Find financial and personal fulfillment in your job—here’s what you should consider in choosing a career to make for a happy, well-balanced life

• A lot of factors work together to breed the right job for you—these include passion, enjoyment, location, work/life balance, and workplace culture.
• When it comes to personal fulfillment, it’s important that you’re passionate about your job and truly enjoy what you’re doing: if you don’t find passion and enjoyment in your job then chances are you won’t be very happy, as we spend a majority of time at work.
• It’s also important to consider the location of your job: does the job allow you to live in an area you like?
• Does the job support a healthy work/life balance? You must weigh your priorities when it comes to choosing a job, especially if the job or career in question doesn’t allow for much time or commitment outside of work.
• And finally, does the workplace culture and environment fulfill your needs? For example, if you’re a social individual who needs to interact with others throughout the day, does the job allow you to do so?

Pursuing and Fulfilling Your Dreams

You can look at the functionality of jobs from various angles—sure, our jobs serve financial purposes, but they also serve fulfillment purposes. It’s important to work at something we’re passionate about, something that gives us meaning, something we enjoy. I mean, a lot of us spend more time at work than we do anywhere else, so if that time isn’t meaningful, our quality of life takes a big plummet. In sum, if you aren’t happy at work, it’s time to make a career change… one that will improve every other aspect of your life. Jacqui Blue, a hypnotherapist, delves into the importance of pursuing and fulfilling your dreams:

“Too many people settle for less than they deserve and or desire in life because it’s the easier route to take. This isn’t uncommon and, in fact, we do see a lot of it with hypnotherapy clients who feel lost and unhappy with their lives. But the fear of change or the fear of losing steady paychecks will hold people back from doing what they love or pursuing their passions and dreams. When a client comes in with an issue relating to their careers, it’s usually because they’re unhappy and feel unfulfilled with where they’ve found themselves in life. That is a good indication it may be time for a change and there are many questions to ask that the client may not have even asked themselves yet. The series of questions includes:

• What did you want to be when you were a kid?
• What do you love/enjoy doing?
• Can people make a living off of doing the things they love?
• What does your dream job look like?
• What steps can you take to get there?

Then we have the person really think about these things and work with them to make a plan (set a goal) that will lead them to embarking on a new career path while at the same time instilling the confidence and security in them to achieve this new goal.”

Other Important Areas of Consideration

As I mentioned above, a variety of factors are involved when it comes to finding the right career for you. And while fulfilling your passion is a major aspect, there are other important considerations too. Rachel Gersten, licensed mental health counselor and co-creator of Viva Wellness, delves into these below:

1) Location

“There are some careers that don’t allow for the flexibility of choosing where you live, but rather the location chooses you based on where there is a job available. Some people are perfectly fine with that, while others would be very uncomfortable being forced to move away from somewhere they like.”

2) Work/life balance

“Plenty of people are fine with, and even enjoy, working 60-80 hour weeks to advance their careers. Other people prioritize family and leisure time significantly more. If you fall into the latter category, there are some career paths that are probably not for you as they demand much more of your time.”

3) Workplace culture

“There are plenty of career paths in which you will find yourself surrounded by people all day long. A lot of us really thrive on that and need that to keep up the energy and motivation while at work. Others prefer to work in solitude and don’t need work to be a place for socialization. You might love science (for example) but if you need the company of others, a job where you are spending hours alone in a lab is probably not a good fit.”

Start a Relationship with An Exceptional Counselor