Stop Wasting Your Life by Working the Wrong Career

By Rhonda Campbell

If you were locked in a plush room for 10 hours a day, I’m willing to guess that you’d start to feel frustrated, start banging on the door, begging to get out of the room. Even having access to your favorite foods, clothing and music might not keep you from experiencing tremendous frustration after awhile. You’d get tired of feeling stuck, like regardless of how much effort you put into your dreams, nothing would change.

Many people know what this feels like firsthand. The difference is that, instead of being stuck in a plush room, they’re stuck in careers that don’t serve them well. Some people get stuck at jobs they hate because they spent too much time taking career advice from well meaning people who had no clue what they truly wanted.


As with many life choices, the best way to find a career that aligns with your authentic dreams and goals is to get still, quiet your mind and listen to your inner self. Fortunately, there are other tools you could use to enhance your career search. For example, you could:

  • Take aptitude tests (Employment agencies, outplacement firms, etc. administer career aptitude tests. These tests measure your technical, social, etc. skills, helping you to find careers that best match your skills. Of course, you can always gain new skills and step into rewarding careers you may not have thought about working before.)
  • Complete online or offline behavioral exams (Akin to aptitude tests, these exams measure certain habits and present-day capabilities, the difference being that behavioral exams measure items like your communication, leadership, project management and conflict resolution styles.)
  • Brainstorm (Ask yourself which careers are best for you to pursue right now. Don’t judge. Write down all career ideas that pop into your head. You just might discover something surprising about yourself. )
  • Temp (Instead of working permanent jobs, temp at several different companies, fulfilling two or more roles, for several months. Note which jobs bring you the most satisfaction, joy and contentment.)
  • Talk to people (Engage in conversations with people, asking them what they do at work. Pay attention to times when you feel excited as you listen to other people describe careers they’ve actively involved in.)
  • Consider working a part-time gig in a field you’re passionate about. In other words, start taking steps to move closer to the career you really want to work.
  • Keep a journal, writing down how you feel after working volunteer, temp, etc. jobs for a week. Be honest with yourself.
  • Ask people who absolutely love their jobs (people you have a lot in common with) what they do for a career. There’s no guarantee you’ll love the same career, but you might.
  • Accept the fact that you might work three or more careers during a lifetime. Be open to changing careers to continue achieving your dreams, living your vision. Stop trying to find the “one career fits all the rest of my life” gig.

Also, pay attention to your dreams, as they might provide solid career advice. Bottom line, no one knows which careers you should work better than you do. Listen to yourself, perhaps for the first time. You spend too many hours at work (or thinking about work) to waste your life feeling trapped and frustrated as you drag yourself to a job you hate day after day with no sign of change in sight.

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