It is not easy to challenge our comfort zones and starts focusing on self-growth. We might live in auto-pilot mode where days just go by, and we stay in a reality in which we do not try to better or upscale. So, we choose certain jobs only because they bring money and a stable living. We cannot wait for the weekend time, to detach from everything and quit thinking and responsibilities. Until career development ideas come into our minds.

But, what if we can trade this auto-pilot lifestyle for something better? What if we, as individuals, would start to realize that our life is a precious gift? And, our playground where we can act freely, and work on everything we had ever wanted? And, if we do not know how to start quitting this auto-pilot living, there are plenty of tools that can help us discover our identity-based paths and start our career development process to find our dream job.

So, Today’s topic is about the tools that helped me to define my personal and professional goals, according to my self-analysis. I hope you will find them helpful.

What is an identity-based path? – Career development processes and outcomes that can help you

There are many paths that people can take in life, and each person’s approach is unique to them. However, some general trends can be observed in how people choose their path in life. For example, many people choose a path based on their identity.

Identity-based paths involve choosing a path in life that aligns with who you are as a person. This can involve choosing a career that matches your skills and interests, or it can involve pursuing a hobby that is meaningful to you. Identity-based paths often lead to a greater sense of fulfillment, as they allow you to be true to yourself.

If you are looking for a way to choose your path in life, the self-development approaches can help you find a path that is more aligned with who you are, and that can ultimately lead to a more fulfilling life.

How to discover your potential and follow an identity-based path to define your career? – What Are The Best Self-Assessment Tools To define Your Personality?

No matter what tools you use, the most important thing is to put in the time and effort to explore your options and figure out what you want to do with your life. With a little bit of exploration, you can figure out what your ideal career path may be. Anything you start doing, start with a notebook. It will lead you to your dream job.

The most important is the self-assessment method, which can be done through activities such as journaling and taking personality quizzes, which implies reflection while exploring what defines you as a person. There are various sources on the internet that you can select and follow a self-assessment activity during your free time. 

Among many career tips, knowing yourself is the first step of any journey. Today, I will present you two of the career development tools & methods that I’ve found valuable while trying to determine my future paths.

Personal SWOT analysis for career development – Find a way to discover your potential

career development

A personal SWOT analysis is a tool that can be used to assess your strengths and weaknesses, as well as the opportunities and threats that you face. This type of analysis can be very useful in helping you to identify your areas of improvement and make changes to your lifestyle or career. To do a personal SWOT analysis, start by brainstorming a list of your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

Once you have your list, take some time to reflect on each item and how it applies to your life. After you have given each item some thought, you can start to develop a plan of action to improve your weaknesses and take advantage of your strengths and opportunities. Here are some questions that can help your identification process.

Strengths

  • What do I do better than anyone else?
  • Which are the achievements that make me most proud of?
  • Are there any unique resources I can draw on?
  • What do other people see as my strengths?

Weaknesses

  • What can I improve in myself?
  • What do other people see as my weaknesses?
  • Do I have negative work habits?
  • Where do I have less experience than others?

Opportunities

  • What opportunities are open to me?
  • Is there a need in certain industries that not everyone can fill?
  • Do I have a network of contacts for career development?
  • What trends can I take advantage of?

Threats

  • What are the threats that could do me harm?
  • Who is my competition and what are they doing?
  • Could any of my weaknesses threaten me?
  • Do some changes threaten my actual position?

After you have given each item some thought, you can start to develop a plan of action to improve your weaknesses and take advantage of your strengths and opportunities.

Tip: This is also a technique used in therapy to determine weaknesses and focus on finding some positive capability inside them.

The Ikigai method – A Philosophical Perspective through a diagram

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The ikigai method is a Japanese technique for finding one’s purpose in life. It is based on the belief that everyone has a reason for living, and that reason can be discovered by finding the intersection of four key elements: what you love, what you are good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for.

Also, It’s a great tool for finding what your passions are and using them to make a difference. It helps you discover the meaning in your life and make a positive impact on the world. The ikigai method can be used by individuals or organizations to find their purpose and develop a strategy for achieving it. 

Ikigai method key questions for career development

  • What do you love? – will give you your passion
  • What are you good at? – will give you your vocation
  • What does the world need? – will give you your mission
  • What can you be paid for? – will give you your profession

By answering these questions, you can develop a clear idea of your purpose and start working towards achieving it. 

The Japanese method of finding your life purpose

After answering all those questions, it comes the time when you’ll have to put them together as in the above image, to find the intersection between them. This template will allow you to frame everything you had discovered related to yourself. It will give a clear image of who you are, then find your ikigai.

Inspiration I’ve found

Ikigai (生き甲斐, lit. ‘a reason for being’) is a Japanese concept referring to something that gives a person a sense of purpose, a reason for living.

“There are many ways to define Ikigai. One way to put it is to say that Ikigai is the reason you get up in the morning. It could be something very small like having a cup of coffee and chocolate. And something that makes your day go on. That is Ikigai.

On the other hand – Ikigai can be a life-defining, very big goal, like going to Mars or winning the Nobel Prize, or becoming the Prime Minister of a country. So Ikigai can be something small or something big. So in a nutshell, Ikigai is a spectrum. And the complexity of Ikigai reflects the complexity of life itself.” – Ken Mogi, author of The Little Book of IKIGAI

Why is it so important to use tools to define our career paths based on our identities?

It is a question of motivation whether we decide to start focusing on bettering ourselves, personally and professionally, or to remain in our comfort zone. Not a long time ago, when I started this blog, I got overwhelmed by the multitude of opportunities that it might bring to me. Besides starting to plan little steps into developing it strategically, I wanted to do everything overnight :))). Still, I ended up doing nothing for a while. I lost motivation and experienced the impostor syndrome, until my friends started to offer me support, and accompany me throughout the process.

This is how I’ve learned that before you start your projects, you have to find some ways to observe yourself. And you have to determine whether what you are thinking to do is in sync with your personality, values, and strengths, or represents a new way to welcome new opportunities in your life. All of those lead me to discover those two self-assessment tools that I’ve presented to you today. After starting to work on myself using those tools, I’ve understood the further steps through therapy. How to start, how to focus, how to change old patterns and welcome new ones, and most of all, how to get disciplined and constant in working for yourself. 

Final notes on finding the right careers and life paths – Career development

career development

As we journey through life, we are constantly making choices that will shape our future. Some of these choices are small, while others are major turning points that will have a lasting impact on our lives. But what all of these choices have in common is that they are all opportunities for us to create our own identities.

Moreover, The path we choose in life should be an expression of who we are and what we value. It should be a reflection of our unique code, our fingerprint. This is not to say that we should only do things that we are passionate about or that we should only follow our dreams. But we should be conscious that the choices we make today will shape the person we become tomorrow.

So as you go through life, remember to stay true to yourself and never forget your identity.