Clarify what you want to achieve in your current role

You may well have KPIs that are clear enough and the Job Title may be self-explanatory, but it’s surprising how many people aren’t really clear what they want to achieve in their current role.

When we’re younger we tend to want success and promotion, preferably with a bit of recognition thrown in. This may be enough in the early days, but at some point, you need to know why you’re working so hard. What’s it all for? What are you getting out of it?

“Start with the Why”, as you have no doubt heard Simon Sinek say. Great; but how do you find your why? Well, if you’re beavering away working on a cure for Cancer, then you don’t have to look to far for the answer, but for most of us it’s not as simple as that. We want to do something worthwhile, for a Company who’s values we share, we want to make a difference, we want to learn, to have work-life balance, we want financial rewards. Probably all true for most of us, but it doesn’t really give us much in the way of direction.

In a helpful, but not particularly scientific way, I’ve crashed together three slightly different models for the things that motivate us and drive us forward (*references below. There is considerable overlap, which is perhaps unsurprising.)

It might be helpful to examine these for clues as to your personal top priority, i.e. the kind of thing you would invest your time in on an unpaid basis, after you get bored having spent two years travelling the Caribbean with your £100M lottery winnings. One you are clear on this, you can consider how your current role fits in with these plans.

PERMA

P – Positive Emotions (Literally enjoying what you do in the moment)
E – Engagement (Being fully absorbed in work, barely noticing time pass)
R – Positive Relationships (The people around you)
M – Meaning or Purpose (Your personal mission to change the world in some way, no matter how small)
A – Achievement (Getting things done)