Write a Career Mantra

Is it a connection to a certain cause? Is it engaging one of your skills or personal passions? Is it serving a specific population? Everyone has their own causes, the things that give their life meaning. Without knowing what you’re chasing, your quest for meaning will turn into a wild goose chase. So it’s worth reflecting on your “why” before you pursue any major changes.

Ask yourself concrete questions to reveal your truth:

What are you working for? What impact do you want to create in your job? What skills do you want to develop and leverage?

Stop viewing your job description as a static, unchanging list of responsibilities. Even if that list completely reflected your career aspirations when you applied, you and your role probably evolved since then. 

Approach your job title as a fluid set of activities—which you can change to fit your skillset and personal passions.

• Change your tasks: modify your actual tasks to more closely match your goals and desired skills. Automate your tedious time-wasters and stop multitasking.
• Change relationships: identify how your effort might positively impact another person.
• Change perceptions: selectively focus on preferred tasks.