Hi Chuck!

If I had a certain, simple answer to that question, I would probably be one of the wealthiest career coaches on the planet. A fulfilling career does not really depend on just one thing. There are four basic needs that a career must meet before you could consider it fulfilling. If any one of these needs is not met, it can be like driving a car with a flat tire. It does not matter what shape the other three tires are in, you are still in for a rough ride. These four needs are:

1. Physical Needs
   This is the most obvious need. Most people get a job first and foremost to earn the income needed to sustain their physical needs for food, shelter, clothing, etc. If your job does not bring in the minimum amount to meet those needs comfortably, no other form of job satisfaction will help. However, income can be considered a “hygiene” issue. In other words, if you don’t have enough, it stinks. But once you have passed that basic comfort threshold, other needs start taking priority.

   To clarify your physical needs, ask yourself:

   • “What is the minimum amount I need to cover my needs?”
   • “What am I spending money on regularly? Which items do not give me enough satisfaction to justify the work I have to do to pay for them?”
   • “What is the maximum amount I believe I am worth? What is the most that I can realistically envision an employer paying me for my talents?”
2. Social / Emotional Needs
   Very few of us want to live as hermits. We need to work with and for people that we like and respect, and have those people like and respect us in return. While you might say that you get along with most everybody, you could also recognize that there are SOME people that really energize you, people you really thrive being around.

   To clarify your Social/Emotional needs, ask yourself:

   • “How would I describe the people I get along with best, the people I love being around? Are they intelligent? creative? driven? caring?”
   • “Are there any particular interests that we have in common?”
   • “What values are most important to me? Would I feel satisfied working for an organization that did not share those values?”
3. Intellectual Needs
   For a career to be fulfilling, you need to use the skills that you are most talented at and most enjoy using. You also need a variety of challenges, to develop new skills and keep improving your existing ones.

   To clarify your Intellectual needs, ask:

   • “Which skills am I proudest of? What abilities do people compliment me on?”
   • “What am I actually doing when I most enjoy myself?”
   • “What skills do I want to challenge and grow?”
4. Spiritual Needs
   This is the most common need missing from the careers of people who come to me for guidance. Simply put, for a career to be fulfilling, it needs to feel important to you. It needs to be an extension of who you are and what you care about. You need to feel that your work is making a meaningful difference.

   To clarify your Spiritual needs, ask yourself:

   • “What products, services, or causes do I feel most passionate about?”
   • “What types of people do I most want to help?
   • “What needs or problems can I help those people with?”

If a job meets all four – Physical, Social/Emotional, Intellectual, and Spiritual - odds are good that you will find genuine fulfillment. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to get all four needs met if you approach them in the order that most people try. Most start their careers looking for a basic job to meet their Physical needs, then advance to Social/Emotional, then perhaps Intellectual. By that time, they are well down a path that may not be connected at all to their Spiritual needs.

However, if you look at the careers of people who are genuinely satisfied and successful – people like Michael Jordan, Michael Dell, Steve Jobs, and Steven Spielberg - you will often find that they approached the problem from the other end. They first discovered what type of work they felt passionate about, THEN identified what skills they could apply to that work, what people they wanted to work with, and how to make money at it. Michael Dell started his company because he was passionate about the potential of personal computers. He decided to apply his sales and business management skills to that passion, gathered some other like-minded people to help him, and started earning money at it.

So, Chuck, if you can clarify the answers to your four needs, you could be well on your way to fining your own uniquely fulfilling career. Good luck!

Job Coach Jeff