Summer always reminds me of my childhood, carefree days of eating homemade popsicles, running through the sprinkler on a hot day, popsicles, slushies, the coconutty smell of suntan lotion, the sound of power boats, and children laughing.

Joy, sheer joy.

Have you lost your joy? Are you excited for the coming summer, or does it feel like more of the same old humdrum, boring work life?

How do we get so off track in our careers? Why does our work feel like the dead of winter instead of the joy of summer? Something to be excited about. Something to look forward to.

Too often, we job search when we need employment versus doing intentional career planning and decision making. We take the first job offered to us. We go to work with a friend because it’s easy. They’re willing to hire us. There’s no risk. We give up what we like to do and settle for what’s available.

In career development, we talk a lot about passion. What’s your passion? It’s a very hard question for people to answer, and most of the time they don’t know. It’s ok not to know. Most people don’t have a driving passion. But they do have preferences, and preferences are easy to identify. Do you like working inside or outside? Or both? Do you like sales or engineering? Do you want to work in health care or construction?

When I work with clients, we identify the work they like to do and figure out how they can do more of it. When we do that, they find work that energizes them and recharges them.

Stop going through life on autopilot. If the joy has been sucked out of your life, its time to embrace a summer mentality and find that joy again. Take a course in something you love. Update your skills in areas you’ve long neglected. Learn about how the world of work is changing and how you can set yourself up to move into areas that interest and inspire you.

Start small. Find an activity or hobby that brings you joy and add it into your life. Now start doing this same activity with your career. Soon it will feel like summer all year long.

ANN NAKASKA
Career Consultant
Website: www.constructivecareer.com

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This article was originally published in Summer (June 1st) Life Changes Magazine 2024 by Ann Nakaska, Career Consultant. Read the original article here.

Note: The author, compiler and publisher do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party due to these words coming from the author’s own opinion based on their experiences. This account is based on the author’s own personal experience. We assume no responsibility for errors or omissions in these articles.