Career Clarity: Why Having a North Star Beats Chasing a Dream Job
Stop waiting for your “perfect career” to dawn on you. Stop assuming you’re going to “arrive”. There are different ways you can approach career planning, and if you’re like most people, you’re doing it all wrong. Let me tell you why…
The Standard Approaches
When it comes to career planning, people tend to take one of two approaches: the dream job approach (also sometimes called the “10 year planner” approach), and the “see where it takes me” approach.
The dream job approach assumes that there is one magical job that you need to discover that will make you happy. People who desire this approach greatly want a plan and a regimented set of steps to take. “I’ll do X for 3 years, Y for 4 years, and eventually reach Z goal”.
The “see where it takes me” approach is the polar opposite. As you can likely assume thanks to the name, this approach is focused on going with the flow, setting no specific goals but instead taking opportunities based on what feels right in the moment.
Neither of these approaches is great, but I’ll explain more on that in a minute.
Why People Love a Dream Job
First, let me explain WHY so many high achievers love the idea of uncovering their “dream job”.
Short version: I blame the media, and pretty much the entire model of storytelling that emphasizes arriving at a destination as a goal over the journey.
Slightly longer version that doesn’t make me sound like as much of a grinch:
Because high achievers love black and white thinking, which answers are innately tied to, and it’s the only thing we’ve ever known.
Growing up there was likely always an obvious next step in your life. Maybe for you your obvious planned route went high school > college > get a job in your industry. Or maybe you’re someone who always expected to go to grad school. Whatever it was, there was some part of your life journey that had some assumptions tied in.
One day, though, that path ended, and all of a sudden the “clear next step” you’d always relied on disappeared.
“Wait a second, no one is going to tell me what to do next?!” Your palms start to sweat.
Instead of dealing with the ambiguity (because, gross), you decide to create structure and a new “next step” for yourself to work towards. Enter: the dream job.
See why that might feel comforting to someone who hates uncertainty?
Why These Approaches Don’t Work
So, since these 2 approaches are the biggest offenders, let’s explain why they don’t work.
For the “dream job” approach, either:
You arrive at the goal you set for yourself in your career, and then lose all motivation as a result. You’ve reached your goals, and your spark fizzles.
On your way towards your goal, you realize you no longer want it anymore and have a full-blown existential crisis.
For the “see where it takes me” approach, it’s like going on a hike without a trail map. Sure, you might stumble upon the beautiful waterfall, but you’re more likely to find it if you at least know which direction to walk in.
A Better Way
Let’s continue with that analogy, to really drive things home…
The “see where it takes me” approach is having no map at all. The “dream job” approach is like having a super specific set of turns. No map, just “right at this fork, left at that”. Which is fine, until the bridge you were supposed to cross to get to your destination is closed. Then what?!
What you really need in this scenario - and in your career planning as well - is a compass.
A compass gives you the perfect blend of direction yet flexibility, so you can have something to work towards while still having wiggle-room in terms of how exactly to get there.
And the equivalent of a compass in your career is the Career North Star.
Getting Your North Star
I’ve written about the concept of North Star purpose statements before, and you can read my most recent overview of how to create one here.
In summary, though, your North Star is a guiding statement of who you are at your best, and it drives all of your career decisions. You use it to filter out options and to make aligned choices for you.
You create a North Star by letting go of the “shoulds” you feel in your career and clarifying your unique set of needs.
I’m happy to share more about this process in a part 2 if you’d like, or you can sign up for my entire free workshop on career north stars here. It will tell you exactly how to create yours.
But, for starters, PLEASE stop searching for a dream job or going with the flow… They’re not actually very good options. And let me know in the comments if you found this explanation helpful!
