How do you find your career purpose after a major transition?

We often associate our skill set with the functional skills or expertise required for a specific job, role, or profession. But this lens is too narrow; it does not capture the full scope of reality. Our skills, and our value, are in fact continuously developing and expanding over the course of our lives. Regularly reflecting on our experiences can help to identify the extent, expansion, and evolution of our skill set. Regular reflective practice helps to turn our attention to how we experience work and career, and the relationship we have with work and career. This helps us to better connect with our career journey and the value and possibilities within our evolving skill set.

I like the CliftonStrengths (StrengthsFinder) assessment to help identify where you’ll thrive. The book “Practical Strengths: Career Success” by Jo Self (Amazon) is a great resource to evaluate your results in light of career environments that allow you to use your strengths.

Assessment tools can be useful- as a start. But it can be as difficult to fully and objectively assess your priorities and values yourself as it is to see yourself objectively in the mirror. We tend to evaluate ourselves in terms of what we have been doing, but we are constantly evolving and changing, and our priorities change with us.] Talking with a professional - ideally, a coach- at this stage can give you an objective view of who you are at work and outside it, and can bring to light valuable skills and interests that you may have taken for granted. Take your time with this stage. Do it thoughtfully and thoroughly. You are laying the groundwork to your whole next step.

All of these suggestions are great ones. They can be even more meaningful if, after assessing and gathering all the results, one pauses to quietly reflect and truly absorb what it all might actually be trying to tell you. Balance that with a gut check and an open mind, and you might very well find your way.

Gathering information, researching movement and change in the job market, and organizing informational meetings are important components. There are always gaps and needs, there is always space to be creative. Organize informational meetings based on your research, the gaps you have discovered, along with your curiosity and creativity. These conversational meetings allow for brainstorming, networking, and greater access to the hidden job market.

Also, get out and talk to people! Get curious, with or without the conscious intention to network. Your key question here is "what's it like?" And if you can actually try something that looks interesting to you even for a few hours or days and for free, go for it.

Having an overall vision helps in so many ways, but trying to identify yours can be daunting. I find it useful to think about times in your life that you've been your best self - where you've felt most alive. What words or images or metaphors would you use to describe that how that experience feels? Pay attention to your physiology- are you excited? Happy? Calm? How does this show in your body language? These activities help connect your whole nervous system with the experience, so it becomes more meaningful for you. From here you can break things down to identify the conditions that enable this experience, and then work out goals from there.

When setting action plans, pay attention to how different activities affect your energy levels - as this impacts the speed you'll be able to do things as well as your motivation (and by extension, procrastination). There are activities that will play to your strengths and you'll find energising. There are also activities that you've learnt to be good at but doing too much will drain you. And finally, there are activities you're not good at and find very draining. Each of us is different, so it's important to learn what works for you. And if you find your energy or motivation is low, change up what you're doing. You may need to talk to someone else to get their perspective as well, which can speed things up

Think about creating a "personal board of directors" for yourself, which is basically a diverse group of trusted professionals that can support your career journey in different ways- keep in touch and invest in these relationships over time. And always be sure to seek support with a giving mindset- don't just ask for advice, also be willing to give back to others- always ask others how you can contribute to them and look for mutually beneficial opportunities.

In my experience, seeking feedback and support should be earlier in the process of discovering our career purpose than the 5th step. Too often many of us get stuck in our head. We convince ourselves it’s not worth or too hard to fit in the time and other investments needed to explore our next best step in our career journey. If I had bumped this up in priority when I was going through career transitions, it would have saved me a lot of time, income, and well-being. I won’t make that error of trying to navigate a career change or transition for too long on my own again. I will also continue to do what I can to help others get the feedback and support they need earlier in the process.

Trying to find the right people (and right amount of people) can be tricky. It's of course fantastically helpful if you know or can find someone who has already made the journey you want to do, so you can learn from their experience. It may help to break down your plan into component parts, and list types of people who would have an insight. For example, if you're changing careers: - someone who has made any sort of career change recently - someone who has gone into the industry you want to from another industry. - someone who has influence over hiring in the area you want to work in Personally, I'd recommend aiming to speak to 3 people, actioning any advice or insight, and then reaching out to 3 more as needed.

Celebration and happiness go hand in hand and are powerful drivers of success. When we celebrate our achievements, our brain releases endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin - the hormones associated with pleasure, happiness, and motivation. When these chemical reactions take place, we feel good and are motivated towards more success. They also enhance our ability to problem-solve, learn, and develop new skills. It helps us develop a positive mindset and boosts our self-esteem, which can motivate us to seek further success. There is great power in honouring every accomplishment. Make celebration a habit and happiness and success will also become a habit.

As humans, we often don't see the things we've done well (for many reasons - not enough space here to go into) One of my favourite questions is 'what was hard about what you did?' or 'what caused stress? What gave you a headache?' It's amazing how people can often identify this quicker then what went well I then ask a follow up question, such as 'so what did you do about it?' 'how did you overcome that?' This helps people recognise that, 'hey, you know what, I did do something good after all'

Navigating any process as challenging and potentially life changing as searching for career purpose is best navigated with a trusted transition coach. Career transition coaches should be knowledgeable about how to navigate challenges and opportunities and share knowledge, resources and some cases networks that will help a client navigate to the next thing with ease and over a prescribed timeline. Career purpose is an inside job of analyzing strengths, passion and understanding what you really do well. It’s about evaluating where you are and where you want to be with intention and authenticity. Career change should start with analyzing their “Why”, some introspection is critical to unlock the next steps and a professional guide can assist.

Taking a step back to revisit when you last worked in a job you enjoyed is a good place to start. This can help you gain perspective. Identify the key things you enjoyed about the job. An exercise of this nature can also help you to articulate what you are seeking in the next phase of your career journey as part of you transition from one career to the next