The first aspect of wellness we are going to be exploring in this deep dive into holistic wellness is that of vocational wellness. We are starting here because this is probably one of the most developed areas in the lives of our readers. If you are in a place in your life where you are making smart financial decisions and investing for your future, it is probably safe to say you also feel pretty strong about your vocation. Is what you do your life passion? Perhaps. But is it the vocation that allows you to have the life you want? Most likely it does. Of course some of us also may feel very compromised here. Your job may be high-stressed or unfulfilling and despite the positive ways it can affect you, there are some negatives too. Or, perhaps your vocation was your life and now that you are retired, you are finding it hard to fill that void or you are now seeing how much of your life you dedicated to your job so you never quite cultivated other aspects of your life. Whatever your story is, today we are going to assess our vocational wellness and work to make this aspect of our lives fulfilling!
First we probably need a definition. Vocational wellness is considered the ability to achieve personal satisfaction and fulfillment from our work. Vocational wellness does not necessarily imply financial wellness. While it is ideal for our vocations to remain balanced in our lives and the time we spend dedicated to it, it is not implied. This means that you can be retired but still seek vocational wellness through a work you do for your community. From volunteer work or coaching or teaching in fields you love, a vocation can be seen as our gift back to the community. Another aspect of wellness is that it can be highly subjective, perhaps you feel unsatisfied with your vocation, but the people around you are inspired and love the work you create, but ultimately if you are unsatisfied you may have to keep searching.
To begin with this exercise we will ask you to take a brief assessment on your vocational wellness. On a scale from 1-10, 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest, rate the following statements:
1- I am satisfied with my job.
2- Generally, I look forward to work.
3- My work responsibilities align with my personal moral compass. i.e. my work does not raise any ethical questions to me.
4- Generally speaking, my job brings me happiness.
5- I feel there are opportunities and growth options in my current career path.
6- I feel I am creating a legacy that will live on after me or at least the impact my job makes is a positive one on the world around me.
Without tallying up the points, also give your overall opinion of your job on a scale from 1 to 10.
Now tally up your numbers and get a total. A total less than 30 indicates a weak vocational wellness while a rating of over 45 indicates a high level of vocational wellness. Somewhere in the middle indicates a job that perhaps it is almost there, but needs some revising to make it your long term vocation. Note that not all vocations have to last forever. Perhaps you know your vocation doesn't have much room for advancement but you love it in every other aspect, you just need to prepare for dealing with the lack of growth.
Once you have an idea of where your vocation lies, you are ready to start looking at the nitty gritty. Anything you scored less than 5, make a note of and start writing out why you scored this aspect so low. Create a list of the issues that caused the low score as well as ways you think you can rectify it. If you feel your job is not fulfilling all the aspects it should, make a list of what aspects are being left less than satisfied. Now using the same 6 questions above, use them as a framework to create the ideal job. What talents would you be using? What would the legacy be? What would growth look like? Write out the ideal job and reverse engineer what that job would be. Do not be afraid to go outside the box or towards things that you may hold a prejudice against. Look at your current job as well and other positions within your company that could perhaps fulfill you better. Armed with this knowledge, start modifying your current vocation to fit your life better or start the quest to find one that gives you better satisfaction and therefore better wellness. See you at our next wellness series installment.
Do you have a better understanding of vocational wellness? Are you surprised by your results? Reach out to us at info@bullionite.com with any comments or questions.