If you are like the majority of accountants and professionals you are more than likely going to spend more time at work than anything else during the hours you are awake.

As you get more senior the more you are likely to be working.  I know this because I’m an accountant and been there in the past.

What I’ve noticed among accountants and professionals is that they are ambitious.

They have invested a lot of time and effort in getting professionally qualified.  And they want a return on that investment.  Nothing wrong with that.

Most (me included) follow the same pattern of climbing the career ladder, earning more, having more responsibility and accountability.

The sense of achievement when it’s all going well is fantastic.  The lows when it’s a huge struggle is often more of a challenge.

You may have asked yourself periodically what you want from your career.  While it’s a good question to ask, it’s likely to result in the typical responses like:

• Challenging work
• The opportunity to learn
• A good salary
• A good benefits package.

There’s nothing wrong with the above but they are very generic.

Consider a different question.  What would excite you in your career?  The difference with this question is that it elicits a more detailed answer and also taps into your intrinsic motivations (the things you do because you want to not because of the reward).

You might come up with things like:

• To have a lot of variation in the work I do and only a small proportion of routine
• Being part of projects that don’t just focus on the business as usual but fundamentally changes the way the business operates and the results achieved
• Having freedom around when and how I get the work done
• Doing work that focuses on something that really matters on a much wider scale.

Truth is you are unique.  So what is it that would excite you when it comes to your career?