How To Negotiate For A More Fulfilling Career — 5 Simple Tools

We’ve all experienced this at some point in our lives — a work experience that just doesn't excite us or give us the satisfaction we crave.

But, if you are no longer excited by your job and want something more fulfilling, what should you do?

Negotiate!

Here’s how you can use negotiation to get started on a more fulfilling career.

Get Clear on What You Want and Don't Want

When you are clear on what you want - it makes it easier to ask for it and get it.

While searching for a career transition, we often ask ourselves “What can I do that I’m good at?” Instead, we should be asking ourselves “What do I enjoy doing that I want to do more of?”

In order to actually obtain a more fulfilling career, you should distinguish between what you can do and what you want to do .

According to Lisa Lewis Miller , Founder of The Career Clarity Method, we should use a methodology called The Four Pillars of Career Fulfillment. These four pillars are strengths and gifts, personality traits and quirks, magnetic interest, and lifestyle needs.

While identifying the answers to these pillars, you should be thinking of things that excite you and bring you enjoyment.

Know Your Bottom Line

The next three questions you need to ask yourself are

1. What is most important to me?
2. What can I live without?
3. What can’t I live without

In any negotiation, you need to know your bottom line.

There will always be a give and take, but making your non-negotiables known will lead to a more successful outcome for you. Once you have an idea of what you really need, then you can work with your employer to try to mold your role to meet those needs.

If they aren’t willing or able to adjust, you may want to consider finding a new opportunity that better meets your needs and non-negotiables.

Negotiation is an information-gathering tool. You won’t know what’s possible until you ask.

Stop Telling Yourself That Work Can’t Be Fun

Some may feel that it is rebellious and revolutionary to think that we are allowed to enjoy and be energized by our work. It’s true that jobs are a necessary part of life, but we still have a choice on where we work and what projects we choose to work on.

If you're putting yourself in positions at work where you are drained and feeling generally unfulfilled, this can have a ripple effect that can last the rest of your life. It affects how you show up to your family, as a friend, as a member of your community, and how you show up emotionally.

Remember, you can negotiate anything! Be honest with yourself and others about what you enjoy doing and ask for more opportunities in those roles.

We owe it to ourselves to lean into the things that do align with our energy and with enjoyment.

Don’t Neglect The Negotiation With Your Family

People often miss the fact that the most important negotiations happen at home.

For example, your partner may not be on board with the career change. Your negotiation with them will include making them feel safe and helping them to see the situation differently.

This will take time so the moment you realize you want to make a change, begin planting those seeds to make it easier for them to get on board.

This is often the most difficult negotiation in the process but it’s also the most important.

Cultivate a Vision of Who You Want to Be

If you can imagine an inspiring and motivating vision of your professional identity, it makes it easier to reverse engineer and map the behaviors that it's going to take to bring it into existence.

For example, let’s say the vision that you cultivate for yourself is that of having a career that provides a greater sense of freedom and autonomy. From this point, you can reverse engineer back to ask yourself “what are the necessary conditions to make that possible?” Having a vision and a solid idea of where you want to go makes it easier to create an action plan to make it a reality.

Setting clear goals is an important part of the negotiation process. Don’t just think of what will satisfy you substantively, you need to think about your emotional needs as well.

Once you achieve that clarity,  it is easier for you to confidently advocate for what you want and need for your career.

By Kwame Christian Esq., M.A., Contributor