Going Creative: Finding Your Best Career Fit

If you yearn for work that allows you to be more creative, you’re not alone.

CreativeLive, an online education network, recently commissioned a study regarding creativity at work, and a sizeable percentage of those surveyed said they wanted more of it.

According to CreativeLive’s inaugural Creative Jobs Report:

• Nearly 40% of U.S. adults have a desire to leave their current job, even in an uncertain economy, for more creative pursuits
• Nearly 30% of U.S. adults would be willing to take a pay cut if it would mean being able to work in a more creative capacity.
• Over half (55%), or almost 78 million employed Americans, would jump ship from a traditional/ corporate job for self-employment if they knew they could still pay their bills.

Do you see yourself in any of these percentage groups?

Greener Grass

Now, more than at any other time in history, you have the freedom to express yourself creatively, and you don’t need to wait for anyone else’s approval. In a matter of minutes, you can be up and running as a blogger or hang out a digital shingle to sell your products or services online.

While the possibilities are exciting and enticing, keep in mind that the grass can look greener on the more creative or entrepreneurial side of the fence. Before you jump ship, it’s important to determine whether the type of work you’d like to do is a match with your ideal lifestyle.

Trade-offs

In the first chapter of my working life, I was performing around the globe – by all outward appearances a glamorous, successful, creative life. Over time, however, I realized that – while I loved singing and performing – the trade-off of living out of a suitcase, an ocean apart from family and friends, was one I was no longer willing to make. While there are many who thrive in careers on the road, I discovered that it was not the lifestyle for me.

You may clearly see the pros of doing a certain type of work, but it’s also important to understand the compromises you’d be making as well. While the highly creative ad agency job may seem more appealing than the corporate marketing position – the agency may require longer hours and lots of travel. Does that work for you? Entrepreneurial endeavors can be highly rewarding, but highly risky and stressful too. Do you like riskier ventures or the security of a steady paycheck?

Priorities

To help determine whether a more creative or entrepreneurial line of work is ultimately a match with your lifestyle, think about your priorities or values:

• Does this line of work provide the income you need?
• Will you have the hours for family, leisure time and sleep you require?
• Is the work a match with your personality? Are you an introvert or extrovert… follower or a leader…planner or more spontaneous?

Your answer may well be a resounding ‘Yes!’ on all counts, and that’s great. Many of the women I’ve coached over the years, and interviewed for my book This Is Not The Career I Ordered, have left corporate life to pursue more creative endeavors that have included entrepreneurship, and many have found the inherent lifestyle to be an ideal match.

On the other hand, many of my coaching clients have found creative fulfillment and their ideal lifestyle within corporate settings…or have been happy to pursue their creative interests as a hobby.

Different Ways To Express

Creativity can take many forms. While it can mean blogging, cartooning, acting, or decorating homes, it can also mean reconfiguring a company’s data network, designing a product line extension, or developing innovative lesson plans for third graders.

The bottom line is that creativity is about using your imagination to come up with new ideas, problem solve, and think outside of the box, and there is a need for that in every field – whether in a corporate, non-profit, or entrepreneurial setting. It all comes down to the type of work and environment that suits you best.

If you resonate with the CreativeLive study, and feel that the only way you can express yourself more creatively is to make a change – possibly leaving a corporate/ more traditional job – then take stock of your priorities. Knowing your lifestyle preferences can help you figure out the best fit for you on the road to a more creative life.