“My advice is to choose a profession that is really easy for you to do and that also allows you to be creative.”

Lewis Cantley

Does your work ever feel like a constant uphill battle? Not a rewarding battle filled with growth, but maybe more of a meaningless struggle. Work isn’t filling your cup, it’s depleting you.

Could it be a sign that you are in the wrong profession? Or maybe your profession could be right, but you just don’t get the opportunity to exercise your strengths on a daily basis.

Two forces working against us

The first force is the power of inertia. Most of us are well down a career path by the time we mature and start to understand what we actually want out of a career and life. We make this realisation, but it feels like there is an invisible force locking us in to the original path. 

Inertia:

– A tendency to do nothing or remain unchanged.

– (Physics) A property of matter by which it continues in its existing state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line, unless that state is changed by an external source.

Oxford Dictionary

This is the power of inertia. Once we are moving down a certain path, it’s difficult to change. We have a comfortable salary to pay the bills. We have a family to feed, so we don’t want to rock the boat. We build up the courage to look for jobs in a new field but hiring managers don’t want to consider us as we don’t have the direct experience.

The second force is the sunk cost fallacy. This is an economics term. A sunk cost refers to a cost which has already occurred and it cannot be recovered. The “fallacy” occurs when someone continues a behaviour or venture as a result of previously invested resources. This could be time, money or effort.

Sunk Cost Fallacy:

– The idea that a company or organization is more likely to continue with a project if they have already invested a lot of money, time, or effort in it, even when continuing is not the best thing to do:

– Economists would point out that the sunk cost fallacy is irrational, and could be described as “throwing good money after bad”.

Cambridge Dictionary

Let’s apply this to a career situation. 

Maybe you stumbled into law school to please your parents, and now you’re a corporate lawyer, but deep down you have really come to dislike your job. You can’t stand writing contracts anymore. You’re tired of reading legislation. You feel sick going into a high-stakes negotiation.

Ultimately, you crave a more creative life where you can feel like yourself.

Even after these facts, you stick with the lawyer job because:

1. The pay is really good and you’re on a track to make partner (inertia).
2. You incurred $80k in student loans to become a lawyer, so why would you walk away (sunk cost fallacy).

The path of rationality

Let’s try and be rational here. It’s easy to miss what is important and be seeking the wrong goal.

You are staying in job that feels soulless and is making you miserable all because:

• The money is good.
• You have invested a lot so far.

What about the long term damage it is doing to you? To your relationships? Isn’t that important.

When we are truly stuck it can be hard to see the possibility of other paths. Couldn’t you find enough money in another vocation that is more fulfilling? Who cares what you have invested or who you are trying to please, shouldn’t your own wellbeing be a priority?

Choose strengths

Many of us have hidden strengths and untapped natural talents which go to waste. What if you had the opportunity to do what you do best every day?

Not everyone is clear on what their strengths are. Sometimes friends and colleagues point them out to us. Our strengths come so naturally to us that it’s possible we don’t even notice them.

Thanks to advancements in positive psychology there are numerous tools and assessments out there which can help to uncover our strengths and teach us how to apply them (for example Strengths Finder 2.0).

It’s amazing how much your world can change when you play to these strengths. You feel energized and excited. Things come naturally. It feels like what you were born to do.

Everyone has different strengths. The best teams have members with complimentary strengths to balance out the weaknesses. The sum is greater than the parts.

Playing to your strengths means that the work will seem easier for you, whereas it may be difficult for your peers. This means that you won’t have to work so hard to be successful. You won’t be so stressed out and you will be able to relax in your life outside of work. During important periods you will be able to call on your strengths and go the extra mile to rise over competitors.

It also works in the opposite direction. If you are not playing to your strengths, then work will feel much more difficult. You’ll be going against the grain. You will have to put in extra hours just to be competitive. This is exhausting. It can lead to burn out and a less enjoyable life.

Some questions to reflect on

• How did you get where you are today?
• Was it through conscious choices aligned with your values?
• Have you locked yourself in? (e.g. unconsciously via inertia or the sunk cost fallacy?)
• What are your strengths? Ask a friend or take an assessment.
• How could you develop your role so that you get to exercise your strengths more?

Play to your strengths!