Unless we are born with a radical wealth to guide us, we must work to earn our living. Even those who happen upon a massive inheritance must also find something to fill their days. Simply sitting around and playing video games all day does get boring and is unsatisfying, as is a life of full pleasure-seeking. What sustains us is our purpose, meaning that finding a career (while difficult) often produces the most healthy and well-adapted human beings. For this reason, it pays to make sure this comes together well. A good way to begin is to assess exactly how you feel about your career. Could it use improvement? Have you fallen into something you never expected to?
It might be worthwhile to change your career if you at all feel dissatisfied. But before you do so make sure you answer the following questions honestly. Understanding and evaluating the journey to any achievement is essential. What follows are a list of methods to enact change, and make practical progress in pursuit of this aim.
Is my daily routine organized or chaotic?
One of the biggest killers of job satisfaction is an overly long commute. Some jobs are so worthwhile that this commute is fine for people to justify, but most of the time an overly long travel time eats up your free time and makes you struggle in the pursuit of getting there. You’ll never feel content in a job that makes you travel upwards of 3 hours a day to get to and from there, unless you are being paid such a sum that this time is irrelevant. Look to your environment for nearer jobs, as there may be better alternatives that don’t expect you to wake up at 4.30am every day. Jobs in your hometown could be more appropriate and challenging than you might think, desire, or expect.
Are my ‘directional duties’ enjoyable?
The little duties are the habits that build up the bulk of your job. Of course, you should never decide an entire career based on how many times you have to interact with a telephone in one day or anything to that measure, but it can predict your apparent happiness in that role. For example, if you love the outdoors so decide to work in an animal shelter, but find that the entirety of the animals are kept inside and away from a quasi-natural environment, you’ll feel like you’re making a massive compromise. This is true for anything. A programmer might find working on VPN packages aligns with his ethical taste, as opposed to working on cybersecurity for the military. Everything can be tailored to be a little more perfect for you, and this is true from the largest job roles to the smallest.
Am I doing/giving my best?
have you given your best to the job, with enthusiasm and all your skills? If a job role holds you back, or makes you think that you’re simply coasting from day to day, it can be profoundly distasteful. While easy work seems like a wonderful deal for someone who isn’t interested in growth, it can rob you of deep and intrinsic senses of satisfaction. For that reason, do your best to find a career that affords growth in either skillset or rank, and preferably both. This way you’ll always have something to aim for, and always a ladder to climb.
And above all – Have realistic expectations on finding satisfaction at work. You imagine and what you get might be two different things, explore the reason for your dissatisfaction before blaming people or circumstances. Did you start with realistic expectations or have you build some unrealistic expectations along the way?
With those things in mind, you should find working to be a wonderful and satisfying process you wake up each day with energy to attend.