You know the supposed wisdom floating around out there: do a job you love and you’ll never work a day in your life, blah blah blah.
But is it true? Do you really need to love your job?
The answer, of course, is that it depends. Some people absolutely need to feel their work is meaningful, impactful, and personally relevant. Others simply need to feel competent and not to directly violate their values. And there are plenty of people somewhere in the middle of that.
So where do you fall on this spectrum?
Well, chances are good that one extreme or the other resonates a bit more with you. When you think about really loving your job, does it kind of make you smile? Does your heart feel lighter? Or does that seem really hard and kind of exhausting?
You can try it the other way around, too: does the idea of a job that’s just something you’re good at and that pays you enough seem like a relief? No more worrying about What You Love, no stress about Deeper Meaning? Or does that leave you kind of cold, wanting something else?
The truth is that you might flow back and forth between a couple of poles over the course of your life. For example, I often talk with burnt out teachers and people who have dedicated years to nonprofit work who just want a job that doesn’t have so much personal meaning. So don’t feel like what you decide has to be a forever choice.
As is usually the case with work, the things we choose are generally things we can un-choose when the time comes. It’s more work, sure, but the work is your own and it’s worth doing if you need a change. Wherever you are in life, you have options!
