Designing a Vocational Life You Love
Today my colleague Amy Allen and I had the opportunity to present a webinar on discovering your vocational purpose using a strengths-based approach. You can access the recorded webinar here.
During the webinar, we explored 3 Principles of Designing A Vocational Life You Love that you can use as a checklist to get you (and keep you) on track as you explore new opportunities for your career. These principles can also be wonderful topics of exploration for you to use with a career coach if you are embarking on a journey with the support of a coach.
PRINCIPLE I: Only listen to the voices who tell you what they think you CAN become. The ones who say what you CAN’T become don’t matter (this includes your own stories and voices).
Consider these questions: Who am I surrounding myself with? Do they believe in me? When I get really quiet, what sabotaging voices do I hear in my mind? How did that belief get there? What is the origin/who planted it there? Who do I need to plan a coffee or lunch or phone call check-in with to re-fill my cup? Who do I know that seems to be in alignment with their purpose? How or what can I learn from them?
PRINCIPLE II: Treat your vocation as though it is a living being. Even when you don’t feel content in your work, you can use this relationship to help you gain a greater understanding of what is destined for you.
Consider these questions: What do I need to do to carve out the space for myself to get really quiet? Where do I need to be in order to create the best possible conditions for this important inner dialogue to take place? The woods? The water? What questions are still unanswered about my direction? What does this purpose self need from me? What is it deprived of? How can I nurture it?
PRINCIPLE III: Deepen your self-knowledge so that you can harness the innate power of your strengths to work for you.
What do I do well? What am I known for? What do I love? What are my top strengths? What are the ways in which I tend to sabotage my own growth, discovery or success? Why is that? What formal personality assessments and career inventories are available to me? What else do I need to learn in order to feel satisfied in knowledge of how I operate? How can I put this knowledge to work as I consider my future? Who do I need to ask for feedback from about my strengths?
If career coaching is something you are interested in learning more about, please reach out! We’ve got a fantastic team of coaches to choose from and can find the perfect fit for you. Nonprofits, emerging entrepreneurs and BIPOC clients pay 27% less. Our coaches help you put a blueprint together for your future—one that honors your expertise, ideas and opportunities and serves as a guide for discovering (and pursuing) your vocational purpose.
We have also assembled a list of some of our favorite resources on vocational purpose just for you:
1) The Heart & Soul Podcast: hosted by my dear friends Monique Forcier and Mariah McKechnie. Mariah and Monique interview
2) Center for Courage & Renewal: the brainchild of author and teacher Parker J. Palmer.
3) CliftonStrengths Assessment: to learn more about your innate strengths and how to get them working for you.
4) DiSC Personality Profile Assessment: to help improve teamwork, communication and productivity.
5. The O-Net Interest Profiler: Helps you assess (or re-assess) your interests to give you more information on the types of careers that align with your interests.
Stay tuned for more on this topic. Until then, if you are interested in being considered for positions by our Talent Acquisition clients through our Align By Design search service, please take a moment to complete your unique profile. Your information is held confidential and not shared directly with a client. If a position opens up that appears to be a strong fit for you, we will reach out to you directly to see about your interest.
I’ll leave you with an exerpt by the poet Emily McDowell. (I do not have the title or original source. If you do, please email me: katrina AT designgrowlead.com)
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Finding yourself
Is not really how it works
You aren’t a ten dollar bill
In last winter’s coat pocket.
You are also not lost.
Your true self is right there,
Buried under cultural conditioning,
Other people’s opinions,
And inaccurate conclusions
You drew as a kid that became
Your beliefs about who you are.
Finding yourself is actually
Returning to yourself.
An unlearning, an excavation,
a remembering who you were
before the world got its hands on you.
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Wishing you unending fascination and curiosity as you uncover more and more of who you are meant to be.
Cheers,
Katrina
