The better you understand you, the better you can see to maximize your career.
Most professionals in career planning and development consider 5 factors. These 5 factors can be categorized in two distinct areas: Your gifts. And your passions.
Your Gifts
Factor #1 – Experiences: Your history—personal, educational, vocational.
Factor #2 – Abilities: What you do best—talents, knowledge, skills.
Factor #3 – Personality: How you do best what you do—natural behavior traits.
Your Passions
Factor #4 – Interests: What you like most—people, places, things, activities.
Factor #5 – Values: What is important to you—life purpose and principles.
Love What You Do
Employ your passions, as well as your gifts. Research from If It ain’t Broke, Break It by Robert J. Kriegel and Louis Patler, proves the point:
A team of researchers followed a group of 1,500 people over a period of 20 years. At the outset of the study, the participants were divided into 2 groups:
Group A, 83% of the sample, was composed of people embarking on a career path they had chosen solely for the prospect of making money now in order to do what they wanted later in life.
Group B, the other 17% of the sample, consisted of people who had chosen their career paths so that they could do what they wanted now and worry about money later.
The data showed some startling revelations:
At the end of the 20-year period, 101 of the 1,500 had become millionaires.
Of the millionaires, 100 of the 101 were from Group B, the group that had chosen to pursue what they loved.
The key ingredient in most successful projects is loving what you do. Having a goal or a plan is not enough. Academic preparation is not enough. Prior experience is not enough. Enjoyment of your life’s work is the key.
Introducing the X-Factor
The active presence of Jesus Christ in your life introduces the X factor into your unique design.
“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things are passed away; behold, new things have come.”
—2 Corinthians 5:17 (NASB)
It begins the millisecond you are created anew in Jesus when you accept Him as your Savior and Lord. The Holy Spirit ignites the first 5 factors to manifest as spiritual gifts and God’s calling.
What do you think about the X-Factor? Is it true? If you believe it is true, what will you do?
Self-Assessment for Discovering Your Unique Design
We have a free tool that you can download here to help you take inventory of your experiences.
With this tool, you will list places you worked and the work you did from high school to the present. Make sure to include not only work for which you were paid, but also hobbies, volunteering, community projects, internships, and extracurricular activities.
