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Occupational Wellness

Occupational Wellness is the ability to find fulfillment in work or chosen career fields while maintaining balance in our lives. Exploring different career options that relate to our passions is important because what we do for a living or what we’re studying in school takes up so much of our time. It’s important to find our passions to be able to successfully continue our work because when we are pursuing what we are meant to do, it provides a sense of fulfillment. 

Occupational wellness lets you apply your unique gifts, skills, and talents to work that is both personally meaningful and rewarding. Choosing a profession that aligns with your job satisfaction ideals, career ambitions, and personal performance goals is an important part of your path to achieving occupational wellness. 

What does Occupational Wellness look like? 
  • You’re doing work that you find motivating and interesting 
  • You understand how to balance leisure with work 
  • You’re working in a way that fits into your personal learning style  
  • You’re able to communicate and collaborate with others 
  • You can work independently and with others 
  • You feel inspired and challenged  
  • At the end of the day, you feel good about the work you accomplished  
Occupational Wellness in College 

College students often have jobs that might not be related to their future career field. This makes it important to find occupational wellness in the work you do for school. It’s important to ask yourself if what you are studying makes you happy and if you could see yourself working in that field in the future.

Even in the courses, you take that make you think, “This isn’t applicable to what I’m going to do in my life,” ask yourself what kind of skills you’re learning in that course. Most likely, there is something you can take away from it, whether a skill or a way to think about your future work in a unique way.  

As for jobs during school, you might ask yourself if you enjoy going to work most days and if you have a manageable workload. It’s important to find a balance between school, work, and your personal life. Again, occupational wellness is achieved when you can find fulfillment in your work while maintaining balance in the rest of your life.  

Improving Occupational Wellness 
  • Don’t settle, keep motivated to work towards what you want 
  • Remember that your career is a journey; enjoy it. Take satisfaction in your situation. You might be new to the field, but you can work your way up. 
  • Increase your skills and knowledge to advance your occupational wellness goals  
  • Find the benefits and positives in your current job/studies 
  • Create connections with your co-workers 
  • Take a break: avoid overworking yourself and find a work/life balance  
  • Enjoy what you do and do what you enjoy 
  • Write out your occupational goals and create a plan to reach them – then start working on the plan  
  • Talk to a career counselor if you feel stuck  
How to Find Your Passions 
  • Try asking yourself these questions: 
    • What subject could I read 500 books about? 
    • What could I do for 5 years straight without getting paid? 
    • What would I spend my time doing if I had complete financial abundance to do anything? 
  • If you can’t imagine not doing something for the rest of your life, it’s probably a passion of yours. 
  • List out the tasks/jobs you loathe doing. Eliminating these options might make your passions more apparent. 
  • Think about how you could combine skills you’re mediocre at. For example, if you’re decent at art and like humor, you could be a cartoonist.  
  • Try to visualize going to your dream job. Imagine getting out of bed, getting ready, and leaving home. Visualization can help you imagine where you’ll end up, or where that dream job could be. 
How to Find Your Skillset 
  • Try asking other people that you’ve worked closely with; sometimes trying to identify our personal skills ourselves can only be more confusing.  
  • Think back to your past achievements and commentary on your work. Have teachers or classmates commented on something you did well in your assignments or projects? If you notice trends in this, you might be able to identify some of your solid skills.  
  • If you were given a hypothetical project, which part would you enjoy most? Brainstorming? Planning it out? Putting it together? Measuring results? Which part would be the easiest to you? These things could outline some of your skills.  
  • If some of these options aren’t helping, there are lots of online skill finders you can take to try to narrow down what you’re good at.  

Resources 

Center for Careers and Professional Development
The Harrison, Suite 1100
817-257-2222
careers@tcu.edu

Dean of Students
The Harrison, Suite 1600
817-257-7926
deanofstudents@tcu.edu

Counseling & Mental Health Center
Jarvis Hall, Suite 232
817-257-7863
24/7 Counseling Line 817-257-SAFE (257-7233)

National Resources