Is It Really A Job That You Need?
Consciously picking a career that you love will save you many headaches.
One of the basics of living this life to a full satisfaction lies in spending one’s time doing what one likes. Are you one of those people who are very successful in their respective endeavors, but are not happy each time you wake up to it? But is spending your life doing something that does not add meaning to your life worth it? May be at first you tried to ignore it by allowing your own enthusiasm to blind you. Perhaps by the pressure from your sorroundings. Picture a student who really loves drawing and painting but ends up not living his dream of art and enrolls under medicine simply because the parents can’t wait to see their son in a white coat. He first has to endure 8 years of pain and depression, feeding his mind with what he dislikes. Junk. But you can avoid that.
Do something that you really love. People think up some pretty crazy reasons to avoid living their dreams. They under estimate the importance of persuing that which is their passion. Their dream. Society is gradually believing that we get defined by what we have or what we do. Even the benefits attached to what we do, including money. Lots of people miss this crucial piece of advice and they choose careers because of ‘packages.’ But have you started for the right reasons? It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that the motivation to picking a career is more money. But unless you come to realise that money is not your answer, you’ll do unnecessary harm to your morale. Why? Because while it’s possible to make money in the short run
without finding meaning in whatyou do, in the long run that just multiplies your headaches, stress and depression. There is nothing as agonizing as having to go through years of your life plagued by loss of appetite, restless sleep, and a complete sense of exhaustion caused by doing something your heart is not into. Zoom closely at the work place and you’ll pick why it looks like a lot of employers don’t make the work
environment suitable for personal development and job satisfaction. They don’t allow you to grow to your full potential. They know that most people only care about just being punctual, a salary and working over
time with the hope of doubling their pays. But that’s like trying to cut corners. For that any employer will allow you under their roof. That’s unfair of such employers, isn’t it? No, they are fair. Very fair. From the onset you could not consciously choose to pursue what is your passion. The employer always has goals and much of those goals were never meant to bring meaning to your life, but to his.
Heaps of people jump into many vacant posts because such appointments come with prestige or fame. If you can’t choose to position yourself where you’d reach your self actualisation from the onset, don’t be
surprised when your boss has to drive you around pushing you to do this and not to do that. Then you just stay there and keep your stable job. In South Africa, you’ve probably heard a lot of, “These people don’t want to transfer skills to us.” Sounds familiar? But it’s true hey, that what you are willing to do determines where you are willing to go. And you know what? Wasting your life doing something that you did not consciously choose is nothing short of a tragedy. Much of the time working for someone comes with dozens of limitations. You get told what to do. And how to do it. You spend a better duration of your life just editing templates. Your potential is limited. Personal growth becomes an illusion. A lot of employers don’t allow you a chance to be creative or innovative. These are employers who run their businesses with layers of filthy fats of bureaucracy, and communication between the CEO and the supervisor is via memorandums. They tell you, “the past ten years we’ve been doing things this way and our operations have been very profitable. So you are going to be doing it this way.” If a letter has to be sent, your job as the Personal Assistant is to change
the date and salutation on what already exists. If you are going to be working in that office for 8 years, it means that the coming 8 years you’ll be doing one thing. Is that a sure way to gainexperience? Your guess is probably right. There is no pain. But if you want real growth and satisfaction in what you do, chances are you’ll get less and less of that when working for somebody.
Can money do it for you? It’s a crazy world we’re living in. You probably would agree that getting a job (whether part - time or full time) amounts to being told what to do, how much you to earn, what to do with what you earn, when your next salary hike is due and when you are going to retire. But very few people have been told the truth that may be all they want is financial freedom, not jobs. A job gives you security in life. And a hope that one day a pension fund or mutual fund will taker care of your financial needs. That’s is why almost all employers give their employees only enough for today so that they come back tomorrow for more.
In essence you’ll never get enough money with a job. The money is never enough. The US Social Security Board reports that 85 out of 100 Americans reaching age 65 don't possess as much as $250.00 (R3000.00) And only 2% are self-sustaining (the rest dependent on family, church, or the government) The rest of the world are no better. You want to know what the '2-percenters' know that you don't? They:
1. They pick one thing they are passionate about and excel at it. Richard Branson is not smarter than you. He just wakes up to do one thing. What makes him better every in both what looks like skill and in riches is the fact that he puts more practice to it.
2. They build offices and exalt their offices. No career can exalt you. It’s the person behind that job, who gives it authority and in turn brings glory to it. In other words they create jobs and excel at their jobs.
You quickly note that money comes as a side effect. If you don’t believe it just ask people who are hopping from job to job looking for a better pay. They rarely get satisfied by a pay cheque. You get where this is going? Anybody can create jobs, including you. That’s how entrepreneurs are born. I’m picking on entrepreneurs because that’s what we focus on, but the lessons extend to anything you live for: art sport, academics - even marriage. Here is a little food for thought: If you keep doing what you've been doing, where will you be in 5 years? The answer to that is right where you are. Because for things to change in your life, first you must change.
So seize the opportunity to create the job you always wanted. Help to build South Africa up. Take yourself and your business to new heights.
