How to Find a Career You Genuinely Love

Summary

The 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

00:00

🤔 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.

05:01

🌟 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.

10:02

⏰ 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.

Keywords

💡career anxiety

Career anxiety refers to the stress and apprehension individuals experience regarding their professional lives, often due to uncertainty about their career path or job satisfaction. In the video, it is mentioned as a common issue that people face, leading to worries and self-doubt about their current jobs and future career direction.

💡task over title

This concept suggests focusing on the day-to-day tasks and activities involved in a job rather than the job title or the perceived prestige associated with it. It emphasizes the importance of enjoying the actual work one does daily over the societal recognition of a job title.

💡me plus

Me plus represents an idealized version of oneself, the person one aspires to be. It involves visualizing and defining the characteristics, job title, industry, and responsibilities that this improved version of oneself would have.

💡audit your time

This strategy involves tracking and evaluating how one spends their time during the week, determining which activities bring a sense of purpose and align with long-term career goals, and which ones do not.

💡compounding

In the context of career development, compounding refers to the idea that small, consistent efforts over time can lead to significant growth and progress in one's career. It's similar to the financial concept of compound interest, where small investments grow over time.

💡career capital

Career capital is the set of skills, experiences, and achievements that an individual accumulates, which can be leveraged to advance in their career or transition to a new one. It's about developing rare and valuable skills that can set one apart in the job market.

💡U-turns

In the context of career planning, a U-turn refers to making significant changes in one's career direction, often in response to new information or a change in personal values or interests. It's about being open to change and adapting one's career path as needed.

💡grid search mindset

This mindset involves using a structured approach to explore different career options by identifying and evaluating various activities one enjoys and then assessing how current actions align with a desired career path.

💡end of history illusion

This psychological concept refers to the human tendency to underestimate how much our preferences and values will change in the future. It's the belief that our current state of preferences is more stable than it actually is.

💡self-doubt

Self-doubt is the feeling of uncertainty and lack of confidence in one's own abilities, decisions, or worth. In the context of the video, it's one of the emotions that contribute to career anxiety, as individuals question their career choices and their ability to achieve fulfillment in their work.

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