Do you feel stuck in a job that you hate?
Do you feel stuck in a job that you hate?
Maybe you are unable to find work and that is frustrating and depressing you.
Or perhaps you doubt your professional abilities and feel that you’re a fraud.
We feel good about ourselves when we are well paid for our work. We feel much better about ourselves if we enjoy our work and feel that we are being recognised and appreciated. Financial reward is just one positive outcome of work and is not necessarily the most important one.
Our culture values paid work to the extent that that even the most lowly paid and unpleasant work is seen as better than no work. We are also led to believe that the harder we work, the more money we make, the happier we will be and the more worth we have as a human being.
Work is a substantial part of our lives and has many benefits. It’s important that we derive satisfaction and feel that we are recognised and appreciated. But having a work/life balance and doing what makes us happy is as important as the job we do and how much we are paid. The ideal is to find or create work that pays enough and offers a sense of well-being and purpose. We are all unique and come with our own challenges and desires – what is a positive aspect of a job for one person may not be for someone else. So taking the time to discover what we find meaningful, what makes us happy, is crucial.
Discovering our own personal and professional history in order to identify one’s interests and abilities can be a very rewarding but challenging process leading to a realisation of one’s own work/life goals – a new balance.
We are all so much more than our jobs!
Jonathan Holman
Menstuff
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