When it comes to designing a lifestyle-friendly career, my emphasis is first and foremost on YOUR LIFE. After all, I can't begin to help you design a great career until I understand what you want your life to look like.
Consequently, when I work with clients, we examine lifestyle goals from several different angles, exploring both the big-picture items and the day-to-day details that color your world.
We start by identifying major lifestyle motivators. For example, some of my "mom" clients need or want to find work from home or entrepreneurial options. While many of these women, most of whom are highly educated and savvy, could earn more outside the home, their driving priority is to work around their children's school hours. Other clients have looked to reinvent their careers in order to satisfy other lifestyle goals; such as a desire for greater "me-time" after retirement, a pull to work in a more socially conscious field or the wish to lead a less-hectic lifestyle.
Point to Ponder: What are your primary lifestyle goals and objectives? Do you need to work from home? Are you looking to have summers off? Are you interested in a portable career that would allow you to work from any where at any time? Would your life be more fulfilling if you lived closer to family or were able to travel more? Do you need more flexibility in order to care for an aging parent or friend-in-need?
After naming the major lifestyle objectives, we dig down deeper in order to identify other elements critical to creating a lifestyle-friendly career. We look at a range of topics, including:
- Where do you want to work? City or country? Corporate or small-business? Home office or on-the road? Are you interested in a career that allows you to work from a non-traditional location such as on a boat or while living on a farm? When you think about your perfect office, how important are elements like good light, nice furniture and/or a cozy ambiance? As lots of cubicle workers have discovered (much to their chagrin), our physical surroundings play an important role in our job satisfaction.
- When do you want to work? Perhaps you are at a point when you're simply looking for a "little something extra" as opposed to a full career. Are you looking for a career that will allow you to dial-back and work a part-time schedule? Or are you more interested in maintaining a full-time income but want to explore career options that will give you greater control over your day-to-day schedule?
- Who do you want to work with? This is a biggie! The types of people you work with has an enormous impact on career satisfaction. Spend time thinking about this. Do you prefer being around women or men, children or the elderly, a homogenous group or a culturally diverse crowd? Think about the types of personalities you find appealing. Are you happiest when you interact with creative types, intellectuals, socially conscious folks or fashionistas? Remember, the average worker spends 2000 hours a year at work. That's a lot of hours to spend with people you don't like!
- What activities do you want to make more time for in your life? My clients often express concern that they don't get to spend enough time doing things they really enjoy. Not enough time for family, exercise and travel are common complaints. But the little things matter too -- a desire to read more books, visit more museums, enjoy some meaningful volunteer work -- the lists go on and on. Fortunately, by picking the right career focus, there are opportunities to merge your favorite past times with your career.
- What are the elements of your ideal (but typical) day? Here again, the details matter. I for one, need enough time in my day to exercise, prepare a healthy dinner for my family and have some time to read before the end of the evening. Working from home in a "by-appointment" business provides me with the needed flexibility to meet those goals (at least most of the time). Jot down a paragraph or two describing your perfect day that includes information about where you hope to work, what you wear, the types of people you are around and other non-work activities that you would like to blend into your day.
Putting together a vision for your life, whether you do so in writing or by designing a vision board, is a critical first step in moving towards a lifestyle career. Once you know what type of life you want to lead, it will be far easier to focus in on the types of businesses, income streams and jobs that will best support your dreams.
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