How to Find a Career You Genuinely Love
Summary
TLDRThe video discusses career anxiety and offers seven evidence-based techniques to find and succeed in a fulfilling career. It emphasizes the importance of focusing on day-to-day tasks rather than job titles, visualizing an ideal future self, auditing time spent on activities, investing small amounts of time daily in skill development, considering alternatives to formal education, embracing changes in career direction, and using a grid search mindset to navigate career choices. The key takeaway is that it's a continuous process of defining goals, taking small steps, and being open to change.
Takeaways
- 🤔 Career uncertainty is a common source of stress, leading to anxiety and self-doubt.
- 🎯 Focus on the day-to-day tasks of a career rather than just the title to find true enjoyment.
- 🚀 Visualize your 'Me Plus' – the ideal version of yourself and the tasks you'd like to be doing.
- ⏰ Audit your time to identify activities that bring purpose and align with your career goals.
- 📈 Invest small amounts of time daily (13 minutes) to develop skills for your desired career.
- 🏫 Consider alternatives to formal education when seeking new skills or career changes.
- 🔄 Embrace the possibility of U-turns in your career path; it's okay to change your mind and direction.
- 🔍 Use a grid search mindset to explore different activities and see which ones align with your career aspirations.
- 📚 Learn from resources like books, online courses, and libraries to gain knowledge without formal education.
- 🌟 Be open to change and willing to adjust your career path based on new experiences and insights.
- 🛤️ Recognize that finding a fulfilling career is a long-term process with many potential twists and turns.
Q & A
What is the main issue people face regarding their career?
-The main issue is career anxiety, which stems from uncertainty about what they want to do, whether they will enjoy their career, and if they can turn their passion into a successful and well-paying job.
What is the first tip for finding a fulfilling career?
-The first tip is to focus on the tasks involved in a career rather than just the title, as day-to-day activities are a significant part of job satisfaction.
What is the concept of 'me plus'?
-'Me plus' is a visualization exercise where you imagine an improved version of yourself, including your job title, industry, company, and specific tasks you would enjoy doing.
How can auditing your time help in career development?
-Auditing your time involves tracking your weekly activities and assessing whether they bring you joy, provide a sense of purpose, or lead you towards your desired career path.
What is the significance of investing 13 minutes a day in career development?
-Investing 13 minutes a day in learning new skills or improving existing ones can compound over time, helping you move closer to a career you enjoy.
Why might going back to university not always be the best option?
-Going back to university can be costly and time-consuming. In many cases, it's better to use available resources, such as online courses and books, to learn new skills without committing to a traditional degree.
What is the 'end of history illusion' and how does it relate to career changes?
-The 'end of history illusion' is a psychological concept where people underestimate how much their values and preferences will change over time. This relates to career changes as it highlights the importance of being open to U-turns and adapting to new information and experiences.
What is the 'grid search mindset' and how can it help in career exploration?
-The 'grid search mindset' is a technique where you list activities you enjoy and then assess whether your current actions are moving you closer to a dream career. This helps in identifying and prioritizing the steps needed to achieve career goals.
How can embracing U-turns be beneficial in career development?
-Embracing U-turns allows for flexibility and adaptability in career choices. It acknowledges that preferences and values can change, and it's okay to change direction based on new experiences and insights.
What is the importance of connecting the dots when looking back at your career path?
-Connecting the dots retrospectively helps to see the progression and decisions that led to a fulfilling career. It provides a sense of continuity and purpose, showing that even circuitous paths and changes in direction can lead to a satisfying career.
Outlines
🤔 Career Uncertainty and Anxiety
The first paragraph discusses the common issue of career-related stress and uncertainty. It highlights the human desire for certainty and the fear of not knowing what one wants to do or whether they will enjoy their career. The speaker mentions an interview with Professor Grace Lorden, an expert in Behavioral Science, who has written a book on finding and succeeding in a fulfilling career. The paragraph introduces seven evidence-based techniques to help people move towards a career they enjoy, starting with the advice to focus on tasks rather than job titles, as the day-to-day activities are crucial to job satisfaction.
🌟 Visualizing Your 'Me Plus'
The second paragraph emphasizes the importance of visualizing an improved version of oneself, referred to as 'Me Plus'. This involves creating a detailed picture of one's ideal future self, including job title, industry, company, and specific tasks. The speaker suggests filling out a questionnaire to define 'Me Plus' and provides examples of activities they personally enjoy, such as consulting, coaching, and creating art. The idea is to identify specific tasks that bring joy and then take small steps towards a career that incorporates these activities.
⏰ Auditing Your Time
The third paragraph focuses on the strategy of auditing one's time to identify activities that either move them towards or away from their 'Me Plus' version. The speaker shares a personal example of using a calendar screenshot to assess whether daily activities contribute positively or negatively to their career goals. The goal is to eliminate time-wasting activities ('minus minus') and invest in those that help achieve the desired career ('plus' or 'double plus').
🕒 Investing 13 Minutes a Day
The fourth paragraph discusses the concept of compounding small daily investments of time towards career goals. The speaker suggests dedicating 13 minutes a day, or 90 minutes a week, to activities that build skills and career capital. This approach is likened to financial compounding, where small, consistent investments grow over time. The speaker also interviews Keller Newport, who emphasizes the importance of developing rare and valuable skills to earn a fulfilling career.
🎓 Reconsidering Higher Education
The fifth paragraph addresses the common belief that higher education is necessary for career success. The speaker advises against committing to expensive degrees when unsure of one's career path, suggesting instead the use of free or low-cost resources available online. They argue that practical experience and self-learning can be more valuable than traditional qualifications, especially in later stages of one's career.
🔄 Embracing U-Turns
The sixth paragraph discusses the psychological phenomenon known as the 'end of history illusion,' where people underestimate how much their values and preferences will change over time. The speaker encourages embracing U-turns in career paths, as changing one's mind is a natural part of personal growth and does not signify a lack of integrity. They stress the importance of being open to change and adapting career goals based on new experiences and insights.
🔍 The Grid Search Mindset
The final paragraph introduces the grid search mindset as a technique for those who do not have a clear vision of their ideal career. By identifying enjoyable activities and assessing whether current actions align with these, individuals can make informed decisions about their career direction. The speaker shares their personal journey, illustrating how past experiences in teaching, medicine, and entrepreneurship have led to their current career satisfaction. They emphasize the importance of taking small steps, gathering data, and being willing to change course based on new information.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡career anxiety
💡task over title
💡me plus
💡audit your time
💡compounding
💡career capital
💡U-turns
💡grid search mindset
💡end of history illusion
💡self-doubt
Highlights
Career uncertainty is a common source of stress for many people.
People often focus too much on job titles rather than the day-to-day tasks.
Professor Grace Lorden's book provides evidence-based techniques for career enjoyment.
Task over title: Consider the daily activities of a desired job rather than just the title.
Visualize your 'me plus', the ideal version of yourself and the tasks you'd enjoy.
Audit your time to understand which activities align with your career goals.
Invest 13 minutes a day in developing skills for your desired career.
You may not need to go back to university to change your career path.
Embrace u-turns in your career; it's okay to change your mind and direction.
Use a grid search mindset to explore different career paths and find what you enjoy.
Small steps and consistent effort can lead to a fulfilling career over time.
It's important to be open to change and adapt your career plans based on new experiences.
The end of history illusion suggests people underestimate how much their values will change over time.
Leaders of the future should be comfortable with admitting mistakes and changing course.
It's easier to connect the dots looking back than looking forward, but persistence leads to a fulfilling career.
Professor London emphasizes the importance of taking deliberate steps towards a career you enjoy.
Transcripts
a problem that a lot of people have with
their career is that it can actually be
a source of stress because you know as
human beings we like the idea of
certainty but not knowing what actually
we want to do with our career or whether
we're really going to enjoy it can
actually be profoundly uncertain and
even if you know what you want to do and
what you enjoy there's actually no
guarantee that you're going to be able
to turn that into a well-paying and
successful career which again adds to
the stress and so that translates into
this career anxiety that a lot of us can
feel a lot of worries and apprehensions
and self-doubts about whether we're
actually on the right path and whether
we're actually truly fulfilled in our
current jobs now a little while back I
spoke to a professor of Behavioral
Science Grace Lorden who has written a
book all about how to find and succeed
in a career that you actually enjoy and
so in this video we're going to talk
about seven evidence-based techniques
that you can use to move more towards a
career that you actually enjoy tip one
task over title I've noticed a lot of
times when I talk to people about
careers they're attached to a label so
they want to be a Trader or an
investment banker or they want to be a
doctor or they're attached to a
lifestyle so they want to be able to go
on a particular vacation or buy a
particular car and the kind of thing big
journey is really thinking about if I
were to be a doctor if I were to be a
Trader what would be the tasks that I
would be doing on a day-to-day basis and
would I ultimately end up enjoying those
tasks so the activities that I'm going
to spend the time in now there's so many
studies from the field of psychology
that show that a lot of your success in
a career actually comes down to your
happiness in that particular job and
what Professor Lawton is saying is that
if you focus too much on the title of
the job you can actually forget about
what the day-to-day of the thing
actually involves now this might sound
super boring and obvious but actually
I've seen so many people and I used to
fall into this trap myself as well of
thinking that like the career title of
like oh be cool to be a neurosurgeon it
would be cool to be a plastic surgeon
but it was only after I started doing
some research into this career stuff
that I realized hang on instead of
worrying about the title I should
actually be thinking about what will my
day-to-day job involve as a neurosurgeon
is it actually as glamorous as the thing
potentially sounds and this relates to
an idea from Tim Urban called pixel
Theory which is the idea that life is a
picture but we live in an individual
pixel of that picture so basically what
that means is that we might think of our
life as being this broad brush stroke
beautiful painting of like you know
what's our job title what are we doing
fun whatever okay like this big kind of
high level thing but actually a lot of
your happiness is governed by the
day-to-day like what does your calendar
look like on a given day and so when it
comes to finding a job that you actually
love finding a career that you actually
love thinking about the day-to-day
nature of the tasks rather than the
broad abstract nature of the job title
is potentially one way to help with that
tip number two visualize your me plus
now this was actually one of my favorite
ideas from the book the idea that you
should visualize what me plus is going
to look like and me plus is basically me
or you but it's like the the plus
version of you kind of the version that
you aspire to be and this is the
exercise that she's got in the book on
how you can visualize what your me plus
is going to be doing and so you can fill
these questions out for yourself and
I've actually written them in the video
description so you can just have a look
there if you feel like it but we're
asking you know the overall big thinking
goal for me plus is dot dot what is me
Plus's job title which industry will me
plus be working in what's the company
that me plus is going to be working for
it might be your own me plus will be
running or working in a company that has
the following characteristics and you
can add in what sort of responsibilities
you would want your plus role to have
and then on the following page we've got
a few examples of what sort of tasks you
might want your me plus to actually be
doing and then I've gone through and
I've highlighted some of the stuff
that's most relevant to me like I want
to be disrupting how people think about
things providing consultation advice to
others coaching and developing others
solving problems updating and drawing on
relevant knowledge teaching and training
performing for the public creating and
selling art all of these different
things that I would I like the idea of
being in a career where I'm doing these
sorts of activities and so really the
point here is that on this first page
when you're defining this me plus thing
you are kind of thinking about what's
your job title and what kind of what's
the big picture of what you're going to
be doing in this career that you really
enjoy but then on the next page you're
kind of drilling more down into what are
the specific tasks that you personally
enjoy doing and once you know that then
you can start taking small steps towards
achieving that particular thing and
hopefully work towards the career that
you actually enjoy a lot of the jobs
that look exciting they look exciting
because on TV they're glamorized I mean
law always is one that comes into my
mind and I think I would be a terrible
lawyer because the commitment to a
day-to-day that's like six in the
morning to eight in the evening is
absolutely something that you still need
today sadly but people don't know about
that before they go in and I think when
it comes to your think big Journey it's
about what were the tasks that I would
be doing in 10 years time how would I
spend my Monday morning how would I
spend my Tuesday Morning tip number
three audit your time now again this is
a pretty simple strategy that you can
use to move more towards a career that
you actually enjoy and it involves
auditing your time during the week
writing down what you're actually doing
which you probably do already but
writing down whether or not you actually
enjoy doing them did you feed Frosty a
sense of purpose that it was kind of
leading you to a better place in five
years time or did you feel fun in the
moment okay so how does this actually
work in practice okay so what I'm going
to do is I'm going to screenshot my
calendar and then I can use the
screenshot to audit how I feel about how
I'm spending my time and so if something
on my calendar is really taking me
towards me plus I can do a double Plus
on there
then if something's taking me somewhat
towards me plus I can put a plus if
something doesn't really help me get
closer to me plus then I can write plus
minus
and if there's something that's actively
taking me away from the thing that I
want then I can do minus minus for that
and so what Grace says in the book is
that once you've figured out what these
in particular what these minus minus
things are these are the things you
actively want to avoid these are the
time sinkers I'm pretty lucky because I
have built a career for myself that I
actually enjoy and so I have I basically
have zero minus minuses on my calendar
but back when I was at University back
when I was working as a doctor a lot of
my stuff on the calendar would have been
minus minus and I've slowly worked to
kind of eliminate those things that
drain my energy that don't actually get
me towards a career that I actually
enjoy tip number four 13 minutes a day
and so the other side of the coin here
is that we also want to be investing in
activities that take us closer towards
me plus I.E closer to words this career
that we actually enjoy and when it comes
to thinking about this professor Lorden
talks a lot about the idea of
compounding so what people are choosing
to invest we accept compounding very
very easily right so we accept the idea
actually that you know if we leave money
in for a very long period of time it's
going to compound so we're probably
going to be okay at our pensions and
it's exactly the same here when it comes
to your career like those very small
things that you're going to do today and
I asked for a commitment of 90 minutes a
week which for most people regardless of
how pressurized you feel is very very
possible and when you do the math this
is actually very doable 90 minutes a
week is just 13 minutes a day we can all
invest 13 minutes a day in trying to
invest in skills or abilities that are
going to help us develop a career that
we actually enjoy and so for example if
for you part of building towards this
career you enjoy is for example learning
how to code you can probably find 13
minutes a day to learn how to code yes
you probably can't become absolutely Pro
in just 13 minutes a day but it's
definitely a skill that compounds over
time now recently I also had the chance
to interview Keller Newport who is a
professor of computer science and has
written a bunch of books called
including deep work and so good they
can't ignore you about this sort of like
study skills productivity type stuff and
he talks a lot about career Capital
Theory basically the idea is that if you
want a career that you actually enjoy
it's not just something that's going to
fall into your lap it's something that
you have to earn and the way you earn it
is by developing career capital and the
way you develop career capital is by
developing rare and valuable skills and
this ties into this idea of like if you
genuinely want to create that you enjoy
you've got to actually have the skills
for the job and so if you can invest
this 13 minutes a day into the
development of your skills then you're
going to be winning on that front tip
number five you probably don't need to
go back to University for people who do
not know what they want to do I would
avoid committing to a four-year degree
or an expensive master's program and
really use the resources that are out
there that are either cheap or free
because there's so many things that we
can actually learn now without having
set foot into a traditional classroom
now I found this point pretty surprising
given that Professor London
professor and it's therefore at least
somewhat you know biased towards in
favor of University education but to be
honest these days you know University is
not completely worthless I've massively
benefited from a uni degree and I
generally do recommend that people go to
college or university or whatever that
is at least it gives you backup options
but especially when people are like a
little bit further on in their career
it's often like a very easy thing to be
like oh I need to do the thing therefore
I'm going to go back to UNI I'm going to
get a degree in the thing I don't know
at least from people I know who are
recruiting for jobs like getting an MBA
people with an MBA are actually looked
down less favorably than people who have
actually had some real entrepreneurial
experience so don't necessarily default
to thinking let me let me get a
traditional qualification in the
particular thing because you can learn
almost anything on the internet and
through books and libraries and stuff
these days tip number six Embrace
u-turns okay so at this point we know
what tasks we might want to do on a
day-to-day basis to get towards this
level of me Plus or this career that we
actually enjoy and we know what kind of
skills we need to get there and
therefore we're going to develop those
skills and compound them over time but
even once you've nailed those things you
might still want to make some changes to
your career like we as humans are
generally pretty bad at estimating what
our preferences and our values certainly
going to be in the future for example
when I was 16 I decided I wanted to be a
doctor 10 years later I was like I'm not
really sure this medicine thing is for
me and this relates to an idea in
Psychology called the end of History
illusion and this is psychologist Dan
Gilbert explaining the end of History
illusion we asked thousands of people we
asked half of them to predict for us how
much their values would change in the
next 10 years and the other is to tell
us how much their values had changed in
the last 10 years and this enabled us to
do a really interesting kind of analysis
because it allowed us to compare the
predictions of people say 18 years old
to the reports of people who were 28 and
to do that kind of analysis throughout
the lifespan here's what we found first
of all you're right change does slow
down as we age but second you're wrong
because it doesn't slow nearly as much
as we think at every age from 18 to 68
in our data set people vastly
underestimated how much change they
would experience over the next 10 years
we call this the end of History illusion
so firstly we're quite bad at predicting
how things are going to change for us
but secondly we're also weirdly averse
to the idea of a U-turn there is this
idea that if you change your mind that
means you're not being consistent and
you're not being like Integrity like or
whatever the thing is people used to
describe this but one of my key
takeaways from the conversation with
Professor London is that when it comes
to careers u-turns are actually probably
a good thing one of the problems in
society today is that we think that good
citizens good leaders should never
change their mind and I think in covert
that was to the detriment of many
countries because it took a lot for
somebody just to come out and say look
actually this isn't the right strategy
I'm going to now change I'm going to I'm
going to change my mind so if I was to
think about leaders of the future
actually their ability to stand up and
say I don't know I got it wrong or I've
changed my mind those three things are
really in the Forefront of my mind
because when you're navigating through
uncertainty you're going to get it wrong
sometimes and that's okay but it's the
deliberate part have you sat down and
deliberately now changed your mind and
tip number seven the grid search mindset
and this is again something that she
talks about the book where the idea is
that even if you don't quite have a
Clear Vision for exactly what kind of
career you would actually enjoy what you
can do is you can almost use this grid
search technique to figure out what
activities you enjoy and then see
whether the actions you're taking or
moving you closer to this kind of dream
career so for example if I'd done this a
few years ago then I might have written
that the things that I enjoy are I think
teaching and medicine and creative stuff
and entrepreneur stuff just based on
kind of my history over the last like
several years and so for me for example
kind of my I guess career of teaching
started around age 13 14 15 where I was
teaching Kumon at this math study center
that then transitioned into combining
teaching with medicine for my company
Six Med and then at age 23 I started
directly teaching medical students and
doing these presentations and like using
my creative skills and to make nice
Powerpoints and stuff like that and now
that's transition into this YouTube
stuff where I get to do a little bit of
teaching a little bit of creative stuff
a little bit of Entrepreneurship there's
not much medicine in there these days
but hey you know it's totally okay to
change your mind and it's easy enough
now to connect the dots looking back
being like Oh yeah I found a career that
I really enjoy I love this YouTube thing
I love giving talk
of stuff and it's easy to connect the
dots and think oh yeah I was super into
teaching back when I was like 12 years
old but I think this is a quote from
Steve Jobs something that it's famously
easy to connect the dots looking back
but it's really hard to connect the dots
looking forward and so if you're in a
position where you're not yet fully
enjoying what you're doing for work what
your career is then don't worry as long
as you're continuing to I guess think
big Define that future for yourself and
then taking small steps towards working
towards this career that you enjoy at
some point you'll get there and then
you'll find that oh crap firstly this is
not a destination because trying to find
a career you enjoy is like a long-term
process but you'll be able to connect
the dots looking back and everything
along this circuitous path with u-turns
and everything will have then made sense
in hindsight and so as Professor London
says this isn't really about kind of
taking u-turns randomly it's about
taking small steps in a particular
direction Gathering data seeing how you
feel about that data that you've
gathered and then using that to change
course they get new data they update
their decision making based on the data
and they're willing to go backwards or
they're willing to go left and they're
willing to go right and always having
that openness to a change of direction
if you like this video you might like to
check out the full episode with
Professor gray slaughtered over on my
deep dive podcast that'll be linked over
there that podcast along with all the
other episodes I've done is available on
any kind of podcast platform including
Apple and Google and Spotify all that
fun stuff anyway thank you so much for
watching do please drop a like on the
video for the YouTube algorithm if you
enjoyed the video so far and I'll see
you hopefully in the next one bye
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