17 Questions to Ask Yourself to Find Clarity in Your Nursing Career
It is incredibly frustrating to feel like you’re not in the right career, especially after you paid $30k+ on a formal college education.
I wound up in nursing school with little thought to what I truly wanted in a career. I was too young to really know myself then. I also unnecessarily felt like I needed to make an immediate decision about what I wanted to do with my life.
I became a nurse, started my first job, and quickly developed a maybe-this-career-isn’t-for-me mindset. I felt like I had no purpose even within a steady career, and over time, this developed into stress, overwhelm, and burnout.
So when you’re in that situation, you feel stuck or drained by your current position and don’t know what to do next, how do you find clarity and move forward with direction and purpose?
It’s a complicated question because we are complex people, and we don’t always know what we want or what direction we should go in.
When you feel drained, stuck, dissatisfied, or directionless, dive into discovering a little about yourself and what inspires you. When you spend time becoming more self-aware, you’ll be able to find clarity, purpose, and a path leading you to a life you love to live.
How to move forward when you lack clarity:
There’s no doubt finding clarity in your career will be life-changing, but the path to clarity will require some work.
The idea of “moving forward” sounds easy enough, but when you’re in the midst of feeling stuck, unfulfilled, and directionless, moving forward feels burdensome and out of reach.
Try not to let a stressful situation distract you from the real work - the inner struggle of figuring out who you are and what brings you purpose.
3 Key Elements to Clarity:
Willingness to develop self-study practices: The willingness to learn more about yourself will lead to more harmonious interactions with yourself and your community. Self-study practices can be activities like meditation, yoga, journaling, or reading.
Variations of self-study practices will naturally arise since everyone is different. For example, there are many different ways to journal, but you’d still benefit from journaling regardless of how you do it.
Acceptance of self, strengths, + areas of growth: A growth mindset is the self-perception that with time, effort, and perseverance, skills can be cultivated and improved.
By understanding that both strengths and weaknesses are not unchangeable, you have a better chance of making the necessary changes to improve your circumstances.
Therefore, by implementing a growth mindset into your life, you will develop the skills you need to find clarity and allow you to move forward even when it feels impossible.
Courage to make changes + resiliency to try again: Develop a sense of resiliency so when situations inevitably don’t work out the way you want them to, you don’t immediately shut down and give up. You do have the power to make that choice every day.
Will I give up? Or will I get up and try again?
Nurses are inherent problem-solvers; finding clarity in your career will require problem-solving. You already have the skills you need to live a life you love, you just have to cultivate the courage to make the necessary changes.
You can do hard things; I know this because you already do hard things every day, and it’s never stopped you before.
17 Questions to Ask Yourself for Career Clarity:
Why?
Why did you initially decide on nursing?
Why do you feel drained by your current position?
Why have you stayed in your current position?
Where?
Where can you make mindset shifts to improve your attitude toward your current job?
Where do you see yourself in 5 years if you stay in your current job?
Where do you see yourself in 5 years if you follow your intuition?
What?
What are your strengths and weaknesses in your current position? List 3 each.
What about your work are you most proud of right now?
What about your current work fills you up, brings you joy, and sparks inspiration?
If allowed to design your ideal position, what responsibilities would you choose, and what type of work would you be doing?
What values matter most to you? What are you willing to give up?
Who?
Who inspires you, empowers you, and supports you?
Who do you want to be, regardless of your job/career?
Who can help you have an honest conversation about your career and help you stay accountable for your goals?
How?
How are you sabotaging your success?
How do you celebrate yourself and your small/big wins?
How would you respond to someone in a similar situation asking for advice?
RELATED: How to Find Inspiration Again After Nurse Burnout
The nursing industry isn’t what you expected?
Your nursing career may differ from what you expected when you decided to become a nurse, and that may cause you to feel directionless and burnt out.
Sit in those feelings but don't allow them to overwhelm you. Instead, discover what about your current circumstance inspires you and how you can change your mindset to improve your outcome.
Answering more and more questions about your personality will bring you the self-awareness you need to discover your path to clarity, career satisfaction, and purposeful living.
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