“Only when we find a job we love, we will excel and be successful effortlessly.“
Work-life balance is a myth
One-third or even half of our time in life is spent on work. Work is an inseparable part of life. And whether you are happy in a position would hugely affect whether you are happy in life. That’s why finding a job that you feel fulfilled and happy about (despite the fact that it may require hard work) is important.
Prima facie, it may sound ironic to be happy and work long hours at the same time. Let put it this way, would you like to play your favorite games all day long? Or would you like to spend more time on (whatever your hobby is)?
When you truly enjoy doing something, you experience fun and fulfillment in the process. You wouldn’t want it to end. You want to spend as much time as you could on achieving a higher level in the game. By the same token, if you find the right job that you experience fun and fulfillment, the last thing you would notice is the hours.
To achieve ‘success’ in any field, hard work is a must. Yet, long hours do not necessarily mean you will do well, especially if you do not put your heart and soul into what you do.
If success has any formula, it would be:
hard work + right opportunity + right people + right time = success
And the right job for you is the right opportunity.
The wrong job is like bad marriages
If you are in the wrong job, you don’t feel understood. You feel bad. You don’t feel attracted to the work itself. You don’t have fun and fulfillment in the process. And it’s easy to have conflicts (either within yourself or with others). It will have a significant effect on your happiness.
The wrong job is not unlike a bad marriage.
When we look for jobs, we look for those who can pay attractive salaries with “good-looking” packages such as annual leave, medical benefits, etc. In marriage, we look for those who look attractive with “good-looking” packages such as educational background, family connection etc.
Similar to a bad marriage, the wrong job can ruin us — causing emotional disturbance, stress, self-doubt, depression, misery etc.
That’s how important it is to find the right job and it is not an aspect that we should compromise or settle.
Perhaps that’s why I keep jumping from job to job in search of ‘the right one’.
“How I changed 3 Jobs in 4 Years in Search of Job Purpose”
The criteria for choosing a job
Market demand? Personal expertise?
Many say you have to find a job where your personal passion and expertise meet the market needs.
That’s largely theoretical because market needs will change.
A decade ago, IT experts were highly in demand but not anymore now.
A few years ago, financial advisers and stockbrokers were in high demand, but not anymore after the financial crisis (in fact, a lot were laid off).
No one can predict the future. Besides, it takes time to become an expert in a field (studies say 10000 hours), so it is impossible to catch up with the market needs when it becomes apparent.
Salary?
Working for money may be unavoidable given the financial stress and burden in this day and age. While money could be a consideration for choosing a job, you would have a better chance of landing a job that you really love if you view money as the side effect and by-product.
Money is like the child of your marriage with the job that you love. If you love the job, the money will come naturally.
Passion?
If you have seen me another article on “What Keeps Us Going is Not Passion, But This…”, you would understand that passion wouldn’t last. Passion may have got us started but it fades after the honeymoon period.
Passion is a feeling. And feelings are fleeting. It wouldn’t maintain the same level of heat unless with consistent conscious effort. If one relies on feeling to fuel their work or relationship, it won’t last for long. This is because passion is a high energy state of mind. Our natural tendency is to relax and save energy. So, we won’t be able to keep feeling passionate throughout the year and more.
So how to choose a job you love?
If it is not market demand, salary, and passion, how would you choose a job you love?
Or should I ask: how would you choose the person you love, who you are going to spend the rest of your life with (regardless of time changes, the passion fades, health conditions, financial stress, etc)?
Trial and error.
Sadly, there is no fast rule or formula to filter the jobs for you.
You only know what you love or don’t love by trying (by dating). The key is to get rid of what you don’t want fast once you reckon that this is not something right for you.
No experience is ever wasted because either you find something you love or you find something you don’t love so that you can move on.
Just one thing we have to be careful about is when we hit bottleneck — obstacles on the road which we may not like but they help us get stronger and wiser. While we don’t enjoy obstacles, this should not be mistaken as dislike for a job. After surviving through the storm, the sky will always be brighter. Distinguishing between difficulties and what we do is crucial.
The right job doesn’t necessarily mean the easiest job for us, but it is one that we want to dedicate our life to.
