Do What you Love
When you were young, what did you want to be when you grew up?
For myself, I wanted to be a professional football player. Watching the stars perform under the lights playing a game they love was always attractive to me. Also, being able to entertain millions and give back to my community would have been an added bonus.
For 16 years, I pursued that dream. From the first time I attended a practice with my father at five-years-old, I knew this is what I wanted to be. Hours and hours (and hours and hours) of training, watching game film, learning and competing went into my playing career. In addition to my effort, my parents sacrificed many a weekday and weekend to make my dream a possibility.
Then, at 21, a sandstorm of circumstances entered my life: depression, infidelity and injury. Just as depression saps the life out of the activities you once loved, I lost the passion I had to continue playing. I quit midway through spring training.
Does that mean I failed? Does that mean my dream was gone forever?
Well, that depends.
Objectively, sure. I did not beat the odds, becoming a professional athlete. Yet, a dream is a sum of its parts; it’s the “aim for the moon, land among the stars” mentality that matters.
Through football, I learnt a lot about myself. To name a few, I was taught:
-How to be a leader
-How to prepare
-How to build camaraderie
-How to be a teammate
-How to embrace discomfort
-How to learn from mistakes
In short, I learnt valuable skills for my future, regardless of achieving the ultimate goal. One could say, the dream I had a little kid was an insight into who I would become later in life.
So, what was your answer to the question at the beginning of the article? A police officer? A firefighter? An astronaut? The President/Prime Minister? A marine biologist? Your answer to the question can give insight into what motivates you.
Some of you may have achieved your dream. If so, congratulations! If not, what did you learn from the pursuit of your dream? What does your dream say about the person you’ve become?
Unfortunately, many give up on their dreams early on. Even more of us get stuck doing something we don’t want to do, thinking we have no other choice. For me, this was working behind a desk. Sure, the money was fine, but the work was soul-sucking.
You see, there are six main career environments, according to John Holland. From these six types, it is much easier to match your personality to a prospective career. The six types are as follows:
-Realistic (aka hands-on, labour intensive work). Those who are the realistic type tend to enjoy practicality, like to use tools and value money and power
-Investigative (aka mathematics and science-based work). The investigative personality loves to solve problems and use their intellect while shying away from supervising or interpersonal issues.
-Artistic (aka open creative and personal expression through art, music, etc.). Artistic personality types value originality and creativity and dislikes confines to expression.
-Social (aka people-persons with a heart to serve). The social person enjoys helping, teaching and discussing, choosing to use verbal skills over tools and physical labour.
-Enterprising (aka entrepreneurs and persuaders) Enterprising types are assertive in their pursuit of occupational/personal goals, power, status and wealth.
-Conventional (aka typical office work). The conventional type enjoys organization and planning, values money, order and dependability.
This is a very concise discussion about careers, and there is an obvious overlap between the categories, but hopefully, the point here is not being missed. Going back to my example, I was stuck in a conventional work environment, when my personality type does not match with the job type. Through what I know about my dream as a child, I surely enjoy giving back and being a part of a team (social). As my career has progressed into mental health work, writing, podcasting and coaching, my artistic side is beginning to express itself. By finding the right environment for me, I am experiencing happiness on the job.
If I could boil this blog post down into one sentence, it would be this: search for what moves you, not what pays well.
We spend so much of our lives working. This means time away from family, friends and recreation. With such a huge time commitment, one would be doing themselves a disservice by not finding the right environment for their personality.
The “right” job doesn’t have to mean “work doesn’t feel like work”. It can, however, mean putting up with the “stuff” that work brings is worth it. Doing what you love means finding satisfaction, not necessarily a big paycheck.
If you aren’t finding satisfaction in your current career, this isn’t a call to resign and wipe the slate. This is, however, an opportunity to learn what you need out of your working career. This is also a chance to refine your hobbies and spare time activities to increase the satisfaction you’re experiencing.
As always, I’m here to help if needed - Career counselling was my specialization through my schooling. If not, do yourself a favour: take a moment and make sure you are doing what you love. We only have so much time on this earth, so we might as well enjoy ourselves.