Of the many things I feel passionate about in life, job/career satisfaction always ranks high on the list. If you’ve read my “About” page, you already know that it was one of the main reasons I started a blog.
Even though the U.S. has a worldwide reputation as a land of opportunity and the potential to “live the American dream,” so many Americans are not living their dreams, especially when you consider that achieving the “American dream” tends to be more about racking up student loan debt, spending hours commuting to work and being owned by a company.
Now I’m not saying that we don’t live in the land of opportunity. I’m not an idiot – things are better in the U.S. than many countries and I’m by no means saying we don’t have it good. Even on the worst day, most Americans (although extreme poverty does exist in the U.S. too!) live better lives than people who live in third world countries and we’re so fortunate for that.
But that’s not what I’m talking about here. We all have daily responsibilities and need to pay the bills, and unless you’re a trust fund baby and born into wealth, it’s something that weighs heavily on everyone when choosing a career path and waking up every day to go through the daily grind of earning a paycheck. And if you don’t love (or even like) what you do, it can wear on your happiness real fast.
Are you doing what you love every day, or have you settled for a job that you barely even like? Do your interests and passions have to be part of your weekend hobbies because they’re not part of your everyday job?
If so, I want to encourage you to take a step back and think about what you really want in life and go after it. Sometimes it can be easy, like switching departments or roles at your current company, or asking your boss to put you on a different account or project that you really want to be a part of.
Perhaps you like your job but don’t like the company and need to leave. Or perhaps it’s going to require an even bigger leap because you want to change fields entirely, go back to school or become an entrepreneur. Whatever your dreams and ideal path might entail, you can do it. It takes hard work, determination and drive to find and follow our dreams, but isn’t it worth it? Why stay stuck in a job that is making you so unhappy?
Start thinking about it, brainstorm your next move and see what else is out there. Make it your mission to be able to live by the motto, “Do you what you love, love what you do.” It will transform your entire life.
