A Tempting But Faulty Career Assumption
For most of my life, I’ve made the assumption that my job itself would be the aspect of career which offers the most fulfillment.
Turns out, I was wrong.
Most of us will spend a lot of time working, so I would agree that it would be ideal to be find work that you enjoy… but no matter how much you love your job, there will be days when you wonder if the grass is greener somewhere else, or you burnout. Humans tend to be fickle creatures and it’s likely you’ll eventually question how fulfilling your job is in and of itself.
What I’ve been learning is that, more than anything, maximizing what I can accomplish with my limited resources (time, money and energy) is far more fulfilling than any title or job.
Time to be with friends & family in community, to be outside, to learn, to be a supportive and helpful spouse, to travel and complete adventures on the bucket list…
Energy to focus on creating healthy habits, to serve others and be available for people who need me, to be proactive in my relationships…
Money to invest wisely in whatever will bring the most freedom to my family and open up more doors to be generous…
If I am able to focus on maximizing these limited resources, I’ve only experienced more gratitude and motivation in whatever my role is. I also become less attached to my job or my title, which reminds me that I am not what I do, a freeing reality and reemphasizes that title/tasks (while nice to have) are not a need to have in terms of overall fulfillment.
In contrast, if I find myself focused on title or day to day job responsibilities, I find myself uninspired, anxious and thankless — anyone else?
This is not to say that you should abandon finding a job that you truly enjoy every hour of every day. It’s only to push-back on the temptation to idolize title/responsibilities and lose sight of the bigger picture.
So… where is your focus today? What helps you to align with a more productive focus when you become uninspired, anxious, or thankless?
