Life is too short to be stuck in a job day-after-day that you don’t enjoy. Most of us spend at least 40 hours per week in the work place and potentially another 10 (maybe more?) hours commuting to and from it. Let’s say that, on average, you sleep for 7 hours a night, then your 5-day work week stacks up like this:
- 5 days = 120 hours
- 5 nights of sleep at 7 hours per night = 35 hours
- 5 days of awake time = 85 hours
- 5 days at work including commute = 50 hours
- percentage of awake time spent at work/commuting for work = 60%
If you are not doing a job you love, 60% of your week is a lot of time and effort to be dedicating to it. So how do you move closer towards doing something you love? Well, it begins with understanding how you got to where you are, and that means talking about what you wanted to be when you grew up.
Big Dreams
As a child, you were probably asked what you wanted to be when you grew up. The usual suspects are doctor, nurse, fireman, pilot, hairdresser, teacher, or policeman. What do these professions have in common? They all serve others. As children, we get greatest enjoyment out of helping others, connecting, and sharing what we have. Just watch young children play and want to fetch and carry for each other or share their food, or help mum around the house.
When you were a little older, you might have moved into the more imaginative group. Did you want to be an astronaut, author, singer, movie star, or football player? These all have a particular talent at their core – a gift that you are sharing with the world. We only become more aware of our unique skills and talents by being exposed to various experiences either through our educational or social pursuits (many of which follow our parents’s desires). Such preferences are another of our natural inclinations – to contribute and share the best of what we have with others.
Big Dreams vs. Harsh Reality
And now look at the profession you have chosen to follow. Does it bear any resemblance to what you wanted to be as a small child, or as a slightly older child? Are you helping others or sharing one of your natural gifts or talents with the world? If you are, you are probably doing what you love. If not (and most of us don’t), you are probably a long way off from doing something you love. The good news – it’s not too late.
Getting Back to Your Career Dreams
Here are some questions to get you started:
- What did you want to be when you grew up? How did that change as you got older?
- As a child or teenager, what were you doing when it was time to go to bed and you wanted to stay up longer?
- What did you lie to your parents about when you didn’t think they would approve of what you were doing?
- What do you enjoy doing now? What would you take time off work to do?
- What do you get recognised for at work and/or in your performance evaluation?
- If you didn’t have to work to earn money to live, what activities would you be doing instead?
Share Your Insights
I look forward to hearing back from you about what you discover about yourself.
Your First Stepping Stone
Read more about my From Job Adversity to Career Prosperity programme here and contact me for a free 1-hour coaching session to start your journey to reconnect with your career dreams.