Are you in your middle age crisis? Are you wondering what your life’s purpose is all about? Are you asking yourself, why do I do this type of work? Why did I choose this job?.

My name is Erica Elias. I’m a career coach. I do this work because I like to help people discover their uniqueness. Why do you do what you do?

My kid said to me yesterday, “mom, when I grow up, I’m going to be a police officer”. He is 8 years old. If you are a parent, you think about this and you try to guide your child in a certain direction. You want your child to grow up and be happy and rich. Right? Well, as you will start to realize in your 30’s and 40’s, more and more of your friends around you are not happy. Or rich? What happened? About 80% of the people I do career coaching with are somehow unfulfilled. About 10 years into their careers, they find themselves wondering what their life’s purpose is all about.

How can you pick a job that will be meaningful? How can you pick a job that gives you true purpose and reason to jump out of that bed with a smile on your face each morning?

Life becomes meaningful when you realize that it’s a lot about the other, and little about you. Here are 4 tips to help you find the right job for you:

#1 Understand what you are good at.

Think about a time in your past when you felt free and creative and relaxed. What were you doing then? Were you repairing a bike? Were you teaching a kid how to do a science project? We’re you trying to convince a friend to also buy an on-line app? We’re you mediating a discussion? We’re you cooking? We’re you organizing something?

#2 Find out what people want or need and see how you can you fill that need with what you are good at?

#3 Find out who wants or needs what you are good at?

#4 If you can do the first 3 things, at the end of the day, you should be able to close your eyes and you will be able to answer this, “what do these people receive from you and how did they change, feel or live differently as a result of your help.”

So, it’s not so much about feeling powerful, wearing a uniform and holding a gun at your hip but more about, “I provide a safer more secure world.”

So, once you understand your involvement and how you can change people’s lives with your talents, your life’s work becomes less about receiving your pay check so you can pay your bills and go on holiday. Your life becomes more about your participation in the world around you and how others benefit from your being on earth.

career coach, Erica Elias, www.interviewnow.be