Do you really need to love your job?
Sep 06, 2022

​Let’s start with some life maths. Most people (on average), dedicate 8 hours a day to work, the same time to sleep, and a final 8 hours to family, friends, hobbies, reading, cleaning, gardening, fitness, pets, and anything else you want or need to squeeze in there. The ratio may vary, but whatever way you look at it, work is dominating most of our waking hours. That might be ok if you love what you do, but when work stress increases, this is an equation that can quickly learn to burnout.

We often hear from mentors, teachers, and parents that we should find a job we love. But just how many people are lucky enough to follow their passion? And is it ok if you’re just working to pay the bills? In this blog, we look at how job love – or lack of it – could impact your career.

Golden handcuffs

 

Let’s think about a situation where you have hard-to-find or replicate skills in the market. Your employer doesn’t want to lose you so they reward you with great compensation or perks, but you’re completely bored of the role and you’re essentially going through the motions. This is often called a “golden handcuffs” arrangement and it can be tough to give up, even if your passion lies in another direction. In times of economic uncertainty, it’s particularly hard to walk away from a steady, reliable, and predictable situation. There’s no love here, but no hate either.

You’ve been let down (and looked over)


Another way to lose the love for your job is when you feel like you’re putting in lots of effort and not getting rewarded. What can start out as passion can quickly burn away when you’re always the one getting looked over for promotion. When employees feel like they aren’t getting back what they put in, they can often withdraw. The ‘quiet quitting’ trend we wrote about last week is nothing more and nothing less than a desire not to take unpaid work. And that load becomes much heavier when you’re not getting rewarded for going above and beyond every week.

Time to get pragmatic


In our private life, we think about love and emotions guiding our relationships. At work, it could pay to be more pragmatic. But first, you need to identify what drives you. Which one of these feels most like you?

  • Comfort-orientated:You look at situations practically and generally consider your job as a means to an end – to pay bills, protect your work-life balance etc. You’re happy to keep the status quo for as long as you can.

  • Growth-orientated:Status and success are very important to you and you examine every work situation through the lens of how it will bring you closer to your desired career level. You focus on networking, growing your skills, and always have an eye on that next step.

  • Vocation-oriented:The work you do is your highest priority and you are invested in being great at your job for its own sake You may think about work as a vocation or passion, rather than something you do for money or status.

None of these approaches is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ and you may find that you sit in the middle of two categories. But reflecting on what you want and need from work can be a great way to make pragmatic decisions about your career that aren’t defined by love or passion for a particular job or sector.

We hold up people who have achieved huge work success as role models. But often being ‘married’ to your work – however much that work started out as a passion – can quickly cause burnout in other areas of your life. In fact, keeping a healthy distance from your work can avoid heartbreak and exhaustion. Your job doesn’t have to define you – unless you want it to.

Here are a few ideas for avoiding an unhealthy relationship with work:

-      Focus on what you do well and what doesn’t cost you too much time – it will boost your self-esteem and allow you to use your work time in the most meaningful way.

-      Group routine and boring tasks early in the morning – clearing your day for more stimulating tasks.

-      Set boundaries – clarify your tasks and responsibilities and learn to say no when you need to.

-      Find some ways to express yourself outside of work – hobbies, volunteering, sports, etc.

-      Love doesn’t always happen at first sight – take a look at your job from another angle. You can sometimes find new meaning and opportunities.

-      Try to compare your personal values and the values of your company – do they resonate? If yes – there is a chance that you can rediscover your job love and find new purpose.

There is a story about a guy who cleaned floors in the NASA building, who – when asked what his job was – said, “I help to send a human to space.”

 Did he know something more about love? Or had he simply found the right angle to look at work from?

14 Aug, 2023
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10 Aug, 2023
You’ve seen these guys before when a circus came to your city or maybe on TV. They walk on a wire at an impressive height, sometimes without insurance, sometimes with a long stick that probes the void right and left. They walk slowly, trying the wire with their toes first, making small steps, their eyes fixed on the small platform where they plan to land soon. They never watch down. They don’t listen to an audience that applauses or gasps in awe. They are concentrated on keeping their balance. To keep balance. Let’s come down from the wire above the arena or stage. Let’s look closer at balance, where it has its roots and the secrets of keeping it. Is it an art? Or is it a skill? Can you learn to keep balance? Or is it an innate skill that only gymnasts, figure skaters, circus artists and ballet dancers are born with? Want to know the secrets of a ballerina that must perform 32 fouettes, a complex ballet movement that requires turning 360 degrees at a high-speed standing on the point of a ballet shoe? First, keeping balance is a skill people must learn for years. In ballet, sport, circus, real life, and… work life. A ballerina is taught to pick one point and to fix her eyes on it when she makes her 32 fouettes, a complex ballet movement that requires turning 360 degrees at high-speed standing on the point of a ballet shoe. She focuses on one thing that keeps her upright. She doesn’t look anywhere else. Gymnasts in some disciplines are constantly trained to feel the bar under their feet. They are prepared to land precisely on the bar after they jump, and the incredible contortions we admire in competitions. But let’s come back to the circus artists we have begun with. Often, they have a long stick in their hands to keep their balance. Is their secret hidden in the stick? And what is the secret? You don’t need to be a ballet dancer, a gymnast, or a circus artist to get the idea of balance. Here are your first two steps in your balance training: 1. Keep your main priorities in mind. And have a clear idea about what is very important for you and where you are ready to compromise. But don’t listen to external opinions that don’t align with your ideals. Forget about the audience’s applause – focus on you. 2. Use some help to stay upright and get to your goals. Imagine your life split on two ends of the helping stick, your job is on one end, and your private life is on another. How comfortable do you feel at your height now with the load on both ends? You need support. We at Kelly pay a lot of attention to balance. The balance between people’s private lives and their jobs. The balance between feeling appreciated and professional goals or between achieving extraordinary results and being inspired. Talk to Kelly today. We are not ballet coaches or sports trainers, but we know much about how important work/life balance is in our lives.
03 Aug, 2023
We often associate certain qualities with individuals who seem to possess a natural talent for creativity. We convince ourselves that painting, singing, or dancing are pursuits reserved for these "real" artists while we remain mere spectators. Creativity? Inspiration? No, it's not about me.
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