Do you find the job you love OR do you love the job you have...
I had the most amazing and insightful conversation with a coworker today.
We were talking about job opportunities and about the importance of finding a job that fit with his passions and interests, a job that could love.
He halted me in the middle of my pontificating and said, I know that that is what most people are after. They are all trying to find that job that makes them happy, that job that they could love. (At this point he had me Hook, Line and Sinker...)
He said, my parents in our culture raised me up to not find the job I'd love, but to instead love the job I have.
There.
Do you catch the subtle difference?
If you do, you'll see it's beauty.
In North America we have indeed become very fixated on finding that special thing that will make us happy, be it a job, a significant other, a car.. you get the point. All of these things are external to ourselves and the problem is they are all going to decay. Jobs lose their lustre, significant others if you don't carefully take care of the relationship, tarnish, and cars, well as soon as you've bought it it's on the way down.
I LOVE his way of thinking.
It is completely up to you!
You get to hold the responsibility for the love of your job!!
It's not up to someone else. It's not even up to the job...
It's only up to you.
If you get your head screwed on straight, you can be happy doing any job.
That is what I learned today.
Hao Jin, thanks for teaching me this valuable truth!!
one day ill know this feel
ReplyDeleteI really LIKE your post Jordan. Let me give you my quick take on this and please remember I am not saying I am right or someone is wrong. I am just pointing out a few facts that represent me and I will never change:) 1. I am an American from Chicago 51-years old. I think it is important to find the job you love. I've met many good friends for example: Poland and they work very hard for trying to love their job they already have. These are Polish people in Chicago about 15-20 years ago. Now I'm living in Bangkok, Thailand since 2001. Much different culture and attitudes towards careers. But my beliefs haven't changed a bit.
ReplyDeleteNice post :)
ReplyDeleteSee my Mantra on Pinterest to complete the thinking full circle:
"Do what you love and focus on people who love what you do"
http://pinterest.com/pin/155937205817890477/
It goes along the lines of Confucius: Seek a job you wholeheartedly love and you will never work a day in your live.
I was 26, when I heard about it - and never worked another day in my live :)
Axel
http://XeeMe.com/AxelS
P.S.
thx 4 the mission
Hi, thanks for that blog post and mission. I think where things break down is when it's impossible to love your job - for example, I was transferred to a new boss in my old job who made my life miserable. I simply couldn't work hard enough for his satisfaction, and he began micromanaging me and setting me up to fail. I couldn't do anything right by this guy, whereas my previous boss had always given me good reviews. If a boss writes you off and wants to get rid of you, it's next to impossible to turn the situation around.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely true. The guard is changing -- we're all free agents now. Whether you are a salaried employee or self-employed, real job security is getting hard to come by these days. It IS important to be happy doing what you love, but IMO it's even more important to be your own best advocate and go after what you believe you deserve. Happiness can factor in there as well. : )
ReplyDeleteEven in a bad situation, you can still make the most of it. Instead of fixating on how you're being treated badly, instead start a job search and do your best where you are until you move on. If you can't love your job, love yourself and focus on what you can learn from the experience -- even if it is only how NOT to manage people.
ReplyDeleteNice post.
I can chime in too. There are too many risks in changing jobs these days: you think you're moving on to something more fruitful (better pay, better work hours, better recognition of your time etc) but sometimes you may have just left the one job that you could have made a difference with. I'm not saying I'm disappointed I moved on, but something tells me it had more to do with a career change than it did with actually changing employers.
ReplyDeleteWhen you love what you do, you can go far :-)
ReplyDeleteAgreed agreed agreed agreed AGREED! It is what you make of it! Ultimately it's going to be what you BRING to the work, and not what it offers you, that leads to fulfillment.
ReplyDelete