Discover the Work You Were Born to Do

This is probably the only career-related article I have read that has struck a nerve as hard as it has. James Gonyea, contributing writer from Monster.com, writes:

"So you've been hearing that voice again, the one that says you're not doing what you were born to do. That may be true, but how do you figure out what you should be doing?"

"How?" indeed.

A lot of us have tried to answer this for the longest time, but we never really managed to arrive at an acceptable answer (which is probably why most of us are where right now career-wise). Fortunately, this article helps you do just that (trust me, it does). Read on and be enlightened:

"To begin answering this question, examine whether your current career path matches your core interests, beliefs, values, needs and skills. Professional career counselors usually undertake this strategy when attempting to help clients identify appropriate career directions.

"Here's what I ask clients to help them find their core. Ask yourself these questions, and record your answers:

1. What subjects do you most enjoy reading about?
2. What television or radio programs do you most enjoy?
3. What are your favorite types of movies?
4. What are your favorite hobbies or pastimes?
5. What type of volunteer activities do you prefer?
6. What subjects do you enjoy discussing with friends?
7. What subjects come to mind when you daydream?
8. What have been your favorite jobs?
9. What were your favorite school subjects?
10. What are your pet peeves?
11. If you doodle, what do you often draw?
12. If you ran the world, what changes would you make?
13. If you won a million bucks, what would you do with it?
14. Who are your favorite kinds of people?
15. How would you like to be remembered after your death?
16. What are your favorite toys?
17. How would you describe your political beliefs?
18. Who do you most admire in life and why?
19. What tasks have brought you the most success?
20. What tasks do you think you could do well that you haven't yet done?

"Examine your answers. Do you see a certain behavior or belief in more than one aspect of your life? What information do you see repeated that seems to reveal a behavior pattern? What are your long-lasting interests?

"Using this information, paint a self-portrait by completing the following statements:

• I am mainly interested in…
• I believe most in…
• I most value…
• For a good life, I feel I need…
• I can do the following well…

"Now ask yourself if your current job helps you achieve these five statements. If it does, you're probably in the right career. Chances are, however, that the nagging voice means your current career is not satisfying your core features. If this is the case, then it's time to find a better fit."

Ouch!

My Six Weird Things

Tagged by Peejay. So I'm supposed to disclose six weird facts about myself. It's a lot harder than I thought. Anyway, here goes:

1. My teeth are too big in relation to the size of my mouth. Mathematically, they're not directly proportional to each other--my dentists can attest to this. I once had an impacted tooth extracted, they (two dentists) had to break it in two first before they could take the entire thing out. And because my mouth is small, I had suffered cuts at the sides of my mouth after the procedure.
   
2. I have this tendency to replay past events in my head--mostly embarrassing moments--and try to imagine what I should/could have said or done to avoid the humiliation. What's weird is I sometimes catch myself speaking the things I'm saying in my head out loud. Think Jonathan Brandis in "Sidekicks" when he has his Chuck Norris day dreams.
   
3. Speaking of catching myself, I sometimes catch myself snoring.
   
4. I this huge fear of being chased by Turkeys, and having birds or any flying animal swoop towards the area of my neck. I'm scared they might peck and puncture a critical blood vessel and kill me.
   
5. I never forget a face...but I'm not very good at remembering the names associated with them.
   
6. Un-cricking my neck or back makes this really, really loud sound (bordering on scandalous), it looks like it's supposed to hurt. It's actually feels pretty good afterwards. Pi is especially afraid that my head would fall off every time I do this.

So there. Off the top of my head, I'm tagging Melai, Djong, Sus, Luis, Pao, and Joan.