So you can’t get no (job) satisfaction…wotcha gonna do?!

As with most days, I am preoccupied with how to short-circuit the career conundrum and help more people discover great work for themselves; the kind of work that dovetails every single career attribute, experience, value, ambition, skill, talent, gift and dream, neatly into The World of Work.

Today I woke-up with a 'key word' in the forefront of my mind; the kind of word that opens up rich corridors of creative thinking. As a part of my own 'career portfolio' is that of a writer, I know I am working well when I wake and my subconscious feeds me a word on which to build my day and sustain myself. 

I am always thankful for those days because it’s a form of purpose to chase-down such a word and turn it into something thought-provoking, real and relevant. To decode the meaning of the word and give it to the world in a meaningful way. Yes, words enrich my days and I am thankful for them.

On Wednesday 24^th July 2013 – today – the word provided happens to be ‘inventory’. What a great word for a Career Coach to be reminded of every now and again. In our quest for job satisfaction and happiness, inventories are every bit as important as a map and compass on any expedition because, along with giving us our direction, they can fuel our self-esteem, turn progress in reality and help measure our success.

But how?

Extrapolation is the act of taking historic data, trends and events and projecting them to some point in the future. That’s why an inventory is such a good start-point on our journeys to the future. A couple of days ago whilst researching a previous blog topic I was looking into 'positive visualisation'. It turns out that the wholly remarkable W. Clement Stone, who created positive thinking as a tool to train super-determined insurance salesmen in his company, also happened to, through his mentorship, spawn a remarkable protégé, Og Mandino.

Og is a great one for making an inventory of personal ingredients we should be thankful for. I don’t want to spoil his story but I’d recommend spending some time watching his teachings on YouTube. Og survived hitting absolute rock-bottom and turned his life around.

In his teachings, he states that, no matter how low we might believe we have fallen, we have special gifts we ought to remind ourselves to be thankful for, such items are the eyes that we see with, the ear we hear with and the feet we walk with. And that's just for starters. I'll leave the rest to his video. It is quite a powerful legacy and by valuing it, we recognise his life's accomplishments.

So what of our own inventories. Due to my own difficulties in gaining traction in the first few chapters of my life, and then, more by happenstance than good judgement, I found a talented Career Adviser and formed a sustainable vocation, which led to my designing the Career Dovetail Formula. 

The problem I was seeking to solve was to make career decision-making a tangible, repeatable and reliable process. I believe too many people, me included, have historically found careers work esoteric, intangible and perhaps even a bit flaky. Perhaps not worthy of investment.

So if you do nothing else today why not sit down and create an inventory of your career attributes to be thankful for. Along with your skills, consider your experience, talents, gifts, strengths, personality traits, resilience, friends, family, work colleagues, wider networks, interests, passions, your overcoming-of-adversity anecdotes, achievements and success stories. 

You never know, apart from ending-up feeling thankful, you will probably do your self-esteem a whole lot of good and maybe be well on the way to building a sustainable career plan! 

Ultimately, you will piece-together a credible 'Tell Me About Yourself'; which, apart from impressing yourself, will demonstrate to others how good you are at what you do, build your CV/resumé and feed into a powerful interview script.

Believe me, there's a lot of point to building an inventory. Not all lists are pointless!

Duncan Bolam © 2013

www.careeradvise.me

Making things spreads joy, makes people happier and sustains society:

I once heard a call centre manager saying it was tolerable to have a high staff-turnover in his industry because “it’s the nature of the industry”....

...This is b#@`S*^t! As long as workers get a sense that they are contributing to something positive, that their daily tasks in some way create something of value, then they’re going to extract a sense of job satisfaction, maybe even real joy. 

As more and more firms pinch the purse strings in order to turn a profit it is harder and harder for workers to feel as if their contribution is tangible and that their efforts are worth a dime. Their dilemma is made much worse if they don’t get any recognition other than a meagre pay packet.

This is why, increasingly, I get the sense that the makers of things are happiest. You know, those artisans who bake wonderful traditional bread recipes, the dry-stone wall builders, the farriers who work iron into works-of-art, the thatchers who construct timeless roofs on medieval houses and clay potters and wood turners making bowls of perfection.

Sustained psycho-social and economic wellbeing is dependent upon contributing positively to your community for the individual to thrive and prosper in the broadest and most widely rewarding sense. The world is in such a mess because Capitalism removed the individual’s ability to hone their technique and proper through a progressive mastery of skill. 

Self-preservation in the 21^st Century labour market is about being resilient to change and being able to do nothing in particular averagely well. There is no reward in this short-sightedness for either employer or employee. Hence, market volatility robs society of its meaning in the medium to long term with no sight of let-up.

Self-preservation technique, happiness-building and holistic wellbeing rely upon your ability to make, grow and sustain; to move forward and develop. Relearning from scratch every few months erodes resolve as everyone loses sight of growth indicators.

Set your sights on making something of value. Invent something that will make other peoples’ lives happier, more fulfilling and / or efficient. Give joy by building, shaping, designing, sculpting, crafting, tailoring, constructing, drawing, harvesting, divining, staining, whittling, plumbing, decorating, growing, dyeing, turning, potting, hammering, fastening, weaving, joining, smithing, sawing and stitching. Doing words help things grow. Be guided by your actions. 

Be the modern Artisan. Nurture your ability to work, invest effort, form and then step back on experience the meaning borne-out of making some thing tangible. Above, make and take joy in your being your own master. 

[And for those who can find no option other than 'serve', try sincerely to smile authentically. Your rewards are the smiles reflected back.]

Experience joy - Seek that your product live. See others shine. See society sustain. Create, generate, grow, thrive. It is infectious.