A career path that fits your needs, personality and lifestyle while giving you full autonomy over your work, one that provides you with a supportive environment and pays you a boatload of money.

A tall order.

So like a caring teacher would do, I oblige… and attempt to cram hours of meaningful career counselling into one definitive answer.

I fail miserably.

And my students end up even more confused than before.

Choosing the best career path takes a lot of time, experimentation and self-awareness.

Some lucky ones get it right early. Some never get it right at all.

The reason why this is a concern to many of us is that we all want to experience some degree of meaning in our work.

We want to thrive and be successful at the kind of work that makes us happy.

If we’re fortunate, we get to do work that makes a difference – not just to ourselves but the people around us.

Regardless of whether you’re in the early phase of exploring different jobs or you’re having a mid-career crisis and want to make a transition, here’s a simple framework to help you.

I call it the ‘DREAM’ Framework.

5 Questions To Help You Choose The Best Possible Career Path

The ‘DREAM’ framework is a simple thought process to help you think about what truly matters in choosing a career.

Answering these questions thoughtfully builds self-awareness – which can be profoundly helpful in choosing a suitable path at this stage of your life.

D – DESTINATION: Where do you want to be in the next stage of your life?

First of all, decide right now – do you want a job or a career?

A job is a short-term occupation where you trade in your time and skills for money.

A career is a long-term occupation where you build your own unique set of competencies in a given profession.

There’s nothing wrong with wanting just a job. And there’s nothing wrong with wanting a career.

The most important thing is to know what you actually want.

If you want a career, begin with the end in mind.

Some people like to think about their life in phases of 5-10 years. Some 20-30 years.

I personally like to think about two critical phases: the peak of my career (the climax) and the end of my career.

Your age, gender and stage of life matters as well.

What’s next for you?

Are you thinking about getting married and starting a family? Or paying for your kids’ college education?

And that will lead into the next question.

R – ROLE: Who do you want to be?

Person A is planning to be a mother in the next 5 years. Person B is planning to lead as the Chief Financial Officer of his company in the next 5 years.

Person A and B will have very different career trajectories – because of the role they envision themselves in.

So think about who do you want to be?

Do you want to be a full-time entrepreneur, travel the world and build your empire?

A stay-home mom who runs a profitable e-commerce business?

A self-employed consultant who does part-time stand-up comedy?

A tai-tai who spends her time building an impressive real estate portfolio?

The more specific you are about the role you want to play, the higher the likelihood of you being satisfied with your next career move.

E – ENERGY: What energizes you?

Energy is an important component to doing meaningful work.

Many people are unhappy with their jobs because just the thought of going to work saps the life out of them.

Every line of work will have its ups and downs. It’s called ‘work’ for a reason.

But just because your work is challenging, doesn’t mean it has to drain your energy.

When we are energized – we feel alive.

And this sense of ‘aliveness’ gives us the motivation, drive, discipline and confidence to take on challenges.

If you take the train in the morning at rush hour, you’ll see many walking ‘zombies’ going to work every day.

Maybe you’re one of them (oops!).

But regardless, knowing the type of work that energizes you can be a strong indicator of the kind of work you should be doing.

Are you more energized when you have to interact with people or when you’re working alone in private?

Are you more energized when you improvise constantly on-the-go or when you follow the same routine daily?

Are you more energized when your work requires you to use more of your head or more of your heart?

It’s also okay to know that your profession may not necessarily energize you.

But it has to provide you with the time and resources for you to do what ACTUALLY energizes you, outside of work.

A – ABILITY: What are you really good at?

In the book ‘So Good They Can’t Ignore You’ by Cal Newport, the author explains that the reason why people feel ‘passionate’ about what they do is that… they’re really good at what they do.

Competence breeds confidence.

In the long run, skills will always pay higher dividends than motivation.

So when choosing a new career path, a good strategy is to choose a path where there’s a chance you can succeed early.

How you can do that is to create an inventory of the skills, talents and abilities that you already have – and find a track where you can use as many of them as possible.

By having small wins in the beginning, you build confidence not just in yourself, but also makes your peers and superiors confident in you.

This will put you at a great position early in the game.

M – MASTERY: What skills do you want to develop?

Knowing what you’re already good at will get you a headstart in the game.

But knowing where you want to excel will help you last until the end.

After having an inventory of your skills and abilities, which among them (or which not among them) are the ones that you want to master?

Different career paths facilitate the mastery of different skills.

What kind of skills – if you master them – will give you the most satisfaction as an individual?

And what kind of skills are you most committed to develop and excel at?

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The DREAM framework is simple but can be profoundly revealing.

Take the time to answer the questions, you’ll discover many things about yourself and the type of work that you may be suited to.