Niche Clarity Program

Career Article

Are You a Native or Exotic?

How are you feeling in your work environment these days? How did you feel in your last job?

To create a career that fits your true nature, you must identify where you feel most at home in your work environment. The plant world gives us a wonderful way of looking at this.

Plants at Home in their Environment

In nature each plant has evolved to thrive in a particular environment with specific characteristics: temperature, soil, sunlight, and water.

When a plant is well suited to its environment, it's called a native. A plant that is a native is hardy, resistant to the diseases and pests in the area, and grows easily. As a result, it doesn't need much extra attention to thrive and grow beautifully.

If this same plant is taken to a different climate, one with different temperatures, soil and amounts of rainfall, it becomes an exotic. In this case, the plant requires special watering, a protected environment, and additives to help it withstand the diseases and pests in the area. And, even then, the plant may just eke out an existence, barely surviving and certainly not thriving.

An orchid in a tropical environment survives and flourishes where ever it finds itself without any help from a gardener. An orchid in a hot, dry climate is an exotic that needs support to survive. Only those with special knowledge and skill can help these plants thrive in a non-native environment.

Notice that the plant didn't change. The plant has the same needs, strengths, and weaknesses where ever it is trying to grow. The key is the environment. Does the environment naturally provide what the plants need? Or does the plant need external help to survive?

How Do You Fit Into Your Environment?

Think about your natural way of being in the world. Not how you are because your workplace, your boss or your spouse require it, but who you are when left to your own devices. Perhaps you are creative, intuitive, or logical in your thinking. Perhaps you love to have beauty around you where ever you are.

Now ask yourself whether you are a native or an exotic in your daily environments -- your workplace, your relationship, your friendships, your church, your home.

If you spend a great deal of time and energy keeping yourself going you may be playing the role of an exotic. As a result, the resources you would normally devote to growth in new directions you must expend to ensure your survival.

What characteristics of your surroundings allow you to feel comfortable, at ease, happy? When you know more about the environments that help you thrive, you can make choices that transform your world into one in which you are a thriving native!

Observe yourself at work and in life to discover the sticky points--the points that require an extra push on your part-- and then see what subtle changes and choices you can make to feel more at home in your work and life.

Questions You Can Ask Yourself: Where are you a Native?

While working with clients in career change over the last ten years, I've learned that each person has their own way of moving through the world. Their personal style has a direct relationship with the environment that works best for them.

Unfortunately most people don't know what elements of their workplace allow them to feel most at home. For the most part they've ignored their personal needs to fit into the environment that's standard in their industry. Use the following questions to look at your situation from a new perspective.

1. Do you thrive in a setting that is noisy or quiet? When you work, do you prefer the hum of machines, the murmur of a crowd, the sound of classical music, or the sounds of nature? What sounds do you enjoy when you have time off?
   
2. What is your natural pace? Do you move quickly and energetically or do you proceed in a slow and steady pace? Does your task vary depending on the task you are working on? Do you like a workplace that's driven by a quick intense pace or are you at your best when you can focus on the task at hand?
   
3. What is the size of your ideal work group? Do you like to be part of a large team working together to reach a goal? Do you prefer to be responsible for one piece of the process and pass your results on to the next person? Are you most fulfilled when you work alone? Do you like some interaction with a team?
   
4. How does lighting impact you? Do you need a well-lit work area? Do you enjoy natural light from a window? Do you like soft lighting.
   
5. When you walk out of your workplace what do you like to find? Bustling city streets? A path for walking? Easy access to your car? Restaurants within walking distance? A source of water and a grove of trees? Amenities such as your bank, the dry cleaners, a gym?

Although you may not be able to have everything you want right now, knowing your preferred environment helps you make new choices when opportunities arise.

What Does Stuck Look Like?

In each Career Clarity Tips newsletter I'll include a section to help you determine whether you are stuck in your quest to create a more meaningful career.

If you find yourself becoming resigned to the fact that "this" is as good as life gets, beware! Although a dramatic career change may not be possible at this point, it is possible for you to begin enhancing your situation. You may focus on your self-esteem, your participation in activities that allow you to express your passions, or enhancing your responsibilities at work.

Keep reading this newsletter for more ideas about things you can do to shift your view of your life. May your journey be one of delight and discovery!

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