Are you doing what you came here to do? Are you doing what you love and want to do with your one and only life?

If you're like many of the thousands of people I speak with each year in my role as a writer and success coach, these questions may seem ridiculous. 'I can't afford to ask myself things like that,' one man said to me. 'I've got mouths to feed and a mortgage to pay.'

But just because it's a difficult question doesn't mean it's not worth answering. And the question becomes more and more important as you get older.

As I've written before, to try to 'make yourself' do what feels wrong to you is like walking in whatever direction you are facing and forcing the needle in your compass towards north. While it may work for a while, as soon as you let up the pressure for even a moment, the compass will begin to self-correct and you'll see that you're off-track, maybe even headed 180 degrees away from your own best life. And the cumulative stress that comes with forcing yourself to do what you don't want to do each day can lead not only to strain in your marriage and trouble with your kids but also to physical illness.

Ironically, many people who recover from serious illness wind up reporting that in a strange way, getting sick was a 'blessing in disguise'. Post-illness, they are more willing to take a chance on doing things they are genuinely interested in or excited by. Financial reward takes a back seat to family time and personal satisfaction. Having faced up to the uncertainty and finiteness of their lives, they recognise that when you don't know how many days you've got left, the quality of those days becomes more important than quantity.

Now if you've spent a lifetime ignoring your feelings and quite literally 'making the best of a bad job', it may seem like it's too late (or too scary) to do anything about it. But chances are that the changes you need to make are nowhere near as dramatic as you think. So don't go quitting your job, selling your things and joining the circus or nunnery or even a Fortune 500 company just yet. Because even if dramatic changes are called for, you don't have to make them in a dramatic way.

Here are three simple changes you can make that will make a major change in how you feel about your working life:

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1. Become self-employed while you're still at your job.
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If you've begun saving money for your retirement, chances are you've done it by withholding money from your paycheque each month. A more effective strategy is to have all your money paid into a central 'reservoir' account. This can be a savings or even a home equity account. Then 'deduct' the money for your monthly expenses into a checking account.

Now instead of taking money away from yourself in order to save, you are having to take money away from yourself in order to spend. And for most people, when you see your reservoir of cash begin to grow, you will become less interested in spending and more interested in the freedom that comes with not being dependent on your job for your income.

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2. Get noticeably better at whatever it is you do.
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Extensive research into optimal experience at work shows that people who challenge themselves to continually improve at what they do not only increase their value in the marketplace, they enjoy their jobs considerably more than those who just do the minimum required to get by. While further training may or may not be a practical option for you, there are always ways to enhance your skills on the job.

One simple trick is to imagine you are training your replacement - if you had to teach someone to do what you do, how would you do it? In thinking about how to teach someone else to do your job, you will invariably find little improvements you can make that not only make you better, they make the job more enjoyable.

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3. Begin exploring new possibilities
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Many people fear that if they begin exploring other options, they will become more and more discontented and miserable about what they are currently doing. But only one of two things can really happen. Either you will find out that what you're doing isn't as bad as you thought when you compare it to what else is out there, in which case you'll begin to appreciate and enjoy it more, or you'll find out that there really is a job or career path that's calling to you.

And if you are fortunate enough to find a job that's also a calling, you will never have to work another day in your life!

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Today's Experiment:
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Answer these 5 questions - then add up your scores and see how you come out on the score card below...

1. How many days each week do you look forward to going in to work?
(1 - 5)

2. Do you feel like you're 'on track' to be where you want to be in your life in the next five years?
(1 - Not at all, 2 - A bit, 3 - Sometimes, 4 - Mostly, 5 - Completely)

3. How often do you daydream about 'escaping' from your job?
(1 - Always, 2 - Often, 3 - Sometimes, 4 - Occasionally, 5 - Never)

4. Does your experience at work negatively impact your experience at home?
(1 - Always, 2 - Often, 3 - Sometimes, 4 - Occasionally, 5 - Never)

5. Would you enthusiastically recommend your job to someone you loved or cared about?
(1 - Not at all, 2 - A bit, 3 - Sometimes, 4 - Mostly, 5 - Completely)

If you scored...

20 - 25
Congratulations - you've found your calling!

15 - 19
Your job is probably fine for now - follow the three steps above and you may find yourself doing what you love sooner than you think.

Less than 15
You are in the wrong job for you - and the sooner you begin addressing it, the sooner everything else in your life will begin to improve as well.

Have fun, learn heaps, and may all your success be fun!

With love,
michael

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