I don’t know why we continue to perpetuate and buy into the world’s worst advice. What is that advice?
“If you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.”
Every job, every profession, every career…has components that just suck. They do. It’s what we call a “true fact.”
But, if we buy into this rubbish…and we eventually have a bad day (or several bad days) we’re going to think “gosh, I must not love this work.”
Bad days happen. And if bad days happen and it feels like work…then I must not be doing what I love.
Make. It. Stop.
Healthcare professionals…God bless ‘em…mostly go into the field because they are passionate about helping others. I worked for an association serving family physicians and each doctor I met…they talked about their career as a calling; their life’s purpose.
But folks in the medical space are burning out at record pace because of the last two years in a pandemic. They are working their asses off…which, I guess…means they don’t ‘love’ it anymore. Cause if I’m “working” I must not “love” it.
Utter. Nonsense.
This idiotic advice leads people through an endless series of jobs trying to find their ‘passion.’ They end up feeling unfilled day after day…and feeling like it’s their fault.
Do you know why corporations and leaders sling this bullshit? Because it’s in their favor. If you’re “passionate” …you won’t take PTO. If you’re “passionate” you will work nights, weekends, holidays…cause…that’s what you do when you “love” something.
Gee. Who does that benefit?
And then…when you flame out; when you have a complete emotional/mental burnout…whose fault is it? Ohhh…it must be yours, dear employee…you must not “love” your job.
Again. Bullshit.
Yes, you should strive towards work you love. Yes, you should try to be in fields you’re ‘passionate’ about…but you’ll have days that still feel like work. That’s not some leading indicator that you’re not passionate about the work anymore.
And that’s what this advice leads to. It shifts all the blame onto the burned-out employee. This advice suggests it’s not the long hours, it’s not the lack of PTO, it’s not the working nights, evenings, holidays and weekends that leads to burnout…. it’s that you, employee, just aren’t passionate enough. You are the problem. You’re burned out because you don’t love it.
Dear Employers/Leaders/Influencers that are shoveling this: FULL EFFING STOP!
Burned out employees are not lazy. They are not lacking passion. Stop. Shifting. Blame.
To those of you feeling burned out…it’s not you. It’s not your lack of passion. You do indeed have a lot on your plate. If you’re not feeling ‘fulfilled’ every minute of the day? That’s OK! If you’re tired…it doesn’t mean you need a new career!
What we should be evaluating is: do I feel supported in my job? Am I learning something new frequently? Do I feel valued and supported? Am I being treated fairly?
Some days are an utter slog. Hell, some weeks/months can be that way too. Doesn’t mean you should chuck your job/career because it feels like work and therefore you must not be doing what you love.
Just like everything else in life, there are nuances and multiple checkboxes to review before throwing in the proverbial towel on moving on to something else.
But can we stop with spreading the world’s worst advice?
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