Today’s Assignment

“Listen to your stomach not your head. Your head will only rationalize you into a job you shouldn’t have.” — Ray Bradbury, writer

In this section we offer six deceptively simple exercises; that is, self-assessment exercises. Done right, they will help reveal employment preferences of which you may not have been aware … or hadn’t been willing to admit. If you’re in a hurry, just do the first three assignments. But as you will discover, the process of self-assessment is like peeling an onion: just when you think you’ve seen it all there’s more.

Assignment #1

List the achievements and accomplishments of your life; the things for which you have bragging rights. Begin with childhood and work your way to the present. For each citation, describe the highlights about your involvement, the nature of the project, and the results achieved. Note: These achievements or accomplishments need not have been acknowledged by others. List any activity in which you took a leadership role, or in which you helped to create a product, or in which you wrote, spoke, taught, researched, coordinated or constructed, no matter how insignificant that contribution might seem now. When you finish gathering the information, organize your list chronologically to serve as a data bank for future résumé writing.

Assignment #2

a) Describe what you learned about money and work from your parents.

b) Describe what you’d like to do if your life expectancy was just a matter of months.

c) Finish the following sentences in detail:

– I don’t like to admit it, but I really need …
– I feel happiest when I’m …
– If money and education were not a consideration, the work I prefer would be …
– When I was a child, I always want to be a …
– Time passes most quickly for me when I’m …
– One thing I’ve always done well is …

d) Imagine you’ve won a $200,000 lottery annuity. Describe how it would change your daily existence.

e) For one week, take a few minutes every day to jot a few key thoughts about your ideal work place. Describe your ideal work place in detail. If others are there, who are they and what are they doing?

f) For a full month, make notes on a desk calendar (or computer or PDA) which daily activities you enjoyed the most and the least. At the end of the month, summarize and categorize your preferences.

g) For a full month, take a few minutes every day to visualize your ideal day. Describe it even it has nothing to do with work.

h) In 10 minutes of continuous writing (without removing your pen from the paper or your fingers from the keyboard), describe what you enjoy doing when you’re not working.

i) Write a description of yourself. Describe your interests and define your personal style, including the way you like to dress, live, and interact with others. Be certain to list those skills at which you excel, and those you enjoy using, whether or not they have anything to do with work.

j) Describe what you know of your long-range career goals, and identify what contributions you would like to make to yourself, to your family, to your community, and to the world.

At the end of this assignment, summarize in writing any themes, patterns, or contradictions.

Assignment #3

Describe up to 50 of the most enjoyable events of your life. Focus on experiences you remember as fun or fulfilling, and when time seem to pass without notice. Choose events you enjoyed as they were unfolding, not because of any outcome or positive feedback. Be sure to include at least a dozen experiences from childhood. Get in touch with experiences that lifted your spirits and that you would gladly repeat. Afterward, compile a list of 10 awful experiences — when time dragged or was filled with frustration, dread or fear. Again, consider only the process and not the result. When both lists are complete, spend some time answering the following questions:

– How often were you alone and how often with others? What were you doing when you were alone? How did those activities differ from your activities with others?

– How many others were with you? What was the nature of your interaction with them? Were you conversing or participating with them, or quietly working alongside them? Were you engaged in group activity? What kind?

– What were the characteristics of the people around you? Up-beat? Analytical? Daring? Supportive? Competitive? Challenging? Smart? Artistic? Athletic?

– What were you doing? Was it physical, mental or both? Were you passive or active, moving around or staying in one place; conveying or receiving information?

– What was the purpose of your participation in each event? Personal growth, building something, enjoyment, making change, helping others, competition?

– In what environments did you find yourself? Indoors or outside, sunny, rainy, dark, bright, crowded, spacious, formal, informal?

– Were you relating emotionally, intellectually, physically or spiritually to your surroundings?

– Were your activities internalized-that is, thoughtful or meditative — or external to yourself — for example, teaching, advising, coaching, viewing entertainment?

– What was the tempo of each event? Fast-paced, relaxed?

Note that the answers to these questions may be contradictory. You may enjoy being alone and being with others, or engaging in high-energy activities and sitting peacefully outside in the sunshine. Include these observations in your answers to the questions.

Assignment #4

Imagine learning you have three years to live. How would you spend the time if money and energy were not a factor? In this exercise, answer three questions: What would you devote yourself to in the remaining time … how might others be impacted by your legacy … and what might others say about you and your legacy after your passing?

Assignment #5

Imagine yourself working at your fantasy job, and describe a day-in-the-life in this role. Be as specific and detailed as you like, and imagine yourself from your first cup of coffee to the end of the day:

Where are you?
What are your surroundings?
What activities are underway around you?
Who, if anyone, are you working with?
What are the others doing, and what are you doing in relation to them? If no one else is around, what are you doing?

Assignment #6

This assignment asks that you project yourself through time — 1, 5, 10, even 20 years — and describe what your life might look like if you remained on your present course. Describe your life in terms of opportunities, relationships, and your emotional and physical well-being.

– Today’s Assignment was excerpted from What Can You Do With a Law Degree (5th edition, Deborah Arron).