I knew exactly what I wanted to do for a living when I was younger. I wanted to write books and run my own gift and home decor shop. But the mantra in my house growing up was ‘money is safety,’ and safety looked like one thing. Office job, 8 to 5, save for retirement at 65. What you wanted to do was not a priority. And I believed it. Some days I still believe it. But every day the desire for something different, something more sits in my chest like a slumbering bear cub.
Lately I’ve been thinking about how our schools are structured, what a massive decision it is to identify your career path at 18, how some people run with certainty along a chosen path, and others, like me, flounder in a sea of options and wrestle with internal conflict over passion vs. security. How we even know what our options are?
I stumbled into my career path because I temped for the HR Department at a hospital system when I was in college and my experience landed me a job in HR several months after graduation (and after I had worked retail and contemplated opening that little shop). Then I just kept getting promoted, and it became harder and harder to contemplate change.
Some people do what their parents or aunt or neighbor did. Some people have a hobby or sport or obsession that makes one career path an obvious answer. Some people make a connection at a career fair or see something in a movie and think, that career sounds decent, why not? Some people try a bunch of different things and maybe eventually land on something that feels good enough. But is good enough….enough?
Clearly, I don’t think so. We spend so much time earning a living, so shouldn’t we be more intentional about it? What does being intentional look like exactly, anyway?
I’ve started to tease this out in my own life and career, and he’s what I know:
- Intention = passion/flow + purpose + priorities
- Passion/flow – what you love, what brings you joy, what makes you happy, in this context, what you can do skillfully that engages you so that you are immersed and sometimes lose track of time, what are you good at that you enjoy?
- Purpose – what your work means to the world; are you serving a particular population, are you creating art that moves people or reveals truths, are you building (or breaking) systems that have lasting impacts? What’s the thing that’s wrong that you want to help fix? Generally, how are you adding value in a way that’s meaningful to you?
- Priorities – what’s important? Money, family, health, location, structure of your day, fun, amount of human interaction, adventure, spirituality, etc. It can be helpful to think of this like a pie chart – you can have many priorities, but the more you have, the less meaningful each can be and the harder it can become to choose one priority over the other. Knowing your priorities is a decision-making tool.
Here’s what that exercise looks like for me:
- Passion/flow: playing with color, decorating, writing, telling stories with data, graphics, and words, creating art
- What I’m good at but not on the list because I don’t love it: analyzing data, presenting data, organizing/creating processes
- Purpose: sharing knowledge and experience I’ve gained from my position of privilege, helping animals, challenging patriarchal systems and ideas, guiding others towards their purpose, highlighting choices outside social norms, helping teens and young adults
- Priorities: Doing work with purpose, money, independence from corporate structures, connection to nature, building tight connections, time and flexibility for adventure and travel, plenty of “me” time
This framework allows me to evaluate current and future work to check for alignment. It’s a decision-making tool that connects me with intention. Selling widgets for a large corporation that values a traditional schedule and constant meetings? Not very aligned, even if it pays well. Creating a company that centers solo and sabbatical travel, interior design, and helping others, especially teens and early adults, find their intention and strategy? That’s much better.
Are you ready to start working intentionally? I know I am.