Values, Passion & Purpose

You know you want to make a change in your career or job but you may not be very clear on how to get there or even what it is you want to do or pivot in to. Enter the 3 horsewomen - values, passion and purpose. Kiddy-up!

These three drivers are key to your period of self-discovery - oh and if you did not realize that this is a phase of self-discovery well surprise - it is!

At first glance it sounds pretty simple to define your values, follow your passion and then find your purpose, but once you dig in and start to really think about these beliefs and motivators things can get murky quick!

• Should you follow your passion or purpose?

• What if your values clash with your dream job?

• Does your vision align with what the current job market has to offer?

In order to answer these questions you need to truly understand what these concepts mean for you and then clarify you own perspective for each and then apply them to both yourself and your career expectations. Each of these concepts are deeply interconnected so aligning them will give you the best shot at living a fulfilling life and career!

So - think of the three horsewomen like this:

1. Values are you non-negotiable foundation

2. Passion is what excites and motivates you

3. Purpose is the deeper reason for your existence

Does that resonate?

Next question is ‘how do you try and align the three with minimal clashes and what does that mean’? It means that once you start exploring values, passion and purpose you may discover that having perfect alignment or synergy may not be possible - for example you may value financial security but your passion is playing live music or your passion is video game development but you do not have a computer science degree or your purpose is to fight poverty and homelessness but finding a job in this field is challenging.

As you work through defining your three horsewomen you can begin to prioritize them according to what is most useful to you in your current moment. You may find that your values are a strong driver right now but in 6 months or more it may be that your passion is lighting a fire under your butt and you need to pivot, again…

Here is a quick cheat sheet on the three:

Values

• Values are the foundation for your purpose and passion

• Values define what is important to you

• Your values can influence your passions

• Your values can answer this question - ‘what are your non-negotiables’?

• Values are not just abstract concepts - they should also manifest your actions, decisions and behaviours

• When your values are in alignment with your actions you will experience greater authenticity and satisfaction

• Once you know your non-negotiables you will find greater clarity and direction when it comes time to making decisions about your career

• Ping me for an exercise I can share with you on how to identify your personal values

Passion

• Passion drives you to engage and explore in activities that are aligned with your values

• Passion is the strong and intense emotional drive that fuels your exploration

• Passion can create high levels of commitment to see challenging times through

• Passion is driven by personal desires and interests - you do something because you love it

• Passions are intrinsically rewarding

• Ask yourself - what activities or pursuits in your life bring a sense of joy and fulfillment without external rewards?

• You can have many passions in your life in and can make space for them at different times throughout your life

Purpose

• Purpose is where your values and passions come together - your deeper reason for existence

• Purpose often involves in serving or contributing to the greater good or cause

• Purpose can act as your mission statement for your life

• Purpose can help guide your actions like values and serves as a reference point for decision making in your career and life

• Purpose can act like a guidepost for long term planning - and can help you arrive at what you want to achieve or event the kind of legacy you want to leave behind

So when thinking about your career and setting goals and putting a plan together, spend some time digging into your values, passion and purpose. Here are some more questions you can ask yourself to get you going on your exploration - have fun!

1. What makes me stay in the flow and lose track of time or become fully engaged in trying to figure out?

2. What would I do if money wasn’t an issue?

3. What activities bring me joy and satisfaction in my personal life? In my professional life?

4. What do I want to learn more about, no matter how much I learn?

5. What do I get super excited about?

6. What am I really great at?

7. What strengths can I uniquely bring to a challenge that no one else can?

8. Why am I good at this and not other things?

9. Why do I care about these issues more than others? Why does it matter that this type of issue is addressed?

10. Why do I have the skills I have?

11. Why do I have this talent?

12. Why do I care about these issues more than others? Why does it matter that this type of issue is addressed?

Passion is for you and purpose is for others and your values are your foundation.

Thanks for reading and if you are interested in taking this a step further let me know and I would be happy to share my ‘Identifying Your Personal Values’ exercise that I use with all my clients. We can book a free Discovery Call to review your work so you can truly start your career search with value alignment that connects to your search!

You can also sign up for my midlife career newsletter ‘Rebel Career Tips’ and receive tips, advice, mindset and limiting belief information, values and goal setting, resume and LinkedIn tips and much more! Hope to see you there.

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