“Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” Mark Twain
We are constantly told to find and follow our passion. This is the only way to achieve real happiness. Finding your passion should be your life purpose.
And of course, that’s a great place to be. But what if you still haven’t found your purpose and your passion?
Some are blessed to know early in life what they’d love to do for the rest of their lives and start working on their dreams straight away. Others take a little longer.
If you still haven’t found your purpose and your passion do not despair. It’s not because you are doing something wrong, most likely it’s because you still have some important life lessons to learn.
If you keep searching for your passion, you will definitely find it.
So what can you do if you find yourself in a job you dislike and feel stuck?
Your first thought would be to leave and find something better.
That’s a great idea if you have defined for yourself what “something better” means. Otherwise, you will have a hard time.
Sometimes, we have life circumstances that don’t allow us to leave, no matter how much we would want it. So we have to keep doing that dreadful job for a while longer.
If that’s the case, I have a piece of advice for you.
Although it might seem counterintuitive you should act as if you’re not working for money, but you actually enjoy what you do.
That’s impossible you might say, you dread everything about your job.
I know how it feels, I’ve been there many times before.
The point with acting as if you work for pleasure and not for money is that if you do it long enough, eventually you will start believing it yourself.
It takes a lot of effort in the beginning, but the rewards are worth it. What helped me was a small change in perspective.
I stopped focussing on all the bad things in my job, the company I work in, my boss, my co-workers, and so on, because there is not enough paper in the world for me to write all that. Instead, I started focussing on one thing, one aspect of my job that I was very good at.
When you do something you are really good at, you feel a sense of achievement every time you do it. Your self-worth increases. You feel good about yourself. This state of mind is contagious and it can be sensed by the people around you.
Another great way is to start seeing your job from the perspective of learning skills and gaining experience to apply to your passion in the future. You never really know what skills and what knowledge will come in handy in life so strive for lifelong learning. Some of these experiences might even contribute to discovering your passion, so be open-minded.
If I still haven’t convinced you that this is a good idea, this next one will definitely do the job.
If you work like you need the money, and you make that clear as day, you give power over yourself to your employer and the people around you. If you work like you don’t need the money, it’s the other way around. You have the power, you can influence your employer and have things your way.
If your boss knows you need the money, he knows you will stay no matter what he asks you to do or how he treats you. On the other hand, who doesn’t want to be surrounded by people that are working with dedication and pleasure?
The takeaway
If you still haven’t found your passion and find yourself in a job you hate, start by acting that you work with passion like money is unimportant.
Start by focusing on:
- What aspect of your job do you love or you are best at?
- What skills and experiences can you learn at this job that will help you in the future?
Two things to remember:
- If you make it obvious that you work for money, you give power over yourself to those that hire you. If you work with passion (even if just acting as if), you keep this power to yourself.
- If you act long enough, you will start believing that you actually enjoy your job.