Remember that shape sorter toy? The one where you matched the shape to the hole? Remember how frustrating it was to try to push a square shape through a round hole?

That’s what a lot of us do when it comes to our career.

Many of us choose legal jobs based on salary, whether we are qualified, and commute time.

When we apply for jobs without knowing what shape we are, we tend to shape-shift during the interview process. Once we get the job, we continue shape-shifting until we reach a breaking point or settle for a low-grade misery. It takes a lot of energy to shape-shift.

At this point, we may not know what shape we are, but we know we’re not a match for our current role.

In this example, our shape is determined by our strengths and values.

We can discover these through assessments like the VIA Character Strengths Survey as well as by answering questions like:

When have I enjoyed my work? What was I doing and with whom? What about the work made it enjoyable?

When have I dreaded my work? What was I doing and with whom? What about the work made it unfulfilling?

At my last firm, I attended a professional development training where the facilitator asked us to write a sentence with our non-dominant hand three times and then with our dominant hand three times.

Afterwards, she asked us to reflect on the experience. She said writing with our non-dominant hand is like doing work that requires us to operate outside our strengths. Writing with our dominant hand is like doing work that aligns with our strengths.

This was an aha moment for me.

We had just completed a Clifton Strengths Assessment and our results were displayed on a large screen. Privately, the facilitator commented to me at how different my results were from the other lawyers.

Suddenly, everything started to make sense.

I had tried multiple practice areas and always felt like the actual practice of law (as opposed to professional and client development, which I enjoyed) was a push, something I had to force myself to do, rather than a pull, something I felt internally motivated to do.

I had spent 15 years as a square peg trying to fit into a round hole.

When we know what shape we are, we can make a more informed decision about whether a career or job might be a good fit.

If most of the time your work feels like you’re writing with your non-dominant hand, consider identifying your strengths and values and comparing them to your current role.

I share links to these assessments and much more in my free Career Alignment Map.

I’d love to hear from you. When does your work feel like you’re writing with your dominant hand? When do you experience a sense of ease and flow in your work?