what you want to do

If you don’t already know what you want to do,

trying to settle on a passion may take longer

than building one by mastering something that

meshes well with your strengths. Either way,

the important thing to remember is to build up

mastery as quickly as possible—being really

great at what you do is a form of career

capital.

Once you have that, use it to get

autonomy. Don’t just keep working long hours

forever in the quest for a better office or more

money. Quality of life is much more

important.

But there’s more to life than your career; you

can find gratifying work in many areas of your

life. The best way to do this is by building on

your strengths and focusing on work involving

them. That’s where you’ll find the most

satisfaction.

If you’re not sure what your strengths are,

there’s a test on the Authentic Happiness

website (www.authentichappiness.org) called

the VIA Strengths Survey. Registration is free,

and there are also many other happiness tests

there that you can use. This test will help you

find your signature strengths. Once you know

them, maximize your potential by looking for

work that uses them.

It’s also important to know what you’re trying

to accomplish. Do you know what’s most

important to you? What qualities to you value

in yourself? Take the time to list these

governing values. When you know them and

act in accordance with them, you will feel inner

peace; when you stray from them, you will feel

uncomfortable.31 In fact, if you feel a lot of

tension in your life now, there’s a good chance

your actions are out of sync with your values in

some way.

If you’re not sure where to start, think about

where you spend most of your effort, what you

would risk everything for, what you do with

your free time, what you would do if you only

had six months to live, what you want to be

remembered for. These questions can help

guide you to your values. Examples of values

held by different people include: success,

wealth, learning, being a good parent, health,

personal responsibility, stewardship, and

helping others. Think about your values. List

them, write a sentence or two to clarify each

one, and prioritize them.