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New Years Resolution: To Find My Ideal Job

On New Year's Day every year thousands of people make resolutions. Why? Because they are not happy with their lives the way they are. So they will make a commitment to alter their lives in some way. Lose weight to look and feel better. Stop smoking to improve health. Join the health club to get in shape. Get out of a bad relationship. Find a new relationship. Change jobs. Change careers. Three main themes are consistent in New Year's resolutions: We want to improve our bodies, our health; we want better personal relationships; and we want more satisfaction from our work.

That first week in every January, my phone begins ringing off the hook from all of the people who want to change jobs or careers. According to motivational speaker Anthony Robbins, most people will take action to make a change for one of two reasons—pain or pleasure. When the pain of your present job becomes great enough, you will be motivated to make a change. On the other hand, if you have identified a new job or career that you feel will bring you pleasure (more money, better hours, different work, etc.), you may also be motivated to make a change.

If the primary motivation to make a change is the pain of your present job situation, there can be several sources of the discomfort. It could be that the work itself is not right for you. An expressive communicator who thrives on social interaction but who has been performing computer work eight hours a day could hate their job. However, the computer specialist who loves being in front of the screen night and day could also dislike the job—but for other reasons. The boss. The company itself. Not enough challenging work. Even though he or she is in the right career, the present job or company may not be the right fit for the person.

Studies reveal that only 20% of working Americans love their work. A man I know recently described his weekends to me, and that description told me more about how he felt about his work than his talking about his work! He told me, "Every Friday is an hour-by-hour countdown until 5:00 and I can leave work. Saturday is great. Sunday morning is fine. But by Sunday night, by stomach is tied up in knots and I am cranky to my wife and kids." I told my friend, "there's a name for what you are experiencing, it's known as Sunday Night Syndrome, and it is not the way to live! I don't want to scare you, but I have heard that more heart attacks occur at 9:00 on Monday morning than any other time, perhaps you should consider making a change."

Noel Coward said, "Work is much more fun than fun!" When we get so absorbed in our work that we lose track of time; when we wake up in the middle of the night with a great new idea to use in our work; when we love telling others about some accomplishment that we made that day—that's when life is good and we may have found our ideal job.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "I look on that man as happy, who, when there is a question of success, looks into his work for a reply."

The lucky individuals who are in their ideal jobs are using what many career experts call "natural talents." John Bradley President of IDAK, the Portland, Oregon career consulting firm and creator of the Career Match™ system for mid-life (that's approximately 30 to retirement!) career change has identified three major categories of our "natural talents." The first is how we best communicate with others (one's best method of communication could be painting, singing or writing—communication does not have to be just conversation!). The second is how we best relate to others—some of us love to meet new people, others of us prefer to work alone. The third area of natural talents are our task oriented abilities. These can include physical, mechanical, problem-solving, analytical, and other natural talents. According to Bradley, once our core cluster of natural talents (5-9) is identified and matched to a data base of more than 60,000 jobs—we are able to select our ideal job from a list of 10 specific options that fit a person like a custom-tailored suit of clothes!

For those who choose as a New Year's (or any time of the year!) Resolution to be happy and have satisfaction in a career, the ideal job is waiting for you if you have the resolve to pursue it!

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