How do you figure out the career that’s right for you?
It’s an important question most of us spend a huge amount of time working during the course of our lives and for some of us it feels connected to our identity/purpose.
But I think sometimes we misalign how we ask the question.
Many people don’t choose the wrong career. What they’re often doing is not actually choosing at all. They’re drifting into careers rather than making intentional choices, and that’s where things often go wrong.
Why People End Up in the Wrong Career
When people are thinking about, “What’s the right career for me?” they’re often optimizing for different things, such as:
- Salary or prestige. They want to look good and make a bunch of money.
- Security. They want a place where they don’t have to think about their career and can stay somewhere for a long time.
Those are all great things.
But at some point, many still wake up and say, “I’m unhappy with this. Why?”
Even when everything looks good on paper, even when it seems to have all the things they said they wanted, something can still feel misaligned.
They’ve achieved a bunch of their goals, but something isn’t doing it for them.
They said, “These are things I think I want,” but it’s not really doing it for them.
That’s why I think we need to look deeper than salary, prestige, or security.
The Career Alignment Trifecta
When I work with people trying to find career clarity, there are three important areas to consider:
- Values
- Strengths
- Vision
When these three things overlap, you’re much more likely to find alignment in your career.
1. Values
The first question is simple:
Do you know your own values?
Your values are the things you care about. They can influence the companies, jobs, teams, industries, and causes that you want to be part of.
You can find a company, job, and team that aligns with those values, but you have to know what those values are first. If you don’t know what you care about, it becomes very easy to drift into whatever opportunity happens to come along.
- You might take the job because it pays well.
- You might take it because it looks impressive.
- You might take it because it feels secure.
But those things don’t necessarily mean the work is aligned with what matters most to you.
So take the time to ask yourself what you actually care about.
- What kinds of industries or causes do you want to be part of?
- What kind of environment do you want to work in?
- What matters most to you?
That clarity can make a huge difference.
2. Strengths and Genius Zones
I encourage you to go beyond simply identifying your strengths.
Find your genius zones.
These are the things that make you unique, help you do your best work, and can put you into a state of flow.
If you can find a place that utilizes your genius zones, you’re more likely to enjoy your work, stay engaged, and deliver high value. This is especially important because you can be good at something without necessarily enjoying it. You might have skills that other people admire, but that doesn’t automatically mean those skills represent the work you want to spend your career doing.
Instead, look for the things that make you unique.
- What kinds of problems do you love solving?
- What work brings out your best?
- What allows you to get into a state of flow?
- What experiences make you think, “This is what I’m really good at”?
When your work connects with those genius zones, you have a much better opportunity to enjoy what you do while also delivering meaningful value.
3. Vision
Who are you trying to become?
That’s a different question than simply asking what job you want.
You want to understand whether the company’s vision aligns with your personal vision.
A career decision isn’t just about what you’ll do next, but rather it’s about who you’re becoming.
The work you choose can influence the skills you develop, the experiences you have, the people you meet, and the direction you take.
So ask yourself:
- Who do I want to become?
- What kind of career will help me get there?
- What kind of life do I want to create alongside my career?
Those questions can help you think beyond the immediate opportunity and toward the bigger picture.
Clarity Doesn’t Just Appear
One of the biggest mistakes people make when trying to figure out the right career is assuming that clarity will simply appear if they think about it long enough.
It usually doesn’t work that way.
You can’t just think about your career and expect the answer to appear.
You have to take action.
Experiment.
Gather data.
Do informational interviews.
Talk to people.
Build relationships.
Try side projects.
Get exposure to different industries or roles.
Volunteer.
Take on leadership opportunities.
Reflect.
Journal.
Connect with your spirit.
These actions give you information that you simply can’t get by sitting and thinking about what career might be right for you.
You begin to learn what you enjoy.
You discover what you don’t enjoy.
You learn about different industries.
You meet people who have taken different paths.
You discover possibilities you may not have seen before.
And slowly, you begin to create clarity.
Stop Asking, “What Should I Do?”
Instead of asking:
“What should I do?”
Or:
“Is this the right career for me?”
Try asking different questions.
Who am I becoming?
Who do I want to become?
What will help me get there?
Those questions shift your focus.
Instead of trying to discover some perfect career that already exists, you start thinking about how you can intentionally build and create a career that aligns with who you are and who you want to become.
That’s a much more powerful way to approach your career.
Build Your Career Intentionally
The right career isn’t necessarily something you just discover.
It’s something you build and create through intentional action.
When your values, strengths and genius zones, and vision overlap, you’re likely to find greater alignment.
But getting there takes experimentation, reflection, conversations, relationships, and action.
You don’t have to have the entire career figured out today.
You can start by getting clear about who you are, what you care about, what you’re good at, and who you want to become.
Watch more in the video below:
