Part Of The 20%?

Steven Covey in his book First Things First asks this sobering question:

How many people on their deathbed wish they’d spent more time at the office?

I think nobody will ever feel that way unless perhaps, you were a Mr Young who put the following inscription on his wife’s tombstone in 1771; “Beneath this stone, a lump of clay, Lies Arabella Young, Who on the 21st of May, began to hold her tongue.”

Later in life many people regret that they spent too little time with their families, especially when their children were young. By the time we reach midlife most of us start to question the meaning of life besides trying to make more money and advancing our careers. Therefore Covey asks

So what are you doing that really counts? Do you know?

We need to be sure that we are heading in the right direction with our lives and careers. If not, we will expend our energy chasing up some career ladder only to find that the ladder we’ve ascended was standing against the wrong wall.

Do you know where you are heading with your life, career or business? Are you part of the 20% of people who love what they do, or the 80% who dread getting up for another day of misery and who cannot wait for Friday?

Covey furthermore says that if you are not employed in a career that relates to your talents and passion, you are most probably a clock watcher. He suggests that you should rather follow the guidance of a compass. You will only be content and fulfilled when you follow your own true north.

# When I ask children at schools what kind of work they one day would like to do, most of them will answer “where I can earn a lot of money.” The other thing that I often hear is “if I can only find a job, any job…” and six months later they are looking for yet another job. Unfortunately these kinds of job searches lead to so many people being unhappy in the work they do.

You need to know who you really are to be able to find the right career. Recently I was approached by an accountant who was really unhappy in her job. After some tests we found that her true north was writing. She told me that when she feels like she is smothered by her accounting job, she would go to her website and write something until she feels that she can face the accounting work again.

After she made the decision to start to work on the transition towards a new career she told me that for the first time in her life she is looking forward to her future.

If you also feel like a square peg in a round hole or would just like to know more about living with direction, please subscribe to our newsletter and learn more about a life with direction.