I had an email conversation yesterday with a friend who doesn’t love her job.
Well, she loves it sometimes. But on other days, it’s super stressful with long hours and not particularly fulfilling.
Now THAT's jumping out of bed in the morning.
This friend is a glass-half-full type, so whenever she’s feeling stressed to the max, she points out the parts of her job that she enjoys. I love her for that. That attitude is why we’re friends.
But this week she confided in me that she’s not sure she would love any job. Yes, she used to feel passionate about her work in a different field a few years ago, but maybe only young, starry-eyed workers feel that way, she rationalized. Maybe after a while, work is work.
No way, I wrote back. Why am I so adamant? Because I wake up every morning EXCITED to get started on my projects. (Right now that means Solopreneur Secrets.) Yes, seriously! I’m THAT psyched about my business.
Maybe my excitement will wear off over time… in which case I’ll have to switch up what I’m doing to spark it again. But being excited about your work is not limited only to the young, or any demographic, for that matter. That door is there for all of us.
If you’re wondering whether there’s more to be had in your career (or life), there probably is.
Restless souls tend to push their yearning under the surface by saying, “Oh, but I’m lucky to have a job at all,” or “But no job is perfect.”
Those are both true statements — but they’re also crutches. Not that I look down on those excuses; I used the same ones in my last job. When lots of things are great, but just one or two things are missing, we should be grateful for the great parts and ignore the rest, right?
In some situations, yes. But in plenty of others, the answer is no. The glass-half-full approach is fabulous as long as it’s helping you get where you want to be. When it becomes a crutch, when it morphs into an excuse to stick to the status quo, that’s when you have to get past it. That’s when you have to really push yourself to make a change.
How can you get to a place where that longing will be filled? How can you find true satisfaction? What baby step can you take TODAY to move yourself in that direction?
The truth is, I don’t even know where exactly I’m going with my career. I’m still feeling out which of my slashes will become more prominent, whether I’ll be able to make a living off digital guides and courses, and what my job might look like in five years. But I’m so excited about this course, mostly because I enjoy the work. I’m not sharing this with you to brag; I’m facing my share of challenges along the way. I simply want you to know that it’s possible.
“You will feel that satisfaction again!” I wrote to my girlfriend. “You just need to figure out how to get there.”
Want to learn more about my transition from working for an employer to working for myself? Sign up for Solopreneur Secrets.
~ Photo courtesy of Flickr’s Foxtongue.
I really needed to read this tonight. I’m just had this internal dialogue with myself the other day regarding my job. Right now I’m in a position that I worked really hard to get. I love the new challenges but there are some things that I’m really struggling with. Ultimately, I realized that being in this position is going to be a great stepping stone for me to advance my career and prepare me to take on projects that I really want to do in the future. But you’re right, it’s just one of those things that you’re just going to have to discern.
The hardest part is when you have had several jobs that just aren’t quite right. You start to think that you are the problem and that there may not be a perfect job for you.
There are also so many different careers now that didn’t exist years ago. We don’t just have to decide between business, accounting, law, or medicine etc. There are many varying degrees of each.
Happy I stumbled upon your site and blog! I love the quote: “If you’re wondering whether there’s more to be had in your career (or life), there probably is.” So true.
Thanks for sharing.
Alexis, I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching. I’ve been miserable at my last few jobs with those moments of sunshine few and far between. I’m an optimist, but even I’ve been wondering, “Is it possible to love your job?” I’ve consistently heard the “You just have to do what you gotta do,” and “Work is work.” Those answers seemed to hopeless and gloomy. They seemed to be comments people just passed around like a hot potato– as if they were passing around the phrase, “This is how it is. This is how it’ll always be.” I’ve just been hoping I wasn’t the one to get stuck with this phrase when the song ended. It’s misery on a stick! Thanks for bringing me encouragement to remind me that it’s possible!