Thinking about changing careers? Do what you are good at and enjoy!!

Career Reinvention May No Longer Be an Option: Motivated Skills

In my last blog post  http://www.aspireforsuccess.com/weblog.php?article=125

I discussed the importance of assessing your career “likes and dislikes” before choosing what your career change options might be. In this post, we are going to talk about “motivated skills” and how important they are to your long term career satisfaction and fulfillment.

 “Motivated skills” is a bit of a buzzword in the careers industry. Simply stated, it means:

§         Skills you are good at,

AND

§         Skills you get satisfaction from using

This sounds overly simplistic but identifying your “motivated skills” is so important to career satisfaction and to identifying possible career change options. I’ll use an example from my own background and career change. When I went to business school and in my post-MBA jobs, I discovered:

§         I am good at “numbers” and “analytical” work

AND

§         I get ZERO satisfaction from this kind of work

Now had I been astute enough to figure this out early in my career, I might never had gone to business school. (I might have gone on to study what I am really passionate about-human development, counseling, coaching, etc.)  What I have learned since business school, is that using these skills leads to burn out and career dissatisfaction.

During this same period, when I was in sales, business development roles and, running my consulting company, I discovered that I am good at relating to people, motivating them and encouraging them to grow professionally. And that I get TONS of satisfaction from this work. This is what we call “motivated skills”.

To be happy in your career long term, you MUST lead with your motivated skills.

Now take a few minutes to reflect and ask yourself these questions:

·        Are you leading with your “motivated skills”?

·        Are you just doing work because you are good at it and have always been good at it?

·        If you are not leading with your “motivated skills”, what steps can you take to incorporate these skills I your work?

Next up, identifying what is most important to you (your values).

Related Articles Career Coach Articles > Career Reinvention

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Lucy

Comment:

I really liked in the article how you gave personal examples of how you discovered what you are good at. I find that while I appreciate the importance of figuring out what my skills and talents are, it's easier said than done!

I tend to think I'm not good at anything, and feel like all I've got to go on is compliments from people I know - but I'm not sure I can trust them because maybe they're just being nice.

More advice on how to rate your skills would be really helpful. For example, do you need to be better at something than most people you know to be good at it?

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