Let’s face it, figuring out what you want to do with your life can be quite stressful. For many millennials, the single most important factor in the workplace is finding work that is purposeful.
Though the search for purpose is front and centre, it can also be the thing that is most elusive. In a culture that is perpetually focused on the “next” big thing—like the press feature or promotion we dream of—it’s nearly impossible to experience fulfilment today.
How are you supposed to know if you’re on the right path if what you want is always a few steps ahead of you? Here are 7 ways you’ll know if you chose the right career path.
1) You’ve silenced the noise. You’ve blocked out the external noise in your life that prevents you from doing you. The voices of other people—the expectations, the “should,” the “what will they think”—are no longer a factor for you. You are deeply connected to your innermost desires and often take quiet time to deliberately discern what your next move is.
2) You’re doing what excites you the most. You wake up in the morning and the first thought on your mind is how excited you are to do what you’re most passionate about. You can hardly call it “work” because it feels like a play for you—you’d do it even if you weren’t being paid and weren’t on the clock.
3) You’re a master at what you do. The work you do is inspired from the gifts and abilities you were born with. You do what you do better than anyone you know, and it’s effortless for you. Forget the grind, the stress, the 10,000 hours—you’re simply playing your muse.
4) You don’t settle for mediocrity. You don’t have time for a thousand and one “side” projects. You are focused on what you do best and you aren’t watering the things you’re just mediocre at. “Was Steve Jobs a fashion icon? Was Albert Einstein a great cook? Was Nikola Tesla the world’s best tree lopper? No.”
5) You don’t work for your schedule, it works for you. Your work schedule is centred around the time your creativity is most active. If you thrive at 2:00 in the morning, you’re working then. You save the times you’re prone to feeling brain dead for things like responding to emails, and you’ve got at least a few hours each day reserved for play.
6) Everything in your life is “working.” You experience a deep sense of alignment in everything from the thoughts you think about yourself, to the opportunities that show up in your life at the right time, to the ample resources you have to do the things you love. You’re not crunched for time or money, and you no longer have limiting beliefs that put a cap on how good your life can become.
7) You’re committed to service. Your primary focus is on the impact of your work. You thrive on contribution and are aligned with a business that serves the needs of the planet. You don’t support businesses that are centred around one person, but rather that is centred around a collective. You are constantly looking for new ways to create solutions for humanity and positive change in the world.