Much of our careers are spent working towards becoming an expert in our field. The higher up you go, the greater the struggle to find ways to improve yourself and the more obstacles you will face. In order have the motivation to spend those years acquiring the skills necessary to become an expert, you need to love what you do so that your work is its own reward and motivates you to go further. Achieving that is certainly no walk in the park, but it is within your reach.
Here’s how: ask yourself what you love to do, what activity can absorb you completely. Then find a career that involves tasks similar to that activity. One of the most deeply satisfying human psychological states is called “flow,” and this refers to the experience of total immersion in activity to the extent where you lose track of time. Finding a job that allows you to regularly experience “flow” is the ultimate pathway to acquiring expertise in a field, and by extension, success.
In addition to the sense of fulfillment you get from doing what you love, this feeling of “flow” also motivates you to work hard and find ways to do your job better, allowing you to help more people in a way that makes a real difference. Your passion is contagious. Family, peers, and co-workers will look up to you as a role model and feel inspiration to follow in your footsteps as you make your way toward the forefront of your field.
There’s a reason why so few people successfully work their way up to that coveted high level of expertise; they go at it alone. Flying solo may sound appealing in theory, but the latter half of the journey to expertise is where the terrain becomes ever more challenging; the mountain path becomes a cliff face. When you’re climbing a rock wall, you focus on what’s ahead and lose sight of other potential paths. You may reach a point where you’re unsure of how to move forward.
A career coach is like a spotter who can take a step back, point out new paths that you never realized were there and encourage you to gain better footing on your way up. Whatever you need to get you there, whether it’s a fresh perspective on what you can achieve, encouragement to push yourself harder or advice on which path to take, career coaches can provide. I love helping others discover their true calling and seeing the profound impact this feeling of fulfillment can have on their lives.