While some of the most successful people end up in careers for which they hadn’t planned, somewhere along their journey they have, likely, paused and thought about whether or not the work that they are doing plays to their innate strengths. Implicit in their success is the likelihood that the work that they do leverages their innate strengths and aligns with their passion.

When I write about innate strengths I am referring to things that we are able to do with very little effort. Work that builds upon what we are naturally good at automatically sets us up for excellent results. This kind of work typically also does not feel like work, it tends to feel like a hobby.

Let’s look at the flip side — consider someone who has sacrificed a great deal to attain a particular career and after working in that field for a while discovered that they don’t like the daily tasks involved and they are neither suited to the work itself nor the work environment.

While it is true that time spent preparing for any career is rarely wasted given that we invariably learn something from the process, depending upon what was sacrificed to attain that career the person may feel significant regret if the career for which they invested their time and other resources ultimately is not a good fit.

So, what can we do to prevent ourselves from going too far down a career path that doesn’t fit well? An important first step is to spend a bit of time up front evaluating our interests, values, and strengths for it is where they intersect that we will find our most rewarding and engaging work. This evaluation is equally valuable for someone who is just launching their career as it is for someone who has worked for many years and is considering a career change.

The Canadian HR Academy Team