Confidence in Finding Your Dream Job

Fundamentally, there are two types of people in the world: those that have confidence and those that do not.

Is this an oversimplification? Most definitely. I make no claim to the contrary. Human beings are too complex to describe as being simply this or that. Science can play all they want at trying to quantify emotional and psychological responses, but let's be honest: people do not fit into nice little categories.

But for the sake of argument today, let's say that they do. While this is a little more behind the scenes principles rather than processes that we go through, it's important that we all understand the reasoning behind the success of some people and the failure (or lack of success, if you don't like the term) of others.

Simply put, principles will always trump processes. No contest. There's nothing on Earth that can make a person that doesn't believe in himself into a success. Certainly, you can hand them money through winning the lottery. Or get a nice inheritance. Or happen to cash out of a company at just the right time. But where does that get him? Every study done has shown that people that have money (re: success, though I would argue this) simply handed to them do not tend to hang on to it very long. There are plenty of horror stories of people who have won millions, only to lose it within a few short years and wind up back at their previous standard of living or lower.

As the saying goes, there's no such thing as a free lunch. Success or happiness cannot just be handed to you. Doesn't work that way. Anything worth doing has always required time, sacrifice, and dedication.

So what does all this have to do with choosing a career? Everything.

If you're going to find that dream job of yours, you're going to need to have confidence in the choice that you have made. Second guessing yourself is a surefire way to erode confidence and cause doubt. Thomas J Stanley, author of the enormously successful The Millionaire Next Door series that studies the wealthy, made a very interesting observation. He noted that millionaires were in the habit of making decisions and, having made that decision, stuck with it. They didn't let self doubt creep in and dissuade them from the path that they were on. Once they had make their choice, they never looked back.

Now, granted, many of us may never become millionaires. You may not want to. The drive for wealth is simply one of many paths that people can take in this life. It's not for everyone. You may find fulfillment in writing novels or expressing life through art or helping others overcome mental or emotional problems or designing bridges or working to make the community a better place. All of those are good and noble goals that have nothing to do with becoming millionaires, and each of them are capable of helping you have a fulfilling life, if that's what does it for you.

But you have to decide first for yourself if it does. And only you can make that choice.

In my experience, the only way to make a choice or decision in confidence is through knowledge. As corny as it sounds, the old catch phrase from the GI Joe cartoon series of "Knowing is half the battle" is pretty applicable here. Until you know what you want to do, it's impossible to decide exactly what to do with your life.

That's really the aim behind Conversations: Find Your Niche!: to provide you with inside knowledge of work force professionals and gain a greater understanding of what it really means to work in a particular field. Without that knowledge, you won't make it anywhere fast.

What Stands in Your Way of Finding Your Dream Job?

Everybody wants to do something that they love. Who wouldn't?

Problem is, most people aren't living the dream. Surveys have shown that 84% of Americans wished they were in another job. You ask me, that's a pretty horrifying stat. That means that the odds of you, me, and most everyone we knew is likely to not find their dream job.

This, of course, begs the question just why so many people don't end up doing what they want to do. Ever hear that great line about preparation? "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity."

Simply put, people that seem to be the luckiest are the ones that have prepared themselves to take advantage of the opportunities that come their way. I'm a firm believer that whatever we prepare ourselves for will come (within reason, of course; I doubt I'll be sprouting wings any time soon). This applies to everything in life from education to job opportunities to our personal lives. If you want something bad enough, you'll do whatever it takes to get there.

So everybody wants to get into their dream job, right? On one level, yes, yes they do. They're more than happy to say it. To this I say, "actions speak louder than words."

If you really want to sit down and decide how you're going to find the job that fits your values, your talents, your personality, there's going to be some work involved. Believe it or not, it's that fear of work that's actually keeping so many from finding that dream job that makes them feel like they're doing something worthwhile.

To a great degree, finding that dream job means doing some self-discovery. After all, you can't know what job will fulfill you the best until you know what fulfills you personally.

So how do you do this? You start by sitting down and writing out a few things about yourself. Take a few minutes by yourself, free of distractions, and be completely honest. What do you like to do? What are you good at? What kind of personal goals do you have for yourself? What are your values? What do you wish you could do? What aren't you good at or dislike doing? (Identifying things that you don't want to do also helps in narrowing down possible job fields)

After you've made this list, get in touch with your parents or siblings or close friends (somebody who knows you really well) and ask them what your strengths are, what you're good at. By the same token, ask them what you're not good at. Again, knowing what you don't excel in is an essential part of narrowing things down.

Now compare this list with what you worked up. You may be surprised what they see in you that you didn't see in yourself. I know I certainly was.

For those of you still in high school or college, talk to your favorite teachers, the ones you connected with best. They've seen at least hundreds, if not thousands of students go through their classroom and know how to identify aptitudes in people.

Talk to a guidance counselor while you're at it. If you've gotten an idea of what you may be interested by this point, they have access to internships, job shadowing, or other chances to look into specific fields.

Even aptitude tests are useful as far as they go. Remember, these are not designed to tell you what job will work best for you; all they do is tell you what you're good at. You'll have to do the homework yourself to find how those skills or talents best line up with a career.

There are a lot of tools out there to help you find your dream job; it's your job to pick up those tools and put them to work for you.