Reflect Who You Are In The Work That You Do

That's the subtitle of "You Are Your Career;" but what does it mean?

Other than the connection to the book title, it is just a fact of life that you can hardly avoid. The only question about the statement is whether it is a conscious decision to pursue employment that is in sync with who you are a person or it just happens as a course of nature.

I'd say the split is about 30/70 -- 30% of careers are the result of a conscious decision to pursue compatible work and about 70% is based on available work opportunities. Many times people are pushed into a career by family or circumstances that is NOT reflective of who they are and they are miserable. Because they are miserable they often fail. Then through years of trial and error, they finally find a career they can stick with -- it doesn't mean they consciously matched themselves to a career, it just means they found a way to survive.

I am strongly suggesting that you consider becoming part of the 30% group who tackle the problem of matching your career and your life values as an active process of assessing who you are and what you have to offer the world. Why were you put on this planet and what mission are you supposed to accomplish? It's about looking at yourself and taking positive steps to make your career meaningful to you and your life meaningful to world.

It is easy to do ? No, it is not. Can it be done? Yes, with vision and persistence you can move ever closer to the ideal career and the ideal you. It may take a lifetime, but there is no more important pursuit than actualization of self and career.