Want More Purpose at Work Reimagine Your Career - FlexJobs

Want More Purpose at Work Reimagine Your Career - FlexJobsWant More Purpose at Work Reimagine Your Career 1Work Reimagined, a partnership with AARP dedicated to helping professionals with years of experience find meaningful new careers, held a webinar called Finding Purpose at Work. A great concept for anyone looking to find more meaning and contentment, either with their current job or by finding a new one (or a whole new career)The webinar featured executive coach and nationally certified master career counselor Richard Leider, and it focused on helping professionals identify their gifts and talents, put their workdays to good use, and find work that makes them laugh at the idea of retiring.During the webinar, I was struck by the following tips and thought they might be helpful for our job seekers. Leider says that during his many years as a career counselor, hes come across three universal truths which shape our careers and, therefore, our lives.Want More Purpose at Work? Reimagi ne Your CareerLeiders Three Truths about ur CareersMost people dont choose their work, it chooses them. Early in our lives, someone suggests a career field to us, or we choose a job based on the salary, or we take a part-time job and stick around for 20+ years. To find work satisfaction, people need to take an active part in choosing their work. Second acts allow people to choose for the first time, or choose again if their first choice no longer works.People are more sure of what they dont like to do than what they do like to do. People can readily name dislikes about their jobs or careers. Naming what we like is more difficult. We need to stop and deconstruct our career choices and what weve learned from them. Otherwise, we get inner-kill, which essentially means were dying from the inside-out based on our lack of work choice. When we stop growing at work, we start dying at work.Re-imagining your work is a vital life skill. If youre elend reimagining or reinventing yourself on a r egular basis, youre stuck. It doesnt matter how good you are or what level youve reached, you should always be proactive and manage your career transitions and reinventions.If youre in a place where you want to reevaluate your career choice, find more purpose at work,and see if theres something different out there for you, Leider offered some excellent tips to get started.1. First, know that you always have a choice. We may not always feel like we have choices, but we always do. Theres no such thing as the ideal job, but there are a variety of options that will make us happy and give us purpose.2. To find meaningful work, you must define your purpose. Learn your gifts (strengths), passions (interests), and values to find your true calling.To find your passions, strengths, and values, take Work Reimagineds Calling Cards exercise, a really well-designed, interactive way to identify your true career callings. I wanted to try it before recommending it to you, and its free, fun, and fast . Perfect3. Want to find more purpose in your current job? Ask yourself these questionsDo you love your work? Do you love getting up and going to work every day? Does it feel like a good use of your time or your talents? Use a scale of one to 10.Is there any part of your day where youre in the zone? Where you lose track of time? Where youre absorbed in your work?Are there any people you love being around? Serving? Taking care of?4. Try bringing 25% more effort to work for a week and see what happens. Bring more of yourself, more effort, more enthusiasm, and you may be surprised what your energy shift can do to make your current job seem brand new.To learn more about Work Reimagined, check out their website and the Work Reimagined LinkedIn group. Its a great place to be inspired by people just like you professionals who want to apply their experience and talents to more meaningful, purposeful work and to their lives.Readers, how do you find purpose at work? Tell us in the comments b elow