The Happiness at Work Puzzle – Find the pieces you need to put together for career fulfilment

Put the pieces of the Happiness at Work Puzzle together and discover what's necessary in your working life to make you feel fulfilled. Each of the 6 pieces begins with the letter "P" and if you can work out what each of these means to you then you'll be well on the way to discovering you ideal career. Let's consider each of these factors in turn:

1. Purpose

Whatever you do in your working life must be aligned with your life purpose. Most people don't have a clue what this is and a fair bit of digging is normally required to uncover it. This is an area where a coach can be of great assistance but if you're trying to work this out for yourself then ask questions such as;

• What would you do if you had enough money coming in each month and didn't actually have to work?
• What would you like to be remembered for?

2. Passion

When you undertake an activity that you're passionate about then you're on a natural high, you lose all track of time and you experience what's called "flow". You do this for its own sake rather than for any reward that might result. Ask yourself;

• What activities or causes excite me? These may be work based or may currently be a hobby.
• When have I been so involved in doing something that I've lost all track of time?

3. Personality

Working out your MBIT personality profile is an excellent way to become more self-aware and understand which careers are best for you. You can do a quick test at www.personalitypage.com and there are lots of excellent resources available to help you understand more about the specific strengths and weaknesses of your type and the careers that are most suitable for you. I would particularly recommend the book "Do What You Are" by Tieger & Barron which can be purchased on the resources page of my website (www.jigsawcareercoaching.com). Remember that not everything that is written about a particular personality profile is necessarily relevant to you so just pick what resonates the most.

4. Performance

This factor allows you to consider your natural strengths and talents. Ask yourself;

• What skills and abilities come naturally to me?
• What am I able to do with little effort?
• What am I better at than others?
• What have been my key achievements to date?
  

You may wish to read the book "Strengths Finder" by Tom Rath which can be purchased on my website and undertake the on-line test that will give you your top 5 strengths.

This factor can also be used as a bit of a reality check. For example, you may be passionate about singing but if you're honest with yourself you would admit that you're not particularly talented so you are unlikely to find success in this field.

5. Place

Your working environment can make a huge difference to your satisfaction at work. Key things to consider here are whether you prefer working for small or large organisations and whether you prefer to work alone or in a team. Other questions to ask yourself include;

• Where would I like to work ie. which geographical location?
• Do I prefer to work with people, data or things?
• What sort of culture I prefer?

6. People

Whatever you do will impact people’s lives in some way so work out how you like to help people. Although you may prefer to work with data or objects rather than people you will still be helping them to deal with problems or attending to their needs in some way so work out which fields you prefer to do this in. For example an accountant might enjoy analysing sales figures so that he can assist the chief executive in making commercial decisions about the business and he may particularly enjoy doing this in the food and drink field.

Once you've completed all six pieces of the puzzle you should start to see some patterns or themes emerging which should assist you in forming some career options for the future or even make you realise what needs to change in your current role for you to experience greater career satisfaction.

Jacqui Mitchell is the founder of Jigsaw Career Coaching (www.jigsawcareercoaching.com) which offers coaching, teleclasses and workshops to people looking to find happiness at work. She will be shortly be launching a new series of teleclasses based on the The Happiness at Work Puzzle. E-mail info@jigsawcareercoaching.com to register for a free preview call on Monday 19th May which will give you a couple of tips on finding your ideal career and outline what will be covered on this course.