How To Find Your Amazing Work

So let’s get real: You have no clue what your Amazing Work is.

You didn’t even know what that meant until reading this.

Or maybe you’re confused – and can’t decide if your work is amazing or not. (This is a good indication – it’s not.) And sure, the thought of making money doing work you love sounds awesome, but you dismiss it with: “Yeah, right. Doing what you love, being excited to work – nice for some people, but it will never happen for me.” Followed by a hundred more excuses.

First, stop that. Let’s get back to why you’re here. Because the first step to doing Amazing Work is to start looking. There are other parts, like overcoming fear, paying down debt and making the time, but that’s for later. Right now, we just want to start looking, something a lot of people never do. Because looking can be scary. It’s admitting your life isn’t perfect. It’s admitting you want to change. Its standing naked in the mirror and taking it all in.

So if you’re not afraid to start looking (yeah!), get out a notebook and pen. Really, I can wait. And yes, you’ll need a notebook and pen. Will wait, will wait … ok.

Let’s begin.

1. What are you good at? Unless you’re just starting out in life, you have some skills or talent. You might have shown some talent when you were young, even as young as elementary school. Have you always been a good writer, speaker, drawer, organizer, builder, teacher, friend? Have you been good at ideas, connecting people, gardening, selling? Give this some thought. Take at least 30 minutes, going over this question — often we forget about things we’ve done well. Think back, as far as you can, to jobs, projects, hobbies. Start a list of potential candidates.

2. What excites you? It may be something at work — a little part of your job that gets you excited. It could be something you do outside of work — a hobby, a side job, something you do as a volunteer or a parent or a spouse or a friend. It could be something you haven’t done in awhile. Again, think about this for 30 minutes, or 15 at the least. If you don’t, you’re probably shortchanging yourself. Add any answers to your list.

3. What do you read about? What have you spent hours reading about online? What magazines do you look forward to reading? What blogs do you follow? What section of the bookstore do you usually peruse? There may be many topics here — add them to the list.

4. What have you secretly dreamed of? You might have some ridiculous dream job you’ve always wanted to do — to be a novelist, an artist, a designer, an architect, a doctor, an entrepreneur, a programmer. But some fear, some self-doubt, has held you back, has led you to dismiss this idea. Maybe there are several. Add them to the list — no matter how unrealistic.

5. Now, choose one. Pick one thing from the list that excites you most. This is your first candidate. This could be your Amazing Work. But first you need to read up on it. Find other people – either online or in person – that are successfully making a living doing this. As you research, write down things to learn, areas to improve, the skills you’ll need. Study. Shut out the voice that says “you can’t do this” or “you need to make more money than this” or “you don’t have the time” and pretend you do. If the first candidate loses “amazing” and just sounds like “work” – move down the list.

That’s it. That’s how you find your Amazing Work.

Adapted from a post by the lovely Leo.

Photo by aurelio.asiain