By Tom Coble
All of us, at one point or another, can relate to the awkwardness involved in dating. The purpose of dating is to expose yourself (legally) to as many people as possible with the goal of finding someone you want to marry.
Unfortunately for many, dating creates an attraction to individuals for the wrong reasons. Many people find themselves caught up in pursuing people who are socially or physically desirable and fail to look for those who match their values, interests, religious beliefs, habits, or character traits.
This applies to work as well. Some people pursue the wrong jobs just as others pursue the wrong mates. They are looking for status, money, competition, or for what everyone else thinks they should have rather than a role that is well suited to their values or gifts. When they pair with the should and the well-suited, it’s not a good match and they find themselves paired with the “wrong date.”
How can we avoid pairing with the “wrong date” when it comes to picking a job? We have to stop and ask ourselves two difficult questions:
- Who am I? Would this job utilize my skills in the areas I do best and enjoy most?
- Does it complement me? Would it support the kind of lifestyle I am trying to create and the values I hold dear?
Dating is the recruiting device in discovering what you do and do not want in life. Look at your needs, desires, expectations, character traits, values, and abilities in order to determine whether it is a match or not. You know yourself better than anyone and no one else can make these decisions for you. The dating game exists at work and in our daily lives. Some of us were successful at one and not at the other. Some of us were successful at both. And some of us have not been successful at either. Good luck.
