by Justarius

Created on: August 29, 2011   Last Updated: September 22, 2011

So you want a new career?  No problem.  Walk into any bookstore, and you will see dozens of career advice books.  Type “career” into any search engine, and you will get thousands of results—maybe even a million.  This might be a problem.  Thankfully though, most of the advice can be boiled down to variations of the following five-step guide. 

Step 1: Believe in yourself

Belief is absolutely critical to your success.  If you do not believe in your heart that you will succeed, then how can you convince others that you will?  People love winners; it is human nature.  As you go along, you will find many people willing to help or hire you, but they want to know that their time and resources are being used wisely.  So take "can't" and "yeah, but..." out of your vocabulary.  Believe in yourself, and others will believe in you. 

Step 2: Know yourself

In ancient Greece, people traveled far and wide to visit the Oracle of Delphi, believing it could tell them the future and answer any question they had.  Inscribed above the entrance way were two words: Know Thyself.  You already have all the answers you need; you only have to look inside. 

Start by analyzing your job experiences starting with your current or most recent one.  What did you like or not like?  What types of people did you enjoy or not enjoy working with?  Each experience yields valuable information about your personality, strengths, and weaknesses.  In addition, talk to your friends and family.  They can offer insights into things that you unconsciously say and do.  There are also several personality tests you can take, such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. 

This step is critical to your success, and you must be honest and objective about yourself throughout it.  If you have trouble with this, enlist the help of family, friends, and perhaps a career counselor.  

Step 3: Find your passion

While getting to know yourself, the most important thing is to find your passion.  Most experts agree that career success demands top performance over an extended period of time.  When it comes to sustained performance, passion far outweighs skill.  Passion without skill leads to maximum effort and the acquisition of the necessary skills.  Skill without passion however leads to stagnation and obsolescence.  Skill is acquirable.  Passion, by and large,

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