Andrea Johnson | February 10, 2025

Don’t Let Your Career Happen to You—Design It

"If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much." — Jim Rohn

What’s at the root of job dissatisfaction?

In some cases, the cause might be beyond a person’s control. In many cases, it's the result of a lack of intentionality—falling into a default career.

Letting your career happen to you instead of crafting it with intention and strategy is a direct route to a default career and unfulfilling jobs that you can’t wait to vacation, retire, or escape from.

What’s the golden key to crafting an intentional career?

Knowing what you want, setting a path to get there, and being open to adjustments along the way.

But first, what is an intentional career?

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An Intentional Career Defined

An intentional career is one informed by your skills, strengths, values, passions, and lifestyle needs.

It’s not the career you’re told you should pursue—it’s the career that aligns with you. One that plays to your strengths and gives you opportunities to grow and have meaningful impact.

It's the career that elevates your life—not detract from it.

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Your Career Impacts More Than Just Your Work Life

At the end of the day, it’s not only about your career.

It’s about how your career life impacts the rest of your life and your overall life satisfaction.

You have a weekly “time budget” of 168 hours (7 days × 24 hours). A 40-hour work week is equivalent to 24% of your week’s time budget.

How can you be truly happy and fulfilled in life if you spend 24% of your week trying to make it through each day?

If you work over 40 hours per week that number sadly increases.

If you’ve realized that your career leaves a lot to be desired all is not lost—you can transform your career from unsatisfying to quite satisfactory.

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Steps to Build an Intentional Career

Ready for a change?

Here are a few tools to get you started:

Assessments: Assessments like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and CliftonStrengths are great tools to gain insight into your traits, personal strengths, and even possible aligned careers. Reflect on your results and use them to strategize your transition.

Career Coaching: If you want a faster and more guided approach, partner with a career strategist or career coach. Career coaching provides clarity, helps you define your goals, identifies an ideal career path, and supports you in making it a reality.

Mentorship: If you don’t have a mentor to support your transition, now is the time to find one. Assess your network for someone who inspires you. Start building a relationship to gain insights into their career journey and receive guidance tailored to your situation.

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Making Career Fulfillment a Reality

No matter how long it takes, crafting an intentional career is worth your time, investment, and effort.

More importantly, transforming the 24% of your week dedicated to work into fulfilling time will lead to greater life satisfaction.

Remember, career fulfillment is a journey, not an overnight change.

Prioritize intention over speed, and you'll arrive at a career that truly fulfills you.

You deserve a career that aligns with your strengths, values, and aspirations.

The first step is deciding to pursue it with intention.

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