Finding a job you love is important for a number of reasons, one of which is the amount of time you spend working. According to Paula Caligiuri, Ph.D. “Get a Life Not a Job“, Work Psychologist and Professor at Rutgers University you spend 94,365 hours of your life working. To use the numbers in a different way, if you start working at age 20 and retire at age 65 you will have spent 45 of your life working, that’s almost half of your life in work-related activities.
To think of spending half of your life at work can be mind boggling, and what’s even more significant is the large percentage of people that are unhappy with their jobs. A recent Gallup poll found that only 32 percent of U.S. workers feel engaged by their jobs while the majority of workers — 50.8 percent — are not engaged, meaning they go to work as if they were counting the days in order to leave – using the minimum energy needed to get the work done.
The poll also confirmed that a little over 17 percent of workers fall into the category of being actively disengaged a good indicator they pretty much hate their jobs.
When you think about the time and energy you spend at work, it would be great if you find a job you love and see it as an investment in your future rather than going through your days with a sense of drudgery.
Because work takes up so much time of your life, in some ways the workplace has become a “semi-neighborhood” where you talk about your family, show vacation photos, share holidays and build relationships with your colleagues.
You end up spending more time with your coworkers than you do with your family at home and that’s why finding a job you love becomes important.
So what makes a job lovable? It starts with taking stock of your interests and becoming self-aware of all the factors that make a job lovable. To single out one job in hopes of it meeting all of your needs can be unrealistic.
A lovable job allows you to use the skills that interest you the most while matching your personal characteristics. There is no one single factor that makes one person happy with their job and another unhappy rather it’s the right combination of sorts that makes you love it.
Regardless if you are starting your career or looking for a new one you can find a job you love by taking the time to identify your strengths, hobbies, values and interests. You may discover that going back to school or additional training is just what you need for the next steps.
You don’t have to leave your current job to find one you love, consider identifying what’s missing and start developing a plan of action. Getting to know your colleagues in other departments and internal networking could be helpful in broadening your knowledge of different jobs.
Some people find that traditional jobs are not the best fit for them; instead, starting their own business would be a better match. Most likely you will experience various jobs and each one of them will bring you the gift of learning more about yourself. Loving your job is important because life is too short to settle for anything less.
What makes your job lovable?
