Choosing Careers as per Nature Paramount

While Jiva Ayurveda has been helping people maintain balance by increasing awareness of proper diet-lifestyle and through holistic healthcare, and Jiva Culture by shedding light on topics of spirituality, Jiva Education has been working toward this goal by delving into the dimensions in learning. Since our origins in 1994, we have explored the gamut of areas that comprise the entire spectrum of learning—from pre-primary education to professional development, creating all types of programs and tools for the various stakeholders in the learning process.

One of the aspects that we have been focusing on recently has been the topic of career choice, as we believe that when a person's nature matches his career, he derives a tremendous amount of happiness and satisfaction from his work. Like a contagion, the positive feelings generated during his occupational activity spread to others in his contact—to his colleagues, family members, and all others he encounters in his day-to-day life, creating a virtuous cycle.

The converse also holds true: those who are dissatisfied in their work infect others with their unhappiness, souring relationships in the office and at home, and perpetuating a cycle of negativity.

A recent occupational research study claims that 54% of all Indian professionals are dissatisfied with their jobs and are looking for a change. These are people who find what they do on a daily basis as irritating as wearing an itchy sweater, and can't wait to take it off—but in many cases, do not have the luxury of doing so. They live in constant anxiety, knowing that each day they must get up and do something all day long that they do not enjoy. And in order to compensate for their dissatisfaction, they adopt strategies that help suppress their stress: drinking tea and coffee, comfort eating, smoking, drinking, and even drug use—tactics that no doubt provide some temporary relief, but which, when sustained over a long period of time, lead to a variety of health and social problems.

The solution, therefore, is to help people right from the start get into professions that they enjoy so they can look forward to their work on a daily basis throughout their lives. Our desire to assist individuals in this process led to the development of an innovative approach to career selection that we have used successfully with over 30,000 people to date. It is based on the Multiple Intelligences-Multiple Natures (MI-MN) framework, which enables us to identify the personality traits within people, locate their strengths, and match them to careers that are based on those strong qualities.

In the coming issues of Paramayu, we will be exploring the MI-MN framework in greater depth. By doing so, we will provide you with ways of guiding your children into the right professions, as well as attaining greater satisfaction in your own work. Stay tuned for more!