Work out what fulfilling means to you.
What are your values, the things that are most important to you and that you stand by? If you aren’t sure, it can help to think about times in your life you’ve felt most fulfilled and authentically you, and what values were being honoured at the time? Who do you admire and, on the flip side, what kind of people irritate you - and which of your values might they be transgressing? What are the causes that you care about? What gives you energy? One helpful question you might ask yourself is: “at the end of my life looking backwards, what would most matter? What would make me proud to have contributed or accomplished?”
Step outside your “reality bubble”.
Through no fault of our own, we all exist in a limited bubble – the people and organisations we know, the places we go, the careers we are aware of. To start seeing new possibilities, you need to get out of that bubble: volunteer in spaces that matter to you, do short courses to build on the skills and knowledge you have and enjoy, go to events where you’re likely to be around your ‘tribe’, people who care about the same things as you. If you have no idea yet what matters to you, this step is especially important and is best approached with pure open-minded curiosity.
Chat with as many of those people as you can about their work
Whose jobs are you curious about? Who might be working in organisations and industries that sound exciting, or even just people who seem to really love and get meaning from what they do? Don’t get too bogged down with talking to the “right” people. You’ll get value from every conversation you have: allow yourself the opportunity to be delightfully surprised by what you find out.
Test drive your ideas.
Once you have a handful of possibilities that seem interesting and feel like they have potential, try them out so you can get a sense of the reality and find out whether they’re going to work for you. How can you “get your hands dirty” with minimal risk? Can you do work shadowing or volunteering? Can you have a go at it in a small way? If you aren’t sure, then ask the contacts you’ve made in this area: “How might someone like me start experiencing this work for themselves?”
Build up your career capital.
When you know the fulfilling career or careers that you want to move into, start building your bank of evidence for your interest and capacity to do the job. Take on small projects, offer your skills for free or low cost, help out a contact in the area, anything that will help you construct an “unofficial CV/resume” that you can talk about to potential employers or clients.
If you’d like help with any of this, or know someone who might benefit, don’t hesitate to get in touch!