My corporate job does not feed my soul in the inspirational, living-your-dreams way. I know this, and you know if your job doesn’t inspire you like that. You can take do-I-hate-my-job quizzes or make long lists of pros and cons to find out, but if you get quiet and get honest, you know the answer.
What’s Next?
What if you realize, wow, sitting in meetings all day is not helping me turn into a more self-actualized person and is definitely not what I dreamed of doing when I was a kid planning my life from the top of the jungle gym?
Much is written online about finding your passion or that perfect career. But the best career advice I have found on this topic is by Penelope Trunk, in her blog post Steps To Figuring Out Your Next Career Move. Trunk is practical; she understands that you may not love you job, but you can love your paycheck and benefits, and you can sit tight on that until new opportunity presents itself.
I may not love my job; I don’t go into work and think, “yay, 100 emails to read, 10 of which will require action by me, it’s up to me to figure out which ones, and go!” but it does allow me to do the activities outside of work that feed my soul, like writing and spending time with family. And I am not so connected to my job that if I got fired or decided to move on it would be a tragedy. But the pay is good enough to make it worthwhile, the benefits are great, and I really like the people I work with.
I think the key is to realize that your job at the moment is the vehicle for your real career, which encompasses everything you do in your life, not just the on-the-clock stuff. If you hate your job, by all means take steps to get out. Ask yourself what you really want, and then make a plan. Take small steps to make a change, whether it means saving money so you can go back to school, or creating contacts so you can do what you really want to do. Don’t stay for a promised promotion, the money, the title, the retirement (does anyone get that anymore?), or the benefits. Make your own way, create all those things for yourself.
If you do need to make a career change, and you want to read something motivating about not following the rules that society or your parents mapped out for you, check out Steve Jobs’s 2005 Stanford commencement address.
Jobs says, “don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice.”
This is great advice, because the only person who knows what you should do with your career is you.
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