The Final Post of the Career Satisfaction Manifesto: Concrete Steps — putting it all together.
Here’s what we’ve talked about so far in the Career Satisfaction Manifesto series:
Living a Meaningful Life: Spending our time, our lives, making meaningful contributions, developing relationships built on mutual respect and ultimately knowing that we’re in an environment where we can live up to our best vision of ourselves, are worthwhile goals.
We’re Not All Entrepreneurs: You don’t have to be an entrepreneur to shift your mindset and approach your career planning like the self-employed person that you are.
A Self-Directed Career: Learn how to manage yourself. This is the key to controlling your life, understanding what really matters to you, and how to achieve it.
A Meaningful Career: There are a number of skills, independent of career path, that can lead to a meaningful career. They all involve being willing to, and learning how to, provide outsized value. One way is by tackling problems that no one else is willing to.
Passive Income: Passive income, in one form or another, is a much better path to financial security than chasing after, or perhaps even “settling for”, a high-paying job in a field you’re not particularly interested in, or that doesn’t provide real value to the world.
Community: Find and nurture that “Near Five”: five people who inspire you, motivate you and support you, that you can do the same for in return.
Self-care: Treat yourself well. Read, listen to, and relish things that nurture you and bring you joy, contentment, and peace. Practice treating yourself the way you want to treat other people: with care, gentleness, and understanding, i.e. lovingkindness. “Embrace the funk, your eccentricity, your art.” — Seth Godin.
Service: When you boil it all down, service is a great way to be selflessly selfish: you feel great about yourself and your contribution, and as a wonderful side-effect you help someone else out too.
Each of these is an area to tackle. Each is a step you can work on towards the goal of a fulfilling career. Conduct experiments to see what works best for you. One or two at a time is best. Combining new practices or habits with something you already do regularly, is a great way to increase your odds of success.
Try things. Be gentle with yourself. See what works.
The most important step is finding a like minded community, hopefully made up of people who aren’t your coworkers or family members. You want new ideas, new perspectives, a bigger network that will help you stretch. This community can be virtual, but in-person, at least occasionally, is preferred. It can be centered around an activity you enjoy. It’s up to you. You get to establish the how, when, who, what.
It’s your career, your life.
Thanks for joining me on this journey and please reach out if you’d like to discuss anything I’ve presented in the series. Feel free to comment here or reach out on Twitter, @marvokdolor.
If it’s been helpful, I would be honored if you’d share the series with others:
Career Satisfaction Manifesto: Part 1: Living a Meaningful Life | Part 2: We’re Not All Entrepreneurs | Part 3: A Self-Directed Career | Part 4: Towards a Meaningful Career | Part 5: The Role of Passive Income | Part 6: Community — The Importance of your near 5 | Part 7: Self-Care How to Nurture Yourself and Your Dreams | Part 8: The Importance of Service | Part 9/9: Concrete Steps
