If you feel stuck in your career and are looking to change careers, here are some steps you can take to find your ideal career.

Have you ever felt stuck in your career? Employee stress and burnout can account for a lot of dissatisfaction in your life.

After all, you are at work some 8 hours a day or more. That's 1/3 of your day if you don't count sleep. That's a long time to be dissatisfied!

If you feel stuck in your career and are looking to change careers, here are some steps you can take to find your ideal career.

1. Brainstorm on a sheet of paper

Take a pad of paper and write down at the top your objective in question form. Then, simply list out 20 answers to your question. For example, you could write "What should I be doing with my time and life?"

Then stay seated for a half-hour to an hour coming up with answers to that question. The key to this exercise is coming up with 20 answers — don't quit until you have 20 answers. You can repeat this exercise every day until you get the answer you seek.

2. Ask your close friends

Sometimes our friends know us better than ourselves. While meeting with one of your friends, mention you are at a crossroads in your life and looking to make a career transition.

Ask them what they think you'd enjoy doing. You might be surprised at how easily they can zero into your strengths and abilities and recommend a dream job for you.

3. Ask your boss and coworkers

Much like your friends in the example above, your boss and coworkers most likely see you in a way you do not see yourself.

In fact, they are likely most familiar with your strengths and weaknesses in the work environment. Compile all the answers you get from them and see if there are any common threads you can explore.

4. Speak to a headhunter

If you're a job seeker, it's likely you have a resume. You can call a headhunter or recruiter during their slow times or meet with them to pick through what you might be good at.

Women can get free career counselling online from a professional career coach on the SHEROES app for women.

5. Take a career assessment test

There are several websites on the Internet where you can take a career assessment free or for a fee. Many headhunters have this software and don't mind you taking the test in their office

They will ask you to answer a series of questions about what you are good at, what you like to do, what you prefer doing over what you don't. If you take one, you'll likely see some new exciting areas to explore in your life.

6. Keep a journal

Do you keep a journal? If so, read through, looking for common threads in your writing. Keep your eyes peeled for trends and activities you like as well as don't like.

Finding examples of what you don't like and what frustrates you is almost as important as finding what you do like.

For example, if you hate an overwhelming or bully boss, you'd probably like a self-directed position. If you hate nosy coworkers you'd probably prefer your own office.

Discovering what you really want to do with your life is the most important decision you can make. We spend 1/3 or more of our lives at work, so you need to find out what activities or tasks give you true happiness when you're doing them.

Figuring out the right career is important to make sure that 1/3 of our lives are happy and productive. Learn what activities give you a sense of purpose and you'll figure out how to find your passion.

This 60-question free career quiz will give you a free report with advice that will help you find your dream job.

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