Career development advice: aligning career with your values/worldview
This essay continues on from part 1, where we discussed developing your own values system/worldview, which is fundamental to today’s next step of exploring your career development options.
How our values systems and worldview motivate our career choices
Let’s say that the following are values and world views that have guided your career decisions thus far in life, instilled by high-achieving or immigrant parents, being socialized in a business school and then the business world, and through positive reinforcement for high marks in school and work:
Values:
Growth, ambition, achievement, status, comparison
Worldview:
I need to become a millionaire to prove I made it in life
If I can’t become a director or higher-ranking senior leader, my career will be a failure
I have to work as many hours a week as I need to in order to advance my career
I should never make less than what I currently do
I can’t take time off from work, because future employers will look down on that
What kind of career-related life outcomes or decisions might guiding principles like these lead to?
Feeling an occasional sense of excitement about work
Assuming that a very large share of your life’s satisfaction must be derived from work, your role/employment type, and feelings of being productive
Having the chance of earning a high salary
Choosing to stay in a job/company/industry that is not fulfilling, but provides a high salary and/or prestigious status
Being able to say that you have an important job with a great amount of responsibility
Prioritizing work over relationships/social time or personal health/growth
Being able to make the people you work for or clients wealthier
Deciding not to take your full vacation time allotment or time off in-between when changing jobs to recover from work exertion, spend time doing things you enjoy, or explore life
Not discovering or sticking with creative outlets or hobbies
A willingness to work 50, 60, 70, or even more than 70 hours per week, rather than reconfiguring workload or work expectations to fit within fewer hours per week
Feeling a continual or growing sense of anxiety about work and your achievements
Now, let’s say that some of the reflections from part 1 led you to define the following values and world views as some of your own, self-appointed aspirational life qualities.
Values:
Learning, creativity, diversity, wisdom, connection
Worldview:
I want to continue learning throughout life
I desire to teach others what I know and support their growth
I enjoy work that involves exercising my creativity and collaborating with others
I want to work for a mission-driven organization
I enjoy life more when I can spend time growing/maintaining my relationships (friends, family, partner)
Notice the words occurring after “I” for each type of world view:
Internal worldview: want, desire, enjoy, value.
External worldview: need, have to, should, can’t.
Step 1: operationalizing your self-developed values/worldview in your career journey
Now that you have developed your own values and worldview, what might you do with them?
Try this exercise:
Leave your home and go somewhere physically different, that you don’t associate with work such as a park, cafe, or library. This is an easy, functional step that can make exploring something new or a change more successful. By eliminating environmental signals tied to your current routines, you can mitigate the chances that you unconsciously trigger your mind’s neural nets or habituated thought patterns, which gives your mind more room to think expansively and creatively.
Take a second to read over your values and world view a couple times, out loud, while standing. By reading them out loud while also standing, you activate more areas in your brain. By activating more neural pathways (such as motor neurons by talking and standing), you make what you are engaging with sink into your brain more and be retained better. This makes it easier for your powerful subconscious to grab hold of your values and world view and start connecting dots to form intuitive realizations later.
Start writing whatever comes to mind for at least 10 minutes — better for 30 minutes. Get out a paper or notes doc, start a timer, and begin writing in a stream of consciousness. Write without blocking, judging, or looking for anything. Write about how you felt in doing the exercise from part 1, what resonates from it, ideas of what you want more of in life, what your dreams or wishes are, what you dislike about what you do now, and what you feel stagnant in or trapped by in life right now.
Then reflect on what you wrote down and write 3–5 key realizations or takeaways from the values/world view exercise and this writing exercise. These takeaways may be oriented around possible changes in your life you wish to make, changes in mindset that would raise your happiness or alleviate unhappiness, or realizations of things you want t continue or start doing again. Here are 5 examples based from the values/world view exercise I provided above:
The job I’m working makes a lot of money, but doesn’t actually provide me with a sense of purpose. What I desire more than making a lot of money is to feel my work is aligned with a mission, or world-benefiting purpose
The work I do now is more focused on status updates, operations and scaling existing systems, rather than innovating and exploring new ideas. I want to do work that enables me to be more creative and collaborative
I’ve been working more and saying no to my non-work life more lately; I really want to focus on my developing my life and relationships outside of work more
I used to volunteer, which made me feel fulfilled, but had to stop because work got busy. I want to commit to volunteer on a regular basis
I haven’t taken time off from work in 2 years.
Step 2: operationalizing your self-developed values/worldview in your career journey
From your takeaways, contemplate what compromises or next steps may be needed to take action, such as:
Re-assess what level of wealth is needed for a lifestyle I would be happy with, vs wanted to feel like I made it
Starting to look for a new job and prioritize company/work-to-values fit over compensation
Putting in a request for vacation next month and traveling to Thailand
Finding ways to delegate work more, say no to stretch projects, and reduce the overwork caused by a perfectionist/high achieving mindset, in order to make space for volunteering and life outside of work until I do find a new job (and after, too)
Schedule dinners and brunches with friends more
Note how the use of values/worldview doesn’t all translate into direct career-related actions. This fact is key to people contemplating career development: our careers are only one part of our lives, and our lives need development, too, for us to become well-rounded, mature, and fulfilled adults. More on this in a future essay.
That’s all for today! Stay tuned to The Musing Mind for more career development tips and sign up for newsletter to get more career advice and inspiration delivered regularly.