Your professional career sometimes seems like the holy grail that ebbs and flows with the cycle of your life and the whims of corporate decision makers. 

At times we have it all together where our career is skipping along filled with accolades, satisfying challenges and exciting opportunities. Then there are those times when we feel all out of whack and work is nothing more than a tedious hard slog.

You may not be able to put your finger on it but you do know when things are just not right – when work isn’t much fun, it is hard and your focus in on nothing more than surviving each week.

Unfortunately many of us, at some time in our lives, will find ourselves in a job that is not a good fit. Perhaps as a result of a restructure, a period of limited opportunities or maybe the role seemed like the next obvious choice at the time.   So we end up in a job that is at odds with who we are, what we value and what we are truly good at.

For me… I fell out of career alignment during a corporate restructure. I became a square peg in round hole doing work I wasn’t so good at, I had no passion for and that left me questioning my personal values.   

But the problem ran so much deeper than being bored and disengaged. Like so many women who I meet who are out of alignment, my health was a mess.

To be in career alignment means finding that “sweet spot” – it’s the intersection where what we are good at, what brings us joy and what fits with what we value most in life meet. And when we find it, work and life seems easier, more fulfilling and meaningful and having an impact comes naturally to us.

The 5 “P”s to Career Alignment.  

1.  Purpose. According to Daniel Pink, author and expert on the nature of work, meaning and purpose are core motivators to push us to do our best. We are driven and inspired when we believe that what we are doing serves something important beyond ourselves. We long to find this meaning in our work.

2.  Passion. Finding work you are passionate about starts with finding work that taps into your unique skills and talents. Our passions are usually linked to what we are naturally good at and what we have been drawn to for most of our lives. It’s those activities that light us up and that we could do all day just for fun.

3.  Principles. Doing work that is in alignment with our principles and values is fundamental to job satisfaction. When we are doing work that betrays our core personal values, we feel awkward, uneasy, and even sick. Conversely, when our actions, decisions and work match our core beliefs, we feel a sense of calm, ease and peace.

4.  Possibilities. No one likes a dead end job. We thrive when we can see the possibilities for our own personal and professional growth. It has been well documented that employee engagement and productivity is linked to meaningful professional development through strong mentoring, involvement in interesting and challenging projects, career progression or formal learning opportunities.

5.  Profits. We need to believe that we are being fairly remunerated for our skills and contribution to feel truly fulfilled by our work. No one likes to be taken advantage of and over time being poorly paid will take its toll.

Now it is over to you….

Are you out of alignment? Have you found yourself in a position where you are no longer hitting the “sweet spot” where passion, purpose, principles, possibilities and profit intersect?

If you have, now may be a good time to hit the pause button, reassess where you are at and identify the steps to take to get you back into alignment. 

If remaining where you are is no longer an option for you and you would like some help to get back on track, let’s jump on the phone for a quick call to find out how I might be able to help. Click here to answer a few questions and book in a time to chat.