Every day my professor engages in conversations that aren't history related to get us talking. Today we were actually on the same page for once. He said, "the only incorrect thing my mother told me was don't worry whether you like the job or not, just worry about how much you'll make and you'll be fine. My mom was normally right about everything, but this I think she was wrong about."
He went on to talk about how he couldn't do something 40-50 hours a week if he truly hated it, and that's why he's a professor. He makes decent money doing something he enjoys. His wife, on the other hand, makes twice the amount of money but completely hates it.
Someone spoke up and asked, "why do people that hate their job not just quit?"
Well that, my friend, is an issue all in itself. First of all, the job search is miserable. It's not as miserable if you're a newly grad looking for your dream job, but if you're looking for a job to get out of a current one you hate, motivation is hard to find. This is why so many people stay in jobs they hate. The money is good -- certainly better than no money -- and looking for a "better" job is a lot of effort.
The goal, at the end of the day, for most people, is to find a job that you like enough to go to every day and make enough money to support the lifestyle you want to live.
My parents always taught me to follow my dreams, but the reality in the back of their head was that they wanted me to do something realistic. When I went to college, my dad's only rule was no psychology degree. At first, I was really upset about this, but I slowly realized that he was right. If you want to do anything in the psychology field, you need a master or Ph.D. which is entirely too much schooling for me. I want to be able to graduate and work in my degree with the choice to go back to school if I want to.
With everything I knew about working, I chose accounting as a major my freshman year of college. Realistic, right? As it turns out, I HATE economics. I know "hate" is a strong word, but I truly hate it.
I was super lost for a long time about what I wanted to do because I had "be realistic" carved into the back of my mind. Then, one day I was talking to my friend and she told me, "Just think, what do you really enjoy doing? What could you not live without?" and the first thing that came to mind was books. Writing. Reading. I'm obsessed with the written word. It was like all of a sudden my future was so clear.
I think the real goal in life should be finding a job that you truly enjoy so that it doesn't feel like a job; so working doesn't feel like work. Yes, you do have to be able to support yourself, but how awesome would it be to be able to do that while doing what you're passionate about?
I found my passion; what's yours?
