Feeling Called to Something Bigger? How to Know What’s The Right Career For You

Choosing the right career for you is one of the most important things you’ll be doing with your life. It’s something that will take a big part of your time, in which you’ll invest so much efforts and exceed slowly over the years.

Professional expertise and becoming well-known in a field may take up to a decade. So choosing the wrong career path will be a waste of a whole phase of your life if you don’t think it through.

But how do you know what’s the ideal job for you, what field you’ll never get tired of, which market will be evergreen and will give you plenty of chances to achieve more and enough paying customers to support you for a lifetime?

Let’s begin by answering these two questions:

1. What’s the one thing I’m truly passionate about?

What is it that you can do for hours without getting overwhelmed? What can you talk and read about day after day? What engages your mind when you have nothing else to do? What’s the activity that makes you lose track of time and which leaves you even more filled with energy and enthusiasm after that?

The answer is your passion. And it’s different for everyone.

It may be hard to notice it at first. There are too many distractions in daily life. And if you’ve always lived in your comfort zone there’s a high chance you never had the opportunity to show off your talents, to see what you care about and what moves you more than anything else.

If your dream is to be a flight attendant, for instance, you may have never guessed it if you never stepped on a plane in your life so far. You may have watched movies about it and felt something inside you burning with desire, or you may be a person who always looks in the sky when outside and a plane passes.

So take the time today to get to the bottom of this. Find the one thing you’re passionate about more than anything else in the world. It’s your mission to pursue it and it’s the right career for you. You’ll exceed in it effortlessly, will enjoy working a job related to it and will be satisfied with this aspect of your life.

>> Check out my book: Finding The One Thing You Were Born to Do: From Recognizing to Monetizing your Passion

2. How does your ideal lifestyle look like?

Think about your ideal life in details. Imagine how you want your near future to look like. The best way to get specific is to describe one such day.

Write down how you want it to look like from waking up to the moment you go to bed.

Which people you don’t want to spend time with? What time would you go to work? Or will you be working from home? What projects will you work on? Will you have a daily workout and eat well? Will you have many tasks on your to-do list but only essential things that you simply get done in order of importance? Where will you live? How will you spend your free time?

Visualize all this. Then, turn it into goals. Start by removing the things in your current life that you don’t want to be in your future.

Then, think what job will best suit this lifestyle. Consider all aspects of it: workplace, colleagues (if any), commuting, whether it includes traveling every now and then, the chance to make more money if you work harder, the working hours, the influencers you can reach out to in this field, the connections you’ll make, etc.

Let’s take an example. The real estate market is full of competition. It takes some serious work before you become anyone. You need to be a people person, be good at sales, learn everything about the market, have exceptional attention to detail, be aggressive when you need to but still polite and professional, be patient and persistent at the same time, and more.

But if the game excites you, if you’d love to help people find the ideal home for them even before they know which one they want, if you’re interested in buildings and are good at preparing them for clients’ visits, if the idea of working with wealthy customers and making a huge commission with each sale excites you, then you can pursue a career in that industry.

You can become a real estate agent with the right preparation, determination and hard work. You first need to understand what it takes to get licensed and make sure you meet the criteria. Then complete the required number of hours for your education and pass the exam.

Once you do that, you’ll begin working for someone and making your first money. But what’s more important, you’ll be learning from your mistakes, getting to know the market inside out, seeing what works and what doesn’t, optimizing your approach, forming relationships, and more.

Until one day you’re ready to become something more and start a business on your own.

So, now that you have these 2 aspects in mind, it’s time to decide what the right career for you is. Let’s look at some signs you may have found it, as well as some red flags.

Signs You’re in the Right Career

Most of us can remember a boring Friday or a late Monday at work, daydreaming of becoming an astronaut, doctor, elite soldier, or whatever tickles your fancy, but there is a difference between that idealization of something different and a genuine dissatisfaction in your job. 

So, before we look at the negatives, let’s consider the positives, because recognizing what “feels right” can be just as important as spotting what doesn’t.

When you’re in the right career, work doesn’t just feel like a series of tasks, it feels meaningful. You wake up with energy, challenges excite rather than exhaust you, and your skills and values naturally align with what you do.

Small wins bring satisfaction, and even tough days carry a sense of purpose that makes the effort feel worthwhile.

You might have heard of ‘job satisfaction’ or even taken a job satisfaction review or interview at work. There are plenty of resources developed by psychologists to measure the different aspects of a job that sum together into a satisfied employee. 

Red Flags: Signs You Might Be in the Wrong Career

Perhaps the most apparent red flag is that feeling you get on Sunday afternoons or early Monday before getting to work, if the idea of it fills you with dread. When that dread is not just focused on one thing, like an upcoming review, but more generally toward your job as a whole, it is often a good indicator that something needs to change. 

In the same way psychologists develop job satisfaction measures, research has gone into quantifying the red flags. Factors range from feeling anxious, unmotivated, unproductive, negative, or just tired of monotony. 

Sometimes the red flags are slightly less visceral; your personal ideas, ideals, goals, or views just don’t align with the company you work for anymore. It’s not that you’re stressed or burnt out; maybe you just don’t agree with the direction the company is going in, or you discover a new passion that another role could suit better. 

Also read: 100 Monday Motivation Quotes for a Great Start of The Week

Practical Ways to Explore If a Career is Right for You

Whether you are hearing the call to an entirely new industry or you’re looking to step into a new specialisation within your field, there are plenty of options.

Taking on further education like a diploma or a master’s, or doing something like online PMHNP programs while you’re still working, can get you one step closer to living your dream life

If you want to explore a new field further, why not give an internship a go? Or casual work somewhere new? Or a mentorship? The leap doesn’t have to be abrupt, after all, there are still bills to pay. You might laugh at this suggestion, but there are plenty of role-playing games and online platforms that give a taste of different jobs.

Why Career Fit Matters for Long-Term Wellbeing

Career fit isn’t just about liking what you do; it has a profound impact on your long-term well-being. When your work aligns with your strengths, values, and passions, it reduces stress and anxiety.

Studies have even found that higher job satisfaction can protect mental health and even improve physical health by lowering chronic stress levels and fatigue. 

Engaging work promotes focus, creativity, and productivity; it gives you a sense of purpose that spills over into personal relationships and social wellbeing.

Over time, being in the right career contributes to greater life satisfaction, resilience, and fulfillment, whereas a poor career fit can lead to burnout, chronic dissatisfaction, and a sense of stagnation that spills over into other parts of your life. 

Tips for Pivoting Toward a Better-Fit Career

In essence, it comes down to identifying what you want and planning how you can get it.

Taking stock of your current skillset, considering how those skills can apply to a new job or entire industry, and strengthening detriments is a great way to start. 

Once you understand where you stand, it can be a lot easier to see what roles align with what you want and what you are able to do. From there, it becomes a whole lot easier to take actionable steps to explore new paths.

Upskill through courses, workshops, or side projects, and seek opportunities to gain practical experience in your areas of interest.

Networking is key. Connect with professionals, attend industry events, and ask for informational interviews to learn what different roles entail.

Embracing The Bigger Picture

For all but the blessed few, a career is far from planned out at 18; it is a journey, with plenty of twists. The trick is embracing the chaos a little, listening to what makes you content, planning where you can, and letting go of the rest. 

With a bit of insight and patient thought, it is possible to really take stock of what it is that drives you and turn that into a fulfilling career that pays the bills, progresses over time, and grows into something worthwhile.