Understanding what you want from your job

A career is something you have built over the course of a lifetime. Doctors don’t have jobs they have careers. A job is working at the local fast food place (not that there is anything wrong with that) but a career takes many years of schooling and preparation. Those professionals who have started their careers rarely seem regretful that they choose that particular profession as well.

If you are stuck in a job you despise (many of us are) then what are you doing to get out of it? If your answer is nothing then you might work the majority of your life in a job you hate and will regret it the rest of your life. For example, let us say that you are a mid-level employee who has worked at your current job for several years. Do you plan on staying at that mid-level position for the next 5-10 years? Or do you plan on moving up to a managerial position? If you are truly unsatisfied with your position, if not now, then in the near future look to change where you stand in the company.

Having a plan on where you want to be in your career over the next 5 years should keep you motivated to do well and achieve great success. Punching the clock daily with no enthusiasm and verve for life is like a slow, painful death. You have a right to be happy and receive a certain level of satisfaction from your job, just like you have the right to be happy and satisfied with your personal life. If you approach your job like a relationship, then you might come to realize that your job(or relationship) isn’t working for you and a change is needed immediately.

Many working class people work a standard 9pm-5pm day. Working is something we all have to do no matter how unfulfilling it is, as we all need to make a living. There are circumstances where a person has no choice but to work at a certain job, e.g., there are no other jobs in the immediate area and no employers are hiring at the moment. It’s unrealistic to believe that everyone can change their current jobs at the drop of a hat, but that shouldn’t prevent you from trying.

If you are stuck in a current job that you can’t stand any longer (or find a job that just pays more) you should continue to check online and ask people you know if any other jobs are available. You shouldn’t have to quit your current job to do this, simply do a search every day while you continue to work at your current job.

Many employed have had jobs they wish they never took but needed in order make ends meet (you might have that job right now). The point is that if you are unhappy with your current position you shouldn’t just complain about it every day to your family, friends and co-workers, but look to make changes within in a reasonable amount of time. Do not wait until you are 50 years old then decide to make a significant change in your life when it should have been done 15 years prior.

You do not want to wake up one morning and come to realize you wasted the majority of your youth on a job you never liked. Not everyone will achieve an extraordinary amount of success in their lives (we all can’t be rock stars, astronauts, actors and actresses) but that doesn’t mean we can’t find a job we enjoy working at every day.