Career fulfillment can be very tricky. Measuring fulfillment can be a highly subjective task, particularly with a career choice. For some, it might be a great work environment, and for others, a great salary settles the deal.
An interesting viewpoint can be found in a career that fulfills a childhood dream. If you had plans to tour the world for instance, you might find fulfillment in becoming a global marketer and not even a travel blogger.
Just before we dive a little deeper, how would you define a career? Think about it. What answers come to mind? Some define it as an occupation that brings progress to your life. Sounds like it, but what more can we add to this? Let’s break it down.
What is the difference between a job and a career?
Do you remember the age-long debate on the difference between a job and a career? Let’s settle it today. A career can be described as a building, with each floor seen as a level of fulfillment. The steps that lead to each floor can be described as jobs .
That is, the jobs you take are building blocks to your career. For example, you want to be Africa’s best chef. You can start with a job as a waiter, climb to an assistant chef at a local restaurant and continue from there. That paints out the picture, right? Great!
Why does career fulfillment matter? According to Chrissy Scivicque, “An unsatisfying career can start to feel like a death sentence. It escalates your stress response and you’re constantly in “fight or flight” mode.
What makes a career path good enough?
According to this Forbes article, we spend over 100,000 hours of our lives working. That’s a whole lot of time you don’t want to spend on something that doesn’t bring fulfillment . Career fulfillment is found in the sync between what you do and who you are.
An amazing article by Laura Gassner Otting highlights four elements to finding this sync:
- Calling
- Connection
- Contribution
- Control
Laura defines calling as a gravitational pull towards a goal larger than yourself — a business you want to build, a leader who inspires you, a societal ill you wish to remedy, a cause you wish to serve. Building on that, connection gives you sightlines into how your everyday work serves that calling by solving the problem at hand, growing the company’s bottom line, or reaching that goal.
Speaking on contribution, you understand clearly how this job contributes to the community your career seeks to impact. Finally, control reflects how you are able to influence your connection to that calling in order to have some say, and to do work that contributes to your career trajectory and earnings.
Finding this sync works out differently for everyone. In fact, it evolves with life. So, we advise that as you climb the “ladder”, do not place yourself under pressure. Also, if you have not found your sync, there is no need for worry. Follow the guide gradually, and things will work out.
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