Pain scares us. We avoid it at all costs. All our instincts have been trained to maximize our earning potential and minimize Pain.
The plan to do an MBA or a Master's or change jobs happen for one underlying reason: Pain.
It is not apparent at the beginning of the conversation with my clients, but after around 3rd email, most of them hint at the major cause of Pain.
In 2008, right on the verge of a Financial Meltdown, I was working for a Technology company, cleaning data for a software solution. In layman's terms, editing an Excel sheet to a format that the software recognizes. There were over 500 entries. It was painful. I had already completed three high-profile projects in UK, US, and Malaysia for a start-up - my first job. The second job was my exploration of a work environment that would widen my experience.
The exploration was the source of my Pain.
Editing the 500 entries was a task as an obscure employee in a Fortune 500 Company. I wanted to be more than Employee no #1115.
Pain caused me to reflect. The pain led to an exploration into Entrepreneurship, and so began F1GMAT in 2009.
When you don't enjoy the day-to-day activities that your job demands, you will not put in 100%.
Work is a pain if you are in the wrong career.
Editing 500 entries was work for me, but writing 2000 words of advice and research articles for F1GMAT every day is not.
I tried to hide from the Pain, but it didn't go away. You can distract yourself with social outings or any quick substance fixes that will never fully resolve your Pain. It just masks the real issue.
Confront your source of Pain.
1) List the activities that you don't enjoy in your current role?
2) List the activities that you don't see as work? (You will be surprised at the number of your peers who see this as work. That is alright. The activities that you enjoy are derived from your Personality and strengths)
3) List the potential career roles
4) List the daily activities of your potential career roles
5) Which potential career suits your Personality?
The more you obscure the source of Pain with generalities about career goals, the less likely you will find the path that matches your personality and aspirations.
If you look at your peers as a Proxy, you will be ruined. Your peers will change in the next 5-10 years.
Personality matters.
If you are not good at giving advice or guiding your client through wins and numerous setbacks, Consulting is not for you.
If you don't have a grasp over numbers and patterns, switching to Finance or continuing in the industry will destroy your morale.
If you don't yearn to understand human behavior, Marketing is not for you.
If you are naturally not inclined to stand in front of the camera and talk about yourself, being an Influencer is not a path for you. But if you can talk behind the camera - teach, write, or share a perspective, you can hide behind a brand.
Your Personality should influence your career choice.
Unless you reflect and find your weaknesses, eliminating potential career paths would be a challenge.
Why eliminate?
Once you know that you are not good in Finance or Marketing, it frees up your attention to exploring niche career paths.
Don't hide from the Pain. Explore. Break it down into questions.
What do you really want to do?