It felt challenging, different every day – even thrilling at times. Now, that same work is so boring, she can hardly get anything done without something running in the background.

What changed? She realized where her TRUE passions lie in the interim. It’s a different type of work, a different type of interaction with people that excites her now. If the money were not so good, she would not even consider going back. Maybe, some would say, she should STILL not go back, even for the money, but I’m about practicality, so I’m not one of those voices!

Coincidentally, I recently had the opportunity to meet Rick Smith, author of 5 Patterns of Extraordinary Careers and The Leap. Rick’s focus is on showing people that “3 simple changes can propel your career from good to great.” He launched what he calls his “primary colors” assessment, which he says helps people identify where their passions should take them. In fact, he believes that working to find your passions (or your “primary color“) and then working to move in the direction of that passion is the first step to success (p. 192).

Rick’s personal story (basically, he was laid off from his recruiting job and wound up founding an elite senior executive networking organization) and those of the people profiled in his book can certainly inspire anyone to take that “leap” into doing something different. What I really like about Rick’s idea is that the “leap” does not necessarily need to be into entrepreneurship. It is perfectly reasonable to assume that people who recognize what they love doing will be able to direct their job search in the right direction.

I enjoyed The Leap...If you are struggling with your next step, I think you will, too. (Be sure to watch Rick’s video. It is pretty inspiring!) Learn more about Rick and his book by clicking the video link.