Creativity to Career: Tapping Into Your Personal Interests to Help Your Job Search
Many people have asked me how I decided to split from corporate life into entrepreneur life. While I did have assistance from a coach of my own, (shout out, Harper Spero) I also spent much more time focusing on my own creativity as a source of clarity. What I found is that deciding what to do next in your professional life is not so cut and dry; the countless hours of job hunting on LinkedIn will only get you so far.
You have to gain a deeper understanding of what is potentially missing from your personal or professional life.
What I discovered about my former role as a recruiting leader is that some form of purpose was missing from my everyday routine. It used to be enough for me to say I was helping someone land their dream job. But what about MY dream job? I found myself googling meditation retreats on my lunch break, or spending time researching therapy dogs (I still would love to train my dog to be a therapy dog). The point to all this is that something was missing for me. It didn’t take working with a coach to realize it — my coach just helped me get out of my own way.
So what were my findings?
Writing
Writing has always been something I've enjoyed immensely. However, somewhere along the way, I completely forgot about that. I had a fashion blog a few years ago, and even though it was fun to put on amazing clothes and get my photo taken in very NYC iconic places, that wasn't my favorite part; I really enjoyed creating the story around whatever I was wearing. I let the blog die, and I always regret it. Even throughout my journey of working with a coach, and trying to figure out my next move, I was always jotting down thoughts and feelings in my Evernote app. Writing was definitely there for me and kept resurfacing, and so not to be ignored. Enter many months later, and I love blogging on my site for my business — it's my therapy and gives me such joy and fulfillment. In fact, I just recently signed up for a writer’s workshop, and couldn't be more excited to see where it goes.
Cooking
Cooking has become another huge passion of mine. As by now you have read my post on my resolutions last year, you will see I set out to become the next Martha Stewart of vegan cooking. What I didn’t realize, is how much I have enjoyed the entire cooking process. Making the lists, going to the store, chopping all the veggies. As I really started to get into it, I realized that health and wellness played a bigger role in my life than I realized. I started imagining how I could incorporate this into my next venture and while I still haven’t figured that part out yet, I know that I'll find a way to work it in.
Podcasts
I feel like I am so incredibly late to the podcast train. I'm such a music freak, I've just always defaulted to my latest playlist instead of listening to a podcast. As I began the journey to start my own business, certain podcasts were recommended to me along the way (Being Boss has become a favorite of mine) — and then I started becoming addicted to playlists. If there was a podcast about being addicted to podcasts, I'd be listening to it! (But seriously, is there a podcast like that?)
Fast forward to the present day, and because I'm working by myself in my apartment a lot, instead of reaching for my playlists, I am listening to podcasts. Why does this matter? I'm starting to think I'd love eventually have my own podcast, whether it's about my business, or about something else I'm passionate about that links to my business.
The Moral Of The Story...
Deciding what to do next with your career is a very personal decision. There are so many factors that go into it, especially if you are looking to do something completely different. I encourage you to explore your hobbies and personal passions more intimately, as you never know where that overlap will be. If you find yourself going to yoga seven days a week and the studio is your “happy place”, explore to see if that can be a part of your career. You can absolutely love what you do that much — you just need to listen to yourself and give yourself space and time to do so.