Strategies to redesign your diva journey with more purpose and fulfillment
Do you feel fulfilled in your job? If no, you are not alone. According to Gallup research in 2018, 64% of Americans were not engaged in their jobs, and this was the best result in the 2000's.
Finding the solution may not be as easy as identifying the problem. First step: stop complaining and take actions to align life with your purpose.
What motivates you?
I know what makes me happy, but it took me a lot of reflection and self-awareness exercises to translate my motivations into a job description. I spent a weekend following the framework proposed in the Find your WHY book by Simon Sinek, to develop my why statement, applicable to all areas of my life. With the help of a friend I reviewed my life stories, identified themes and defined what motivates me and what doesn't.
The process reminded me of how I enjoy learning new things and feel fulfilled by using my experience to help or advise others, such as clients colleagues, subordinates and friends to grow their business, career, personal life. The first version of my why was 'to use my experience to inspire others, so that they may realize their potential'. I skipped the exercises to validate and refine the why, as I felt really connected with the first version, but I recommend that you find good partners to help you, as suggested in the book, and go all the way through.
Designing your Life is an alternative methodology, developed by Stanford professors Bill Burnet and Dave Evans, that applies Design Thinking to help you finding your passion in life. Choose the one you prefer and start working!
Take actions to change
Framing your why statement or advertising it to your leadership hoping to get your dream job will not help (believe me, I tried). If by identifying what motivates you leads you to the type of job you want, go ahead and work to get it. If like me, you couldn't go straight from purpose to a dream job title, there is more exploratory work to do.
Networking with people from different areas and participating on events and meetups can give you a perspective on industries, companies and roles that may interest you. Later, this will help you to make a transition. It takes time and effort to change and find fulfillment, but when you get up excited to go to work on a Monday morning, you will see that it was all worth it.
In the meanwhile, if work is not that exciting, focus on activities outside of work that make you happy, and that are aligned with your motivations, so you will have high energy and positive mindset to achieve your goals.
Some activities can even help you on your journey to find fulfillment. I love learning, so I have taken multiple courses at Stanford Continuous Studies in entrepreneurship, innovation, design thinking, go-to-market strategy. As I have enjoyed the classes, I looked for opportunities to apply what I have learned within my company, and after a few months networking, I landed on a project that was more aligned with my why statement.
This was just the first step of the change! Getting out of a comfortable status quo and moving to something new and more exciting is a constant in the diva journey It is a real challenge, that requires persistence, focus and hard work. Many people surrender to the comfort of the known, even if it's not fulfilling. Divas dive straight into changes as they like risks and the rewards that come with them.
I am excited to share with you the next chapters of my change process and I would love to hear your experience! What was the last time that you changed, what were your main challenges and how did you surpass them? Comment here or @ideasfordivas on Twitter.