While there may be no "recipe" for creating the ideal career, there are quality ingredients that help to make your career richly rewarding. Since each of us is a unique person with specific needs and wants, we can follow an overall guide as long as we personalize and customize it to suit us. Use the list of questions suggested in deciding on and gathering the ingredients for your "ideal career recipe." Be patient with the process. The ingredients are not easy to identify. And, just like cooking, it may take some experimentation to arrive at the perfect recipe. And, as with fine food, the process of creation can be as pleasurable as the final result. Bon a-petit!

Who am I?
The main ingredient in your ideal career "recipe" is you. Knowing yourself is the key to selecting all the other ingredients. Your answers to this question will help identify your skills, abilities, and values and reveal important relationships. For example, a response of one of my clients, "I am a wife who is described by my husband as a super-efficient Home Manager, a mother to two lovely girls who enjoy my fussing over them and a customer service executive who is often acknowledged as helpful." This clearly indicates a person who is efficient, caring and concerned both in her personal and professional life. Attributes many employers will be delighted to have. Remember, as you answer this question it goes beyond your occupation to tell you "who" you are, your values, personality, traits and attitude to those around you. You can 'translate' this to meaningful statements about your occupational profile if you have to describe yourself at an interview.

What am I passionate about?
A career without passion and meaning is like an ice cream sundae without any topping or decoration! Answering this question helps you recognize what gives spark to your internal fire. You can use these ingredients to add flavor and zest to your career. Perhaps the items you pinpoint will help you create a list for activities that makes your work challenging. Or you might sprinkle them into the mix to brighten your career when it has becomes dull. Focusing on your passion also pulls you through your career rather than pushing and prodding yourself to pursue a career you don't truly care about.

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