Are You Looking for Career Happiness in All The Wrong Places

Are You Looking for Career Happiness in All The Wrong Places I read a great post  today on womenonbusiness.com  called Looking for What You Love to Do in All The Wrong Places.   Author Kirstie Berzanski LOVES what she does!   She sells moving boxes.    Kirstie  writes that she always thought that the product she was selling would define her career hapiness, but she was wrong.   Its not the moving boxes that Kirstie loves, its the problem solving, teaching her customers how to best utilize the products, the selling, the challenge of running an online business, and the flexibilty that she loves.   She created a list of 10 deeper needs she has- all of which are fullfilled by her career- yet none of the items have anything to do with moving boxes. Do you know anyone like Kirstie who is  very happy in their career doing something that seems surprising at first? Women of all ages are stuck on questions like What do I really want to do for a living? and What work would make me happy? Have you ever considered that  you might be  overlooking the whole point of work that makes you happy in the first place?   Sure, it might be more fun to  do X versus Y, but  take the product or service out of it and think about what makes you happy, motivated and balanced in your work life.   Here are some  brainstorming prompts  you can ask yourself to start exploring what you really love to do  in your career: -In my job I need to feel _________.   Examples: creative, helpful, challenged, intelligent, in charge. -Explain your ideal  work schedule. Examples: traveling frequently, working from home, working in a big city, working out of a small office condo. -I prefer to work with ________.   Examples: people, problems I can   solve, numbers, other companies, consumers, myself. -Ideally, Id like  to work with a product or service that is _____. Examples: reliable, popular, complicated, a necessity, scientific, one that makes others happy. What fulfillment do you hope to gain from your career? Examples: I want to teach others, I want to provide the best product for my customers, I want to have the most accuracy in my calculations, I want to motivate a team, I want to explore new ideas, I want to present to others, I want to help others improve  their situation, I want to cut costs,  I want to see my customers or co-workers smile, I want to be continually challenged, I want to learn new things, I want a great work/life balance. Read Kirsties list and think about your own  10 needs youd like to fullfill.   I encourage you to write this list down  and share it here with us to help other women  create theirs.  You may already be in your ideal career.  Or, your ideal career may be right around the corner, but you were too busy looking in all the wrong places to notice!