How To Design A Meaningful Career
Written by: Thomi Seche, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Discover how to build a work-life that gives you a sense of happiness, meaning, and purpose. Learn how to build a meaningful career and achieve your goals.
What matters to you most about work?
Creative people know that a meaningful career is a key to feeling happy, fulfilled, and rewarded at work. It’s not something that happens by chance or without focus.
I just had a conversation with a close friend about meaningful work, mindfulness, and career coaching. It got me thinking more about how work can be a source of happiness.
Focused on what’s wrong with your current job? It is time to take a more productive approach. Look at how to improve your thinking, take mindfulness courses online, and get support to design meaningful a career.
Recently, I read a post on building a meaningful career by Amy Gallo in Harvard Business Review. She suggests forming hypotheses to get at what makes you happy.
I love this idea.
Thinking about the things, conditions, and activities that make you happy is a powerful way to make progress. Simply focusing on a positive view boosts your emotional intelligence. Plus, it is fun and thrilling like the moment of excitement when you are about to paint on a blank canvas.
Experiment with Hypotheses
No matter where you are in your career, you can try this out. It’s the surest way to connect with your authentic truth. I help my coaching clients use this approach. It’s one of the most effective ways to get to the heart of what really matters.
It’s amazing how liberating it is to work with a hypothesis. It gives you permission to experiment, explore, and try things out. You can start experimenting without having to know all the answers at the outset. Try it and see how it works for you.
Tip: Pick 3 aspects of what gives you a sense of purpose at work.
It might sound something like this:
I’m benefiting the people I work with.
I’m translating big ideas into simple, do-able actions.
I’m helping people share their real experiences.
The awesome thing about a hypothesis is that you can experiment. Pick something that feels meaningful to you. Don’t overthink it.
Try it on, just like you might try on a jacket, a pair of shoes, or a piece of jewelry. Don’t buy it right away. Check out how it makes you feel.
Experiment until you find your best fit you’ll know because it makes you smile. Escape The 9-5
I help professionals make career moves that support their authentic creative freedom. Whether you’ve been working in a Fortune 500, mid/small-size company or a startup creative freedom is essential.
Having the freedom to create your schedule often ignites tremendous bursts of energy and innovation.
Over the last two years, many professionals have realized that working remotely is liberating no matter what your work domain.
No stressful commute. Freedom to call your hours. Creative independence. Liberation from office politics. Time for yoga, meditation, and going for a walk. Time to be with family, home-school kids, or care for loved ones.
The list goes on.
The truth is out. Creative professionals value freedom.
Find out how this affects your ‘hypotheses’ and make adjustments. What’s your unique reason for valuing remote work?
Some of the answers I’m hearing are:
I can work when I’m most creative.
I can home-school my kids.
I can freshly balance work and home life.
My commute is from the bedroom to the living room.
It’s easier to balance my health, work, and family life.
What is your driving motivation? Don’t stop until you nail it with utter confidence. Once you do, you won’t look back. You’ll use this clarity and passion to fuel your career moves and design your happiest career.
Form a Dream Team
Working with a team of people is inspiring. They will stretch you, think differently, and help you communicate more effectively. Think of this as your Dream Team.
With creative people on your side, you’ll have more fun. You’ll expand the zone of what is possible. Plus, you won’t feel isolated or alone.
Think about people you know from the recent and distant past. Who has acted as a sounding board, inspiration, or mentor? If you find that you don’t have a strong network, reach out to talk with people in your field. Get input from a colleague at a focus group, community meeting, or industry gathering.
If you don’t have a core network, the surest way to get a neutral sounding board is by talking with a career coach. You won’t have to worry about office politics or privacy issues.
Investigate With an Open Mind
When you work on your own, it’s easy to look see things as you have in the past. Guess what happens? Not much!
Investigating with an open mind changes all that with three power moves:
1. Question your perceptions. Are you starting with self-imposed limitations? For instance, do you believe you can’t focus on goals? While this may be true right now, you can learn how to be a focused problem-solver. Taking mindfulness courses online builds skills for creative thinking and problem-solving.
2. Question your self-talk. Are you speaking to yourself in a critical tone? Are you judging yourself harshly? We often speak internally to ourselves in ways that we wouldn’t consider speaking to a friend or peer. Practice speaking kindly to yourself and see what happens.
3. Ask for feedback. If you have a team of advisors, ask for specific input. If you have a career coach, ask for candid input. Be sure to listen with an open mind so you can use the feedback to grow.
Take the time to design a meaningful career. You may not have all the answers yet, but you can start. You can move your career forward to success.
Thomi Seche, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Thomi Seche M.A., was born in a small town in Bavaria. Received a Masters's Degree in Fine Arts at the Academy in Munich. He was a monk for 8 years in India, practicing and studying meditation.
He practiced martial arts and received two black belts.
The biggest challenge from a small cell in India was coming to America and learning to live in the USA, from the ground up. From driving cabs to driving big rigs, he became a proud Long Haul Trucker. After 2 years, he started his own training and facilitation business based out of San Francisco. For over 18 years Thomi coached CEOs in transition, facilitated high-level team meetings, and was the trusted ear to executive clients.
Leaving the corporate environment, he started 2 start-ups. And yes, one tanked; and one he exited.
He is an accomplished writer, his first book "The Authentic Message" became the bible for many corporate communicators.
His new book "Being Brave," reveals the steps he took to overcome prejudice and live courageously.
In essence, his motto is: "Make it a life worth living."
To talk to him, ask him anything, visit this link https://www.seche.coach/contact
