While there’s no such thing as a perfect job, what’s important is that you’re able to build a career you’ll be sticking to for the long term; something that you’ll always love doing; something that makes you proud.

So how do you make that happen? How do you find a living that you’ll be passionate about and brag about at the same time? Take a look at these tips!

Don’t force yourself to keep doing what you hate doing
Yes, you can’t afford to lose your job because you need to pay the rent, buy food, pay credit card bills, utilities and so on. But who says you have to stick to the job you hate just to be able to pay these things?

To find a career you’ll forever love, one of the first things you need to do is to keep in mind that you don’t need to do something you hate just to get a good paycheck. Yes, you can find your passion and get good pay at the same time. It is possible.

Think about what fulfills you
The kind of job that makes you proud is, more often than not, the same job that you will find fulfilling. So if you want to end up with a career you’ll be proud of, it’s important that you go back to what you’re passionate about. Ask yourself what you love doing; something you will continue to enjoy doing even in the years to come. Maybe it’s time that you take chances and pursue your passion.

Know where you want to end
How do you envision the end goal of your career? What do you consider as its peak? A time when you can finally tell yourself that you have reached your ultimate career goal?

Identifying the answers to these questions is important because it will help you identify the first steps you need to take and the succeeding strategic steps to follow.

Identify your strengths
Pursuing a career that largely makes use of your strengths and skills you already have will make work feel less like work. Knowing you’re good at what you do will give you more reasons to be excited about it. It will increase your motivation as well as your sense of pride.

Create a strategy
Now that you have a career goal in mind, it’s important to remember that the steps you will need to take along the way may not always be what you want. To be where you want to be, you may need to do entry-level jobs and build your skills and gather experience, and that’s okay. Just do your best in everything you do and make use of every opportunity for your own growth and advancement.

Not everyone gets lucky to end up with a career they’ll be proud of. But the choice is always yours to make. It’s all a matter of making it happen.