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How to Find Your Life Mission
By Nelle Cornelison
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| Photo: Akash Khairate |
Just imagine yourself getting up in the morning, excited about what the day will bring, fully expecting your day to be interesting, motivating, and fulfilling. The job you are paid to do is one that you have chosen, that you would choose again, and that meets your own personal life mission.
So, how does one discover a life mission? Some people just seem to know from childhood what they want to do. They are focused and never waver from that goal. If only it were that easy for the rest of us! Other people seem to be interested in many things but have difficulty settling on one goal--something to do the “rest of my life”! Then there are the people that just can’t picture themselves in any occupation--why can’t I find something that I’m interested in?
O.K.--let’s talk about the “rest of my life” idea. Recent statistics show that people change jobs 8- 10 times during their work life. Changing career directions 2-3 times is the average now, so who says you will do anything for the “rest of your life?” Your career will most likely be a series of jobs with a common theme. And you will probably choose to make changes as your interests change, new opportunities arise, or the position you are in terminates.
The process of determining a career focus and life mission will include some serious self-assessment. You should identify interest areas, look at your strengths, consider tour values and learn about your personality.
Zero in on your interests
There are many interest inventories available through schools and private counselors. They should be administered and interpreted by a professional. But if you want to get started on the self-assessment process on your own, start a list of activities you like. What have you done as a volunteer, what kinds of summer jobs or part time jobs have you held? What classes did you enjoy most in school? What are the things you liked about each of these activities? For example, I worked with my father in construction during school vacations and summers. The things I liked about that were: working hands-on to create something; trying to figure out the right tool to use or finding the correct tool when my father requested something; completing a project; working with my father who was the smartest man in the world! I was the editor of the yearbook my senior year in high school. Working with a team to generate creative ideas for the yearbook, organizing photographic sessions, and developing and printing pictures in the darkroom were some of the things I liked about that job.
As you complete your list you might find that your interests have a theme that will lead you to a career path that allows you to continue to utilize those interests.
Find your strengths
Aptitudes and skills can be measured by many different standardized tests. These can be helpful in many ways, but most people have a good idea of things they are “good” at. For instance, I love art, but I cannot look at people and draw them so that you would know who they are. I know that if I attempted to make a living drawing portraits I would starve. A good way to determine your strengths is to think back over what you have done in the past. What did you do that you enjoyed doing and did well? What accomplishments are you most proud of? Write those experiences down and then analyze them to determine the skills you used.
Think of events over the course of your life. When I was about six years old my cousins built a tree house very high in the pine trees. They were very proud of it, and they made a rule that no girls were allowed in the tree house. Of course having only boy cousins to play with, I was a real tomboy and the mere proclamation - “no girls allowed” - was enough to move me to action. I climbed up to the tree house. So the boys cut off the lower branches of the trees and bet me a nickel that I couldn’t climb up there again, so I did. They cut off more branches and made the bet again. They cut off so many lower branches that it was getting difficult for them to climb up to their tree house. Then I fell off a horse and broke my arm. The boys thought that now, for sure, I would not be able to climb up to their tree house – but I did.
What interests, personality traits and strengths does this story reflect? Stubbornness – or, as I prefer to say determination, problem solving, creativity, and independence. You might think of others. The point is that if in recording several events in your past you start to see a pattern of characteristics, you will have discovered your strengths and probably some of your core values. That brings us to values.
We define values as those qualities, characteristics, and principles that have worth to us. By identifying and ranking our values we will begin the process of defining our life mission. Since what we do for work--that is for pay--is only part of our lives, it is important to identify which of our values relate specifically to our job or career. Honesty and integrity, commitment, accountability, loyalty and legacy are examples of values that cross over from life into work. Teamwork, customer satisfaction, quality, efficiency, knowledge, and money/wealth are values often fulfilled in a work setting. These are just a few examples of values. Make a list of your top 10 work values, and then rank them from most important to least important.
Do you enjoy working with people, or are you happier working with things, data, and ideas? Do you prefer focusing on the present, or are you happier when you can dream about the future and the possibilities that exist “out there?” How do you like to make decisions? Do you prefer very objective and logical considerations, or are you more inclined to consider more subjective conditions and people-centered issues? Are you a person who wants life to be organized, planned and deliberate? Or do you prefer a flexible lifestyle that allows you to go with the flow and you don’t have to plan very far out? Identifying the strength of your preferences in these areas will help you to identify occupations that have the potential to meet your preferences and provide career satisfaction. Schools and counselors often use the Myers Briggs Type Indicator to assess these preferences.
Putting It All Together
So, now you have identified your interests and strengths, ranked your core values, and discovered your personality preferences. Where do you go from here? The next step is to gather occupational information. You must have a basic understanding of an occupation before you can make an intelligent decision about whether it will allow you to maximize your interests, strengths, values, and personality. There are many ways to gather information about a career.
On-line sources include The US Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupations Outlook Handbook, which is a valuable source of information about thousands of occupations. One click brings you to a page where you can search occupations by name or select from a list of occupational titles. Information you will learn about each occupation includes: the nature of the work, the training and qualifications needed, and the job outlook.
Informational interviews are another valuable source of information. Find someone in an occupation you are interested in to talk to about what they do, what they like and don’t like about it and the required training or education. If possible, take the time to job shadow someone who is willing to let you spend several hours or days with him or her on the job. This will give you a more complete picture of the skills needed in that particular occupation. Volunteering is another way to learn about a job or career field. With good information about the actual day-to-day duties involved in a job you will be able to make a good decision about whether you would enjoy working in that field.
No one says that this process is easy, but once you have competed each of these steps, you will have a good picture of your strengths, interests, personality, and values. You will have identified one or more career directions or occupations that you would find satisfying. And you will have discovered you life mission, and learned that there are possibilities for you to fulfill that mission either by what you do for work, or in your personal life.
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