A sustainable job that gives you satisfaction and energy. It is one of your New Year's resolutions. But how do you get to that place? And how do you discover what really suits you? BetekenisBaan shares concrete tips and exercises to discover what you want and get closer to your job in sustainability.
A sustainable job: this is how you discover what you want
You can tell by everything: in this new year it is time for something different with your work. You are concerned about social challenges that we face together, but you can do little with this in your work. You sometimes browse Greenjobs and other job boards, but you don't get really excited about anything. How do you get to that place where you start and where you do work that you fully support?
Logical questions. And that is exactly what we guide people in with BetekenisBaan. We help professionals towards a meaningful career by discovering the impact they want to make in their career and which work fits that. In this article we share two concrete exercises to help you on your way to your meaningful job.
We regularly see professionals fall into the trap of starting the search for more sustainability in their job without a plan. In the meantime, it often turns out that they don't know what they want. If you don't know what kind of job you're looking for, you won't find it. So our most important advice is: first find out what kind of meaningful job you want and then take targeted action. You will see that much more is possible.
Determine what sustainable impact you want to make
The first step in discovering your ideal meaning job is unraveling what you want to mean. The question is what sustainable impact you want to make. There are plenty of societal challenges, such as climate change, the unsustainable economic system, unequal opportunities for children, and so on. Which themes touch you enough, so that you want to contribute to this with your work? The following exercise will help you with this.
Exercise: discover impact
Make a list of sustainable or social challenges that affect you. What do you hear on the news? Which themes do you discuss with themes and friends? Or which goals of the Sustainable Development Goals appeal to you?
Then look at your list and find the common thread. Which social challenges do you want to contribute to? Choose 1 or 2.
Tip: if you know what you want to focus on, you can then search more specifically for organizations that also contribute to these challenges.
Find work that suits you
You can still make such a positive contribution in your work, but if you do work that does not match your qualities, values and what makes you happy, it only costs you energy. In other words, no real sustainable contribution.
That is why the second step towards a sustainable job is discovering what kind of work suits you best. It helps to gain insight into your values and talents. It also helps to know what gives you energy. The next exercise is about that.
Exercise: work that gives you energy
Whether your current job makes you happy or not, there are always parts that give you energy. Grab your calendar from last year and browse through everything you've done. Then make two lists: what gave you energy and when did the time fly for you? And what cost you a lot of energy and what didn't make you happy?
Then look at the lists and discover a common thread. What would you like to see in a job? And what exactly do you want to stop doing?
Create targeted action
Now that you know which challenges you want to contribute to and you have insight into what gives you energy, you can put a few pieces of the puzzle back together. You can also search more specifically for Greenjobs and make contact with interesting organizations and people. Because there are a lot of vacancies that are filled via an organization's network, it helps to be on the radar of those organizations. Have a cup of coffee or send an open application.
Stop doubting what you want
At the start of the year, you might feel a fresh drive to really make an impact on your ambitions to make an impact in your career. At the same time, we also know that the search for a meaningful job can be challenging. Endless dubbing about what you want or don't want.
Our tip: stop doubting and make choices. It doesn't mean you need to know right away what you do want to do to make a sustainable impact in your career. But it is about deciding whether you actually want to embark on the search for your meaningful ambitions or whether you let them go (for the time being). Precisely by choosing, you will end up in a flow again in which you learn, discover and can contribute much more.
Greenjobs.nl hopes these tips will help you make the impact in 2022 that matters to you.
Would you like to work together to discover the direction of your impactful career? Come to our webinar 'Make work of Valuable Work', then we will take the step towards your meaningful career together.
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