If you find yourself out of work or in any career transition, it may be just the opportunity to figure out what you really love. Use these simple tips to find the perfect career for you. Remember, you are not the economy!  

1. Design your Ideal Life. Too often we get carried away by media and think that to have the ideal life we need a big house, fancy car, foreign holidays, etc. But that may not really make you happy. If you really get in touch with your core values, you may discover that your ideal life isn’t as expensive as you think. You might find that you are happier doing work that is personally fulfilling and rewarding even if it pays less than your other job. One life coaching client left a high paying, high pressure sales job to be a gym teacher at the school. She made less money but was so much happier she didn’t miss the money. A colleague loved to ski so he organized his life coaching business so that he worked on Mondays and then spent the rest of the week skiing. Another sold his house and bought a camper van so he could travel around the country. He set up his own business working by phone and internet. His monthly expenses were only $500.00 so he could afford to take big risks and invest heavily in his business. He later sold it for $1 million.
2. Simplify Your Life. Downsize, simplify, cut your costs by 50% BEFORE you have to. When we cut out the excess, it gets us closer to what we really want/need in life. Just as an experiment, try for one month cutting your expenses by 50% and see what you really miss before adding it back in. You might be amazed at what opens up for you. One family cut their cable/tv bill out and discovered that they had much more fun playing games together and puzzles in the evenings.
3. Align Your Values and Vision. The key to fulfilling work is to do something that is in alignment with your core values — the things that you are most passionate about and make you feel alive and excited about life — what is of intrinsic worth to you personally. That might be travel, adventure, beauty, peace, creating, inspiring, leading, organizing, etc. Discover your unique values and then orient your life and work around them! (Try the exercises in The Secret Laws of Attraction and Coach Yourself to a New Career, McGraw-Hill).
4. Invent Five Alternative Careers. Imagine that your current line of work has just been eliminated from the planet. What are five alternative careers that you’d be interested in pursuing? Think back to when you were a child as that might give you some clues as to what you secretly would love to do now. One client, a high level HR exec got handed a pink slip, forcing her to rethink her career. When she listed her five alternative careers they had nothing to do with the business world and everything to do with creativity! (She listed: Garden Designer; Painter; Creative Writer; Interior Designer; Photographer.) She offered to “tidy” her neighbour’s garden for free one day, bought some paints and started painting and discovered a natural talent that had been laying dormant all those years in the corporate world.
5. Discover Your Unique Talent. Often we don’t recognize or see our own greatest talents because they are so easy for us, so much a part of us that we take them for granted. Interview friends and family and find out what your talents are.
6. The Cover Story. Ask your friends and family this question: “If I were on the cover of a magazine, what magazine would it be and what would the story be about?” Ask people who know you well and colleagues who might have a different view of you. Take notes on all the answers and see what direction this points to.
7. Do What You Love. One way to find out what you’d love to do as a career is to do more of what you love in life. If you love dancing, sign up for a regular class. If you love reading, join a book club. If you like writing, take a creative writing class. Like has a way of attracting like and you’ll find that once you are doing things that you really love to do, you’ll attract more of the same.
8. Work on a Special Project. Another way to discover your special talent or gift is to work on a special project, something that you really lights you up. Design a project at home, work or community that would be fun and exciting for you. In fact, why not really liven up your life and work on a special project at work and at home? One client valued beauty. She offered to plant some flowers in front of her office building. The company was all for it and funded the planting and she got other co-workers to join in as well. It was a great morale booster and team-builder for them all.
9. Let Your Intuition Lead the Way. Another way to find your dream job is to follow your intuition, not your head guide you. The more you trust and follow those inner voices and gut feelings, the more interesting and exciting life becomes. It isn’t logical. For example, you get a little inkling that you should bring your umbrella but then look outside and see clear blue skies and let your rational thoughts overrule your intuition. Later on that days it pours! Start to notice those little thoughts and follow them. The more you trust in them, the louder they become. And that will get you on the right path faster than anything.
10. Get Some Perspective. If you are struggling to find your path in life, you may need to take a retreat from your current life and get a bigger perspective. Sometimes we need to get outside of our lives to reconnect with what really fulfils us. When we are caught up in the daily demands of life, it can be difficult to imagine life can be another way. Pack a simple bag and stay for a long weekend in a B&B or an inn or stay at a friend’s house while they are away on holiday to house sit for them.