As I've said many times before, I think finding passion is one of the best investments in your career you can make. It energizes you, makes you more confident, and fuels your persistence.
The flipside of that is that wedging yourself into a box that doesn't fit who you are (which is what most people do in their careers) can drain your energy, leave you feeling off balance, and make you reluctant to show up to work tomorrow, let alone stick with it for the long term.
There's one more thing that happens when you don't pursue a path that aligns with what lights you up. You cheat the world of the impact that you are uniquely qualified to make.
I'm not sure that I buy that each of us has one specific thing that is "why we're here." What I do believe, beyond a shadow of a doubt, is that each of us are uniquely qualified to put the gifts we have and the juice that using them gives us to use in a positive way. We each have a set of skills and knowledge and energizers that can be put to optimal use.
Think of it as optimizing how you show up in the world. There are a number of variables at play - your skills, your knowledge, your innate abilities, and what energizes you. Your task is to put those variables together in the best possible way for both you and the world around you.
When you take a shoe-horn approach to your career, you are inherently sub-optimizing the way you show up. Why? Because you have chosen a path that doesn't fit. It doesn't allow the full scope of who you are and the potential you have to show up. There's no room for flow. And that means the impact you can have in the world is restricted.
Take a look at your own career. Do you feel the flow, or do you need a shoe-horn to pry yourself into work every morning? Are you cheating the world of the gifts you have to offer?
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Time for a career change? Launch it with...
The Occupational Adventure Guide:
A Travel Guide to the Career of Your Dreams
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by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst
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