Career Discovery Chapter 1: Where to Begin
Written By: Nicole
Ever feel like figuring out a career path is like staring at an empty plate and being told to “just cook something”? No ingredients, no recipe—just vibes?
Welcome to a Career Discovery exercise (aka your new favorite exercise in getting un-lost).
This is the very first chapter in building a career you actually want. It’s where we stop guessing and start defining: your skills, your interests, and all the big and small things that light you up (or drag you down). This is your foundation. Like, the most-middle part of an onion.
Everything else you build—job search, applications, interviews, all of it—is going to sit on top of this. Because - what has Shrek taught us, kids? Onions have layers.
How do we start? Well, we start with you, baby!
A Long Time Ago In A Galaxy Honestly-Really-Not-So-Far Away
Make like the Star Wars opening crawl and think back to your past experiences. Jobs, volunteer work, internships, classes, side hustles. Grab a notebook, your Notes app, a napkin, and start reflecting. Don’t stop at titles and companies - note what you actually did on the day-to-day.
Ask yourself:
What are my past job experiences?
If you’ve worked multiple jobs in the same category (like food service, customer support, education), go ahead and group them. No need to get ultra-specific yet.What did I genuinely like doing?
This can be anything—core parts of your job, side projects, that one-off thing you helped your coworker with that weirdly made you happy. No detail is too small if it brought a twinkle to your eyeWhat do I never want to do again?
No shame here. Whether it was the tasks, the environment, the chaos, or the vibes (or what corporate would call ‘culture’)—it counts. Knowing what to avoid is just as important as knowing what to chase.
Likes and dislikes are your treasures. They tell you what to keep, what to ditch, and where the magic might live. Hold ‘em near and hold ‘em dear.
The WISH / WANT / WALK Method
Okay, snap back to reality aka The Present Day. Now let’s get dreamy and real.
WISH 💫
This is your permission slip to go wild. Dream big. What gets you giddy?
Six-figure salary?
Creative freedom?
Traveling the world?
A job title that makes your LinkedIn bio hotter?
Let your imagination run free. This is where your big, sparkly desires go.
WANT 🤩
Bring it down to Earth (a little). These are the things you want that feel realistic, achievable, and aligned.
A decent salary you can live on
Remote work options
Good health insurance
A manager who actually knows your name
These are your non-negotiables that still live in the land of possibility.
WALK - or RUN if you’re feeling spicy 🏃♀️
These are your hard no’s. What are you willing to walk away from, no matter how shiny the offer is?
A salary that doesn’t cover your bills
Toxic environments
Jobs with zero flexibility or benefits
Roles that drain the soul, even if they look good on paper
If it costs you your peace, it’s too expensive. Period.
If You Build It, They Will Come
With all of that info, you’ve basically got yourself a scaffolding of your Field of Dreams. At this point, one of two things may happen:
You start seeing patterns and getting clarity on what you actually want in your next job.
You’re already Googling job titles and saying, “Hot diggity dog… I think I know what I want to apply to.”
Either way, you’ve just laid the first (and most important) layer of your career foundation.
On The Next Episode of “Career Discovery”
In Chapter 2, we’ll take all this self-knowledge and talk more about how to connect the dots between “who you are” and “what’s out there.” Because yes, it is possible to build a career that fits you—not the other way around.
In the meantime, it may be helpful for you to go back and do this exercise one more time. For the chronic people-pleasers in the back - I see you 🫵 . I want to encourage you to get incredibly truthful with yourself. Pretend that no one will even see the most honest versions of these lists. You spend a lot of time at work. Honor yourself and your time because your future self with be grateful for that.
Your future self is already proud of you.
And we at Colorful Futures are Prada You too, boo 💗
