“Quit grumbling about your job and start taking back control over your career.” When I say that, it sounds like one of those motivational speakers hyping you to go out and change the world.
I may not be a motivational speaker, but I know how taking control of your career will impact your wealth creation. Let me first show you why you need to be in control of your career.
Why You Need to Take Control of Your Career
According to a recentjob satisfaction study, job unhappiness is at an all-time high. Over 60% of the American workforce is emotionally detached at work, and 19% feel miserable in their jobs. That would explain why over 50% of workers feel stressed at their jobs daily.
Why people choose to stick to their jobs irrespective of the misery they face is a discussion for another day. But today, let’s focus on how you can avoid being part of these statistics and take control of your career from the onset.
1. Money Should Not Be the Primary Motivating Factor
It is understandable if you made your career decisions based on the pay offered in each profession. How could you not, with the mounting student loans hanging around your neck and other bills waiting for you?
Also, you may be a victim of bad career advice. You know the ones where people tell you to “follow the money” like in an investigative series. If you adhered to such advice, that might have been the day you sold your soul to the corporations.
The truth is that the primary function of corporations is to make profits. Therefore, for you to be paid a high salary, be sure the firm knows how to recoup its value. It will most probably be reflected in your performance targets and responsibilities in the firm.
My rule of thumb when making career decisions is that money should only have a25% impact on the decision. It should not be the primary reason you pursue a certain career path.
2. Follow Your Passion
How often have you been told to follow your passion when making career decisions? You may have heard it several times, but few have told you how you are supposed to do this.
Today, I’ll show you how to do it. For this exercise, you will need to take a trip down memory lane and remember what you wanted to become when you were young. For example, a doctor, engineer, computer scientist, or join the army.
While your career choices may have changed over the years, the motivation remains the same. What made you want to be a doctor and not an engineer? The answer to this question speaks volumes about your passions.
Life realities may have altered your career path, but your passion remains intact. Therefore, you can pursue the same passion in a lesser role or a different field. For example, if you want to be a doctor to help people, you can still help people and fulfill your passion by being a nurse or an emergency paramedic.
3. Take Advantage of the Community Colleges and Vocational Technical College (VOTEC)
We now have a neutral ground in the debate of whether to pursue a college education or not. The return in prominence of community colleges and VOTEC provides a viable alternative to college degrees. Both of these alternatives are inexpensive and offer credible courses.
Have you ever felt that you could be good and satisfied in a different career path? It is not too late to enroll in a community college or VOTEC and earn the skills required for the new career direction. The community colleges and VOTEC have popularized courses that can earn you asix-figure salary without a college degree.
4. Is Someone Willing To Pay You To Do What You Love?
When making career decisions, you need to balance your passion and reality. The balance is figuring out what you want to do in life and whether there is someone ready to pay you for it. For example, if your passion is socializing on social media, is there someone ready to pay you to be their influencer?
If not, what adjustments can you make to your career path to align with the current reality? For example, you could pursue another part-time gig before you find someone ready to pay you to do what you like.
However, it doesn’t have to be someone else paying you to do what you like. You can create an entrepreneurship career out of your passion. For example, if your passion is coding, you don’t have to wait till you find employment to pursue this passion. Your laptop, internet connection, and a few software are enough to get you started.
Wrapping Up
If a shoe isn’t a good fit for your legs, there are no two ways. You have to get another one. The principle should be the same for your career. With the above four tools, you will get into the right fulfilling career.