I want to tackle a bit of well intentioned, but bad advice that is floating around the inter-webs; particularly on Linked In. It goes like this:
“If you find a job you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.”
Seems magical, yes? It’s utter nonsense. And worse? Damaging.
You see, this advice, however well-intentioned, is setting most…if not everyone…up for failure. There is no job that exists that doesn’t come with some measure of frustration. Some bad days. Some challenging hurdles.
Let’s take parenting. It is indeed a job and indeed work. I love my kiddo with a love that can’t be put into words. And yet? There are hard days. Hard talks. Parts about the job that I don’t enjoy. Things like:
Getting a phone call on Thursday AM that your wife, who isn’t due for another month, is heading to labor and delivery.
Going to the NICU to see your 4-pound baby and the doctor saying “don’t be concerned, but your son stopped breathing for a minute last night.” (I’m not a doctor, but not breathing for a full minute seems like one of those things to actually be concerned about. I digress).
Your son being diagnosed as severely speech delayed and requiring years of intensive speech therapy.
Your eighth grader working really hard for a spot on the basketball team…and getting cut on the last day; crawling into the car…tears in his eyes. And not being able to do a damn thing about it.
There are hard days with parenting. Raw days. Powerless days. Days that feel like energy-and-soul-sucking-work. But we still do it. Why? Because the highs outweigh the lows.
And this, dear reader, is the fatal flaw in the advice “do something you love and you’ll never work again.” Because it’s not real. There is no job like that.
The danger is that no matter what job you find, whatever career you pursue…you’ll always think it’s not the right fit because you will have bad days. There will be days that it feels like work. You may be growing and learning…but you’ll leave a great job because there are days that feel like “work.”
And you’ll move on because the guru on Linked In said if I love it…it won’t feel like work.
The way we should be evaluating careers and our work is no different than any other investment. Is the ROI, the return on investment, worth it? Do the highs outweigh the lows?
And work is indeed an investment. You have a limited supply of time and you’re using that time towards a job. You must view your time, your energy, your skills and talents through the lens of an investor.
Your company goes through the same measurement of you. If you aren’t producing a return on their investment in you? They will let you go. We too should be doing the same. We are indeed investing in the job we’re at. We’re investing in our work and our career. And if the return isn’t good enough? It’s time to stop throwing good money/good investment after bad investment.
Companies do not have all the power like they want you to believe. Sure, they can let you go. But you can move on too. Take your time, your talents and your skills elsewhere if the return on your investment isn’t meeting expectations.
But do so because the highs aren’t outweighed by the lows. Do so because the return on your investment isn’t good enough. Don’t leave because some days feel like work and therefore the job must not be your “passion.” However well-intentioned…it’s still bad advice.
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