Writing Your Own Job Description

Today I was coaching someone who wants to make a career change. I told her to go to a place where she could imagine what having her dream career would feel like. Not what she'd be doing, specifically, just how good it would feel. Something about actually feeling what a new life would be like gets us to a different part of ourselves, I believe, to where we can start to access the greatness in ourselves. Once you get to that "feeling state" of joy and happiness (I'm assuming when you're in your dream job you'll be happy?) you're ready for the next step.

But let me back up for a moment. At the end of our session she said, "If you get any ideas about what job I should be doing, let me know." During her session we talked about things she loves to do, we just didn't put any cold, hard ideas down on paper. When I was sending her a follow-up email, I got the idea that she's searching for something that doesn't exist. Yet.

If I was to have looked for my job as a listing in the newspaper or on one of those lists of careers you get from the high school guidance counselor, I never would have found it. In fact, I'm still defining the boundaries of my profession, because I love to do lots and lots of things and keep trying to tweak what I do to include as many things that bring me joy as possible.

As such, I instructed her to write her own job title, job description, and job duties. You know when you see those formal job listings and they say things like:

Job Title: Consumer Information Systems Analyst Coordinator

Job Description: Report information from Consumer data bases into System X filing box while maintaining spotless shoes and perfect spine alignment

Job Duties: Finish as much work as possible during 16 hour days while assisting all other departments with their assignments, re-designing coffee machine dispensary, and hopping up and down on one foot.

Scary, boring, and vague, right? What if you could write your OWN job description? How fun would that be? You can put whatever you want on it, including things that you can't believe anyone will possible pay you for, like life coaching. Oh wait, people DO pay for that - but it didn't even exist as a profession 15 years ago!

Here's an example of my self-guided job description:

Job Title: Inspirer of Awesomeness

Job Description: Help and heal others through love, acceptance, art projects, movement, joy, nature, writing, and humor.

Job Duties: Interact with others over the phone, in person, and through your writing. Add humor into writing to engage audience and help them appreciate how funny life is. Connect with others using positive energy and showing them they truly deserve a happy life. Make art on the side so you continue to appreciate colors and energy. Travel as much as possible so you can meet new people and gain more experiences. Read as many books about the brain, life coaching, writing, art, energy, and connecting with others as you can so you have many, many tools to help others grow and live their best lives.

See how writing your own job description can be so rewarding and exciting? Once you've done it, use that enthusiasm to bring forth your own best life.

Be Joyful!