So what’s the impetus for our unrealistic expectations and subsequent career dissatisfaction? My work in talent recruitment has taught me that yes, sheer naiveté is one minor causes—but more heavily it is the lack of guided self-reflection that has many of us considering a misaligned career. In the same way that one shouldn’t force their size eight foot into a size six, many of us are trying to force our way into jobs outside of our true interests and skill set, creating overall work displeasure and thus, burn out.

In this tough economy, it’s hard to resist applying to any and every job, but landing an ill-fitting job has inevitable negative side effects.  It is far more important for any career to narrow your job hunt based on some serious self-reflection.

Before you continue your job search think deeply about the following:

1.    Reflect on your passions: For many this alone can seem like an overwhelming task. It doesn’t have to be. Think about it this way: When do you experience the most joy? As you reflect on your current or most recent job consider the parts of your day you enjoy the most and the least. What aspects of your work do you find motivating? What are the things you do outside of work that keep you balanced?  Identifying these things will often lead us closer to understanding our passions and extrinsic and intrinsic motivations.  Finding a job that aligns with these things is a win!

2.    Take inventory of your skills: What ‘tangible’ skills have you acquired through your career?  Are you a skilled communicator? Do you have management skills? Are you a strong project manager etc? An important distinction should be made between attributes and skills, as they’re quite different. Being an expert in PowerPoint is different than noting that you’re a patient person. As you seek your next job opportunity, make sure it aligns with the skills you enjoy using.

3. Where do you want to professionally develop? This question should not only incite reflection around self-identified weaknesses, but also other areas of development that may have been untapped given the nature of your previous work experience. Are you looking for an opportunity to manage adults, or for projects to push your skills in Excel? Look for opportunities that will strengthen your skill set and further you down the path to your long-term goals.  Neglecting this focus could lead to job dissatisfaction.

Thinking through the above tips is only a start. As we consider our various career paths, we must look beyond the idea of a fulfilling job, and more towards an opportunity that allows us to walk within our purpose.  The more aware we are of our gifts and passions, the closer we are to walking towards that which is innate to our success.

Jovian Zayne is a writer, photographer and occasional radio co-host in New York City.  Read more from Jovian on her personal blog Word Up Haay!. Join her on twitter via @jovizi for laughs, encouragement and your daily dose of quick wit.

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I grew up without cable. “There are better things to do than watch TV,” said my mother. So I read books, did arts and crafts, and found a lot of ways to be constructive without 790 channels standing in my way. Sure, I watched movies and the occasional TV show (I have babysitters to thank for the latter), but television was never a priority, and I think it’s been pretty beneficial in my adult life.

However, more and more often one hears, “My son/daughter LOVES [insert TV show]” and less and less often I hear “My son/daughter LOVES [insert book]!” What the hell? Where’d all the books go? They turned into educational DVDs, that’s where.

However, I’ve uncovered yet aNOTHER study (click here to read the first one) that says that the less time kids spend being couch potatoes, the smarter they are.  Says LiveScience,

Even infants zone out in front of the television, and it turns out this translates into less time interacting with parents and possible lags in language development, a new study finds.

“We’ve known that television exposure during infancy is associated with language delays and attentional problems, but so far it has remained unclear why,” said lead researcher Dimitri Christakis, director of the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development at Seattle Children’s Research Institute and professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine.

In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics discourages television watching before the age of 2, a time when critical development, such as language acquisition, occurs. (Christakis said a baby’s brain triples in size during the first two years of life, so there’s a lot going on in that little noggin.)

Not popping in DVDs doesn’t mean you have to have a ton of time to spend with your kids, either. My mom was a single mom, and we got along just fine. Just let the kids do what you do! If you’re reading, read out loud and follow the words with your finger. Or let them read with you. If you’re cooking, let them stir. You’ll find that you have more time to spend with your kids than you thought, and eventually they might prefer a good book instead of another episode of Spongebob.

CHILD SAFETY: A Guide