That Job You Want? Give It To Yourself.
You know, you really can give yourself any job you want.
So maybe your business card says Director of Marketing, Math Wizard or Founder/CEO. Maybe you're temporarily in transition. All you have to do is locate your own personal life-work mission. Imagine this job description is the story with the magic subtext -- one that gives an important lifeline to What You Do. Your personal job description/mission might not be what people immediately see, but it's what they feel.
For example, maybe you write copy for The Man, but in your heart you're a harbinger of diplomacy among people trying to communicate in different styles. You can bring all those clashing leitmotifs into harmony. So you give yourself the title of Creative Diplomat. I knew of a real estate broker years ago who called herself (privately) a lifestyle coach and focused on helping couples have the best experience possible as they navigated through the prickly process of choosing a new home. If you're in transition, find an archetypal role you think is yours to the core and start playing that out in daily life with friends, family, volunteer work, at the local coffee shop, on informational interviews as much as possible. I mean, really -- who's to stop you?
Personal example: I had a job as a technical writer at a company where I was not producing the most world-enlightening copy. However, what did matter to me was that I brought fun to the work place. Fun to me means my co-workers feel engaged and enthusiastic about their work, there's happy collaboration, there's learning and excelling and plenty of laughing. It makes work meaningful, rewarding and something to even (GASP) look forward to. So being the Fun nurturer was my personal mission and job description.
Now, how about you? What job description might you give yourself that brings your true essence into your work life and the lives of others?
Have fun giving yourself your own job title. If you come up with something, share!
xo