John Place online

There are a lot of people in this world who believe that work necessarily involves pain and sacrifice.

They say, “All jobs suck.”

They say, “You might as well go for the big money because money is the only reason anyone works.”

They say, “Anyone who thinks he can find a job that will actually make him happier is a fool.”

Let’s set the record straight once and for all: The world is full of people who love their jobs, people who go to work because they truly enjoy what they’re doing, people who have made a fundamental connection between the person they are and the work they do for a living. I’ve met some of them myself, seen them with my own two eyes: professional bloggers, teachers, writers, medical professionals, nutritionists; varied practitioners with one thing in common – they love their jobs.

Listen, I’m a realistic guy, and I understand that most people don’t love their jobs. But I also know that it would only take one real-life Bigfoot to prove that Bigfoot exists (not that I believe in Bigfoot, mind you), so the mere fact that the world is full of people who really do love their jobs should be proof to all of you that meaningful, inspiring careers do exist.

Whenever I explain my point of view regarding meaningful work to people, they generally stare at me, befuddled. Maybe they think I’m crazy. Crazy or not, I reject the notion that work must be painful sacrifice. I reject the notion that money is the only reason to work. I reject the notion that we’re all doomed to spend 8, 9, 10 hours a day slaving away at jobs we hate so we can fill our homes with crap we don’t need. I reject these notions outright. If you’re planning to show up at my door hawking these ideas, know this: I’m not buying.

The question that needs to be asked is not whether meaningful careers exist (they do), but why so few people obtain them. The answers to that question are too numerous to cover in a single blog article, but let’s take a quick peek at the top 7:

1. School teaches people how to be beaurocrats, not individuals: Our schools, grade school through college, are focused on turning you into a peg who will fit neatly into some company’s pre-defined job description. The lessons taught by school are important (we should all learn how to read and write, after all), but that’s not really my point. My point is that finding a job you love requires soul searching and personal exploration, and that’s simply not what school is all about.

2. Lack of information and inspiration: It wouldn’t be so bad that schools don’t teach us how to find personally rewarding careers, except that nobody else is teaching us how to do it either. The quest for meaningful work just isn’t part of our lexicon. Nobody’s talking about it. The need for meaningful work is something we generally stumble upon on our own, usually during a mid-life crisis, when we’ve finally come to the conclusion that we’re tired of the way we spend the majority of our waking hours.

3. Human beings are naturally short-sighted: As Psychologist Abraham Maslow suggested many years ago, we humans tend to be blind to all but our most immediate needs. When we’re young, we can’t afford to support ourselves financially, so our career decisions are based upon money and little else. We do not realize that our expectations of work will change dramatically once we satisfy our economic needs, once we realize that money isn’t everything.

4. The natural human prejudice against work: The prejudice against work dates back thousands of years to some of our most influential texts. Adam and Eve lived the quintessential life of leisure until sin condemned them to hard work, and this idea of work as punishment has become so ingrained in our thinking that we have trouble believing that work can be rewarding.

5. The long, hard road: Finding a meaningful career is hard work, and there’s no real roadmap to follow. The journey often involves trial and error, which is generally frowned upon in a world where reliability and predictability are valued above all else.

6. Pervasive job dissatisfaction: When 95% of the people you know have settled, it’s hard to believe you don’t have to.

7. Uncertainty: Some people are drawn to a particular career from an early age, but many of us are not. It’s hard to muster the courage it takes to pursue a dream job when you have only the foggiest notion of whether it will satisfy you.

Each of these 7 reasons is a big deal, hard to overlook and overcome. But once you understand the motivations that have held your professional life in place all these years, you can start to move forward, one step at a time.

You can start by letting go of the silly notion that work cannot be rewarding and meaningful. It can be, and once you admit that to yourself, it becomes awfully hard to justify the 8, 9, or 10 hours a day you spend working at a career that does not inspire you.

Everyone has a bad day at work every now and then. Even the most inspired professional sometimes wakes up dreading the day that looms ahead. But when the lack of professional inspiration becomes a permanent fixture in your work life, it’s time to consider your options.

So what exactly am I saying here? First of all, I’m not suggesting that we should all throw caution to the wind and foolishly start chasing our dreams, no matter how unrealistic. Nor am I suggesting that intrinsic motivations (such as meaning and purpose) are all that matter. After all, you have bills to pay, and so do I, so we can’t just sell our financial futures down the river.

What I am saying is that your life is too valuable to waste in an uninspiring job. Research has shown that a decent middle-class wage is generally good enough for most people; a great variety of jobs exist that can help you make at least that much. Pick one that satisfies you.