Liz Brown is an assistant professor of Law, Taxation and Financial Planning at Bentley University and the author of “Life After Law: Finding Work You Love with the J.D. You Have.” This piece is adapted from a keynote Brown gave at Bentley’s Convocation 2015 for incoming first-year students.

After interviewing hundreds of professionals about career satisfaction, I have learned most people use the wrong criteria to choose their careers.

And I was one of them.

Seven years ago, I was a partner in an international law firm. I had a big title. I had a large salary. I was at the top of my game. And I was miserable.

So, I went out and talked to people who left the law for other careers. I found former lawyers who were management consultants and editors and rabbis and psychotherapists, and I asked them to tell me their stories of changing careers.

I realized they all had something in common: in their new careers, they were using the same skills they had in law, but had found a more fulfilling way to use those talents. As a result, they were much, much happier.

I learned that finding work you love requires knowing something about yourself that most people don’t: What you like being good at is what you should build your career on.

People change jobs regularly. Why? Because they’re chasing happiness. They’re looking for fulfillment in what they do and not finding it, because they are using the wrong guidelines. Too many people choose jobs based on money, what other people in their majors do, who they know, what corporate cultures sound sexy, etc. And those are all important. But what should guide your choice is where you can spend the most time doing what you love being good at. 

But how do you figure out what you’re good at? It’s not always easy. Here are three ways to uncover your potential:

 

1. Think About What You Do in Your Spare Time That Other People Find Valuable
   What things do you like to do, but don’t have to? What do you enjoy being good at?
   
   One of my former law school classmates, Valerie, landed a dream job after we graduated, working for an international law firm in Paris. She was making a lot of money and had a flexible schedule. But she hated her job.
   
   She found solace in pastry shops, visiting them, getting to know their owners and learning how to make good chocolate. And she loved it.
   
   Fast forward a few years, and Valerie moved to Chicago, and was working for another law firm. She hated that one, too. So she left to become a Mary Kay saleswoman and learned how to run a business.
   
   She used that experience to start a new company, Chicago Chocolate Tours, which took people on walking tours of chocolate shops. She had dozens of employees, offered tours in three cities, ran her business the way she learned to at Mary Kay and used the negotiation skills she learned in law school. Valerie built a career around what she loves being good at.
   
   Career satisfaction comes from doing what comes easily to you for and around people who value that skill.  
    

   Career satisfaction is doing what comes easily around ppl who value that skill - Prof @lizafterlaw

   TWEET THIS
   
    
2. Ask Your Friends and Family
   Turn to the people who know you best and ask them, “What am I good at?”
   
   Another former lawyer, Lisa, also disliked her job. What she really enjoyed was organizing — her friends frequently asked for help organizing their own homes. One evening, she was speaking to a friend, describing how much she hated the idea of going to work the next day. Her friend’s reply: “It’s a shame you can’t get paid for organizing things.” A light bulb went off.
   
   Soon after, she became certified by the National Association of Professional Organizers, and started her own organizing business. It was so successful that she wrote a book. She since developed her organizing practice into a life-coaching practice, going from sorting out people’s closets to sorting out their lives. And she is happier than she’s ever been.
    
3. Break Down Your Current Tasks and Activities Day by Day
   At the end of the day, ask yourself, “Which parts felt the easiest?” Note the moments you felt you were using your natural talents and tasks effortlessly.
   
   One of my interviewees, Will, used this kind of self-searching to find a career he loved. He is an excellent listener and the kind of guy who everyone turned to when they had a problem. He worked as a mergers and acquisitions lawyer and spent most days in a windowless room, which was torture for him.
   
   Will loved books and decided to work for Barnes & Noble. That makes sense, right? Except his work at Barnes & Noble was in sales, and he hates sales. That career wasn’t sustainable for him, either.
   
   So Will decided to get a graduate degree in psychotherapy. He started his own practice, which now has a substantial wait list, as well as a blog. He has complete control over when and where he works. He makes more money as a therapist than when he was a lawyer and is happier than he has ever been.

So you're tired of chasing happiness and want to actually find a job you enjoy. Where should you start? Think about the paths where what you enjoy intersects with what you’re good at. When you tap into a genuine passion, you’ll be amazed at how much more successful your career will be. And there is nothing like showing genuine passion for a job to persuade someone to hire you — there is no substitute for it.
 

You have a unique opportunity to create a more sustainable happiness for yourself, and the way to do that is to know what you like being good at. This powerful kind of knowledge is what we should all spend more time generating.

To hear more advice from Professor Brown, watch her TEDx talk given at Bentley in March 2015.