I’ve only had two “real” jobs in my entire life. The first was as a hospital janitor, hauling around body parts and garbage in big gray carts whenever I wasn’t mopping or buffing floors. The second was as a barista at Starbucks. I passionately hated both jobs.
Why? Because I’m an inherently creative person. I feel most at home when I’m writing blog posts, playing music, creating designs or brainstorming novels. I don’t think it’s possible to get any further from creativity than taking a job as a janitor or a barista. You’re just taking orders and selling your sweat.
But did I really hate those jobs? Or did I hate that I was smothering my creative side?
Scapegoat Jobs
Doing what you love is actually hard work. It takes quite a bit more effort and more motivation to create something you absolutely love than it does to follow orders for a paycheck. This is one of the reasons people keep jobs they hate. In fact, I believe this is the reason people convince themselves that they hate their jobs. It’s the perfect scapegoat.
Why haven’t you written that novel you’ve always talked about? Why aren’t you baking as much as you’d like? You’ve always wanted to learn how to play the guitar, why haven’t you? Whatever your goal is, if you’re employed the excuse tends to be, “I just can’t find the time.” You spend so much of your day at your 9-to-5 that you just can’t possibly fit in all the things you want to do. Right? Well, ask yourself this:
How long will it actually take you to do the thing you want to do?
If you’re anything like me, the things you most want to do can be accomplished in small chunks that might take 10 to 30 minutes. If you watch any television at all, if you take any kind of break from your job or any other unavoidable responsibilities, you have no excuse to not be doing the things you want to do.
But you don’t do them. One of the most common reasons for this is that you might be afraid that once you’ve started you’ll find out you suck at it–the fear of failure. On the opposite end of the spectrum, you might be afraid of succeeding. What if you actually are good at it? What if you want to continue pursuing it? What if it means leaving your safe, comfortable job or the people you love?
Either failure or success at what you love means your life is interrupted with discomfort and uncertainty. Few people like that.
How to Like Your Job
In my case, I hated my job at the hospital and my job at Starbucks not because I actually hated the work or even the environment. It was because I had no creative outlet, nowhere to write or take photographs or play music. But the reason I didn’t have that outlet is because I didn’t want it.
That might be what’s happening to you, too.
If you want to start liking your job, here’s my advice. Whatever you want to really be doing, do it. Don’t think about it or plan for it, just do it and feel good about doing it. Set aside just 10 minutes of your day (more if you can) and have fun. Realize that those feelings of fear you’re experiencing are based on completely unreasonable assumptions. If you find out you aren’t so great at it, you can get better. If you are good at it, it doesn’t mean you have to quit your job right away.
You can do what you love to do without radically changing the life you have now.
If you’re a secretary who dreams of being a web designer, you don’t have to quit your job and go back to school. Ten minutes or more per day with a Dummies book while keeping your job as a secretary will move you forward faster than starting from scratch ever would. (Believe me, I took the hardest path to becoming a web designer.)
Doing what you love doesn’t require major upheavals in your life. All you need are baby steps. Stop blaming your job for holding you back. You’re holding yourself back. If and when you want to do the things you always dreamed of, that job you think you hate can fund your growth and gradually push you forward into the life you always wanted.
"
No comments:
Post a Comment