I work with a lot of people that are unhappy with what they do. Whether they are sales associates, executives, professionals or laborers does not seem to matter. Whether they make $60,000 per year or $300,000 per year does not seem to matter. The root of their frustration is generally the same: they have failed to find real purpose in what they do. They go to work everyday frustrated because they feel like they are on a treadmill and trapped because life obligations disallow them from doing something they are passionate about.
Stop Looking for Jobs
First, stop looking for jobs. Jobs are opportunities to do something to make money. They describe what someone else needs done. When I was a kid, I would go to the neighbor’s house and ask if I could mow the lawn or pull weeds. That’s a job. I do work; you pay me.
When we hit our teen years, we go into businesses and ask the same question, “What do you need done?” We respond to the need saying, “I can do that,” and then begin to tell them why we would be good at that job.
Looking for a job will always result the same way. We will take whatever an employer is willing to pay us because our value to them is in doing the work for them and their value to us is the money they give us.
There is little satisfaction in a job. The only satisfaction comes when you get paid. Yet even that satisfaction does not last very long. In fact, because of taxes and insurance, we look at paystubs with some disappointment. The result is you are working a job that provides fleeting satisfaction once every two weeks.
What if you could instead work in a career that provides daily satisfaction? What if every beat of your heart felt as though it were being valuably invested in something that you felt great about? When we find a career instead of a job, it draws from us the one thing we were designed to do and it becomes life giving, not draining.
What I Do vs. What I Add — Pursuing a Career not a Job
When looking for employment, stop shot gunning everything that’s available. You need to be strategic. Take an honest look in the mirror and identify what types of things you are good at that bring you joy. In that you will find the value you can add to an organization. Then, look specifically for roles where you can deliver that value.
Careers are investments. You are taking years of your life and investing them in the process of making an organization better. Careers demand you are doing some role that adds value to the business. Careers do not move letters, burgers or boxes from one shelf to another. Careers require you to use advanced thinking or physical skills to solve problems.
When you are looking for a career, the conversation should be about what you can add and how you can improve.
Some people have managed a job very well. They make a wage they are happy with, are able to leave work at the office and are quite content. I’m not talking to that person. I’m addressing all of those that are not happy with their lives and feel that they are not earning enough money, are wasting their life or wondering what the purpose to it all is. That person needs to decide between settling for a job and pursuing a career.
When you pursue a career, you are stepping into a long road expecting to improve over time. You will find satisfaction in the fruit of the value you add instead of what you take. The vocation will be focused on maximizing and developing your gifting and be less focused on maximizing your output.
You get one shot at life. You have one life to live. You, and only you, can make it really count for something.
Winning the life race will not happen all at once. It will take years to develop the skills you already have into something that can be competitive and help you finish well. Don’t rely on a plan that keeps you in the bottom of the pack, miserable, worn out and beating your head against a wall. Invest your life in the one thing that will take you from existing to significance.
