BUILDING A CAREER THAT FEELS NATURAL AND MEANINGFUL
Many of us grow up with the belief that work, and life itself for that matter, is hard. It is something we do to make money to survive. When we are lucky enough to have a job that pays the bills and allows us to enjoy life a little, then we really can´t complain. Work does not have to be meaningful, interesting or fulfilling.
Maybe you were lucky enough to choose a career that is meaningful or enjoyable to you. But even when you do, you might have beliefs around work: that you need to work really hard to add value, or that meaningful work does not deserve to be paid well.
What most of us don´t grow up with is the idea that we can build a career around something that feels natural to us. That work does not have to be a struggle, or something where you constantly have to prove your worth, but that it can be an extension of who you naturally are.
We are all born with natural talents and gifts. In children you can already see that they naturally gravitate towards certain hobbies, or that they have personality traits that make them unique. If your talents are related to school subjects, like writing or math, you probably discovered these talents quite early in life. Depending on whether you and your environment valued and encouraged these talents from a young age, you may have built a career around them.
Or perhaps your talents are less tangible. Maybe you are a great listener, or you are the person that brings people together. You could be the one that are the one that always has a unique perspective on every situation. You might be very detail-oriented or a great organizer. Whether they are immediately visible or not, we all have talents that come naturally. They are often the things we effortlessly do when we are our most natural selves.
Maybe because these gifts come so naturally, we take them for granted when we grow up.
I often speak to people who know what they are good at, but don´t see it as particularly valuable. Especially when their gifts were not valued and encouraged when they were young, they often end up seeing their talents as just something they do. When you fail to recognize the worth of what you offer, you will probably not build a career around that specific skill.
This is not to say that all of our talents should be turned into a way to make money. You might be a great runner, but not feel the need to be a professional athlete. Photography might be your thing but taking it to a professional level might take all of the joy out of it. Not everything needs to be monetized. In fact, seeing everything you are good at as a potential way to make money can be a sign of being in survival mode. It is important to have fun and schedule time to play. Keeping some of your favorite activities just for your enjoyment without putting any pressure on the outcome is a big part of a healthy and happy life.
Building a career around your natural skills also doesn´t mean that you should never be challenged at work.
Most people thrive when they learn new things, become better at certain skills and go out of their comfort zone. Every individual has a different level of challenge they feel comfortable with. While some people thrive on constantly challenging themselves, others prefer working with ease, and growing at their own pace. Regardless of your personal preference, choosing a career that aligns with your natural gifts does not mean that everything will be smooth sailing and that you are done learning. It means that you find ways to grow and expand in ways that feel exciting to you. Your career growth and personal development become more intertwined.
The difference is that your challenges and growth will feel more organic than when you do work that feels more removed from who you are. When you constantly feel a need to improve yourself and develop skills that don´t come naturally, work feels stressful and exhausting. When you choose to honor your natural skills and talents you can feel relief from this pressure. Work feels more fun and effortless.
Getting paid to be yourself means a shift from ´what are the skills I need to make money?´ to ´where are my natural skills and talents most appreciated?´
It takes courage to build a career around your natural skills and personality traits. Since your career is an extension of you, any perceived criticism of your work can feel like criticism directed towards you as a person. There is safety in doing something that is further removed from who you are, as feedback won´t affect you as much.
It takes practice to trust that your natural skills are valuable in a work setting. You need a strong sense of self-worth, as the more you value yourself the more other people will value you as well.
It can be uncomfortable at first to get paid for what comes so naturally to you that it feels effortless.
If you have always been pushing and striving then feeling greater ease can feel like something is wrong, and like you don´t deserve to get paid for your work. It requires you to reframe how you see work and receiving payment for your contribution.
We all have limiting ideas about money and what we need to do to deserve it. Growing a career based on your strengths asks you to see that what is effortless to you is highly valuable to someone else, as we each have our own set of gifts to offer. When you truly value what you offer, receiving payment for your contribution becomes a natural exchange.
If you would like to get paid for your natural skills and could use some guidance in this process, plan a free introduction call with me.