Do What You Love and Love What You Do

I don’t know about you, but I’ve spent a lot of time over the past few years looking for love; and not just any kind of love - job love. The kind of love that makes you not mind when that morning alarm goes off and will cause involuntary smiling throughout the workday. To me, there are few things more important than having a satisfying job and yet finding it is the one thing that they don’t teach you how to do in school. Sure, it’s easy enough to find a job, but finding one that will be fulfilling and bring you joy is another story. I’m still on my journey to finding true job love but I’m definitely getting closer and learning a lot along the way. Here are a few tips that I have picked up so far:

Stick to what you’re good at. This is a no-brainer. We all have things that we excel at whether it’s working with numbers, public speaking, tech savvy, or baking. Make a list of your skills, including the ones you’d like to improve on. That’s the best place to start.

Pay attention to what excites you. Just because you’re good at something doesn’t mean you’re going to like doing it anywhere. What kind of books do you like to read? What do you find yourself talking about most often with friends? What do you do in your spare time? Hone in on topics and activities that get you revved up (or bring you peace) and ask yourself why they have that effect on you. Then check out that list of skills you put together and see if there is a way to merge them with your passion to create some job ideas. Example: Great at writing + love for talking about sports with friends = sports writer/blogger.

Keep an open mind. People miss out on great job opportunities every day because they are afraid to look outside their comfort zone. There are a lot of unique jobs out there and one of them might be right up your alley! Check out the Career Builder article we posted recently called “20 Odd Jobs.” You’d be surprised what you can get paid to do!