Whether you are in the fifth year of your career, the fifteenth year, or at your first company or tenth company, once you've been at your current organization for at least two years, it's time to reflect on your first and second years. This evaluation will help you reflect on both your skills and competencies, your collaboration with your manager, your communication within the organization, and give you clues about how well you align with the company culture.

Why two years? Let me explain. The first year could have been spent adapting to the company, understanding, internalizing the company culture, and getting to know your colleagues. For a more data-driven, observational, and experiential evaluation, the second year will provide a more accurate picture.

Now, let's get to the questions…

1. Does your job help you become and feel like a better version of yourself?

The important point here is to question whether you are working in the right job for you (this is what we call person-job fit). Is the work you are doing aligned with your goals and dreams? Do you feel like you are using your skills, developing, contributing to society, working toward a purpose, and progressing?

• Do you spend time with your family?
• Do you have time when you are just with yourself? Do you allocate time for yourself?

The second and third questions are related to work-life balance, which I believe are the most critical ones. Are you a workaholic? Can you maintain a balance between work and personal life? Due to work pressure or the feeling of being overwhelmed, do you neglect yourself or your family? If so, do you feel regret or discomfort? Reflecting on how to manage this situation and achieve balance may be helpful. I know many people who, especially after the age of 45, look back at their life and realize they neglected their family and personal life due to work intensity, using the word "wish" frequently.

• How much do you enjoy your job? What percentage of it do you enjoy?

I have rarely met someone who answers this question with 90% or more. In my trainings or individual meetings, the general response is between 50% and 60%. What factors make your job enjoyable, and what could make it more enjoyable? What factors, practices, or changes could increase this percentage? At this point, it would be appropriate to use the "Job Characteristics Model." The following questions may also be helpful.

• Does your job allow you to use more than one skill?

These skills could be physical or mental. Is your job dominated by one skill, or do you use and develop multiple skills? In short, this question examines whether your job provides skill diversity. Can you add something of yourself to your job, and does it feel meaningful to you?

• How free/ autonomous/ independent do you feel in your job?

How much of your work requires direct instructions, guidance, or commands (I specifically used similar terms)? Do you feel free in your work, or do you feel restricted? Are you uncomfortable with this? How much discomfort do you feel?

Often, autonomy seems like a good thing, but if the employee doesn’t yet have the necessary qualifications, autonomy may not be effective. The employee may fear making mistakes, which could negatively affect performance and productivity. The opposite of this is being overly restricted. Feeling constrained or needing constant approval from a superior may prevent the employee from feeling responsible for their work, from experiencing it. This could lead to stress, low job satisfaction, low motivation, and even absenteeism.

• Do you receive clear, direct, and open feedback about your performance at work?

Feedback, or even feedforward, is a must in today's work environment, but unfortunately, it's often overlooked in many workplaces. Do you receive regular, clear, and logical information directly about your job outputs and the results of your activities (at least every six months)?

The answers to the last three questions should be objective and carefully assessed, just like the first four. Areas that are negative or need improvement should be identified, and requests for development can be made from team members, managers, HR, or senior management.

Moreover, actions to be taken based on the answers to the first four questions and situations that can be changed or revised are entirely in YOUR hands.

I would like to end my writing with a quote from Buddha…

"Your work is to discover your work and then, with all your heart, to give yourself to it."