Learn To Love Your Career

Image courtesy of b_r_e_n_t

Friday’s post, “Can We Pick Our Talents | Community Insight“, brought about some excellent comments.  One in particular stood out as great insight and a perfect talking point for my following post.  It was by Matt R. (Your Friendly Neighborhood Computer Guy) and he said this:

“The key is to find what you’re talented at, learn to love it, learn to make money with it, and learn to keep it fresh. Once you can do that, you’re set!”

On the surface this may not come across as anything more than common sense.  I mean, of course we should do all of that, right?  But the two parts that really stood out for me were, “learn to love it” and “learn to keep it fresh“.  These are two essential ingredients to any successful career.  Let’s take a look at each one individually and see the hows and whys of this insight.

Learn To Love It

I don’t know about you, but when someone tells me to learn to love something I feel as if they are saying, “DEAL WITH IT!”  In other words, you may never actually like what you’re doing, but you can learn to grin and bare it.  This would be true if you weren’t willing to make the proper adjustments to actually LEARN to love it, but if we’re willing to be flexible and stretch ourselves a bit, we should be able to learn to love just about any job that is in-line with our talents.

I mentioned in Friday’s post about the fact that even though I’m good a fixing computers I was just never quite happy doing it for a living.  But this was in-line with my talents and therefore should just be given more time.  Well, I gave it 5 years and felt no happier than I did when I started.  If anything I was just that much more convinced that it wasn’t for me.

So I began searching for other avenues of income.  Anything from COMPLETELY different to very similar.  Finally I combined my recent online ventures with my local consulting business and came up with the right adjustment.  No longer do I find myself in constant frustration over a daily job that just doesn’t feel right.  Now, among other things, I blog, build websites and consult from the cloud.

What made the difference?

For me, it was just a few minor adjustments that made ALL the difference.  No longer did I have to drive all over town, from house to house to business to repair dysfunctional technology.  I was no longer tied to a physical appearance, having to be on the scene whenever I wanted/needed to make money.  This alone was quite refreshing.

The other change that made an impact was the fact that I got to use my right brain as well as my left.  Designing/customizing websites and blogs combines both technology AND creativity.  A perfect marriage as far as I’m concerned.

So as you can see, I certainly made some changes and some could argue that I’m doing something completely different, but I only see necessary adjustments that needed to take place.  You just have to keep trying different things until something sticks.  Just like falling in love with the RIGHT person, you’ll know it when you find the right career fit.

Learn To Keep It Fresh

I don’t care WHAT you do for a living and HOW much you love it, if you don’t learn to keep it fresh you’re doomed to find dissatisfaction and reduced creativity up ahead.

Let’s look at both my computer consulting business and my website design business.  The former was never really my cup of tea and therefore there was nothing really to keep fresh.  Sure, I could (and often did) change it up a bit to try and rejuvenate my passion, but never made it much further than so-so.  It was like trying to become more attracted to a woman that I just wasn’t that attracted to in the first place.

In contrast, right now I find that everyday of work (OK, ALMOST everyday) is fresh and satisfying.  This is a much different feel from even my very first days as an on-site tech.  But I’d be foolish to believe that it will always feel this way.  As repetition occurs and the inevitable stress kicks in, I’m going to question my desire to continue on this same path.  But, going back to the attraction analogy, you can always rekindle an old flame if there was something there to start with.

How To Keep It Fresh

• Take pride in what you do. In my petty attempts to be humble I often downplay the positive results of my work.  But all this does is give me less satisfaction for what I accomplished.  We should be proud of our talents and use that pride to keep our actions fresh and effective.
• Mix it up when you can. I’m a big fan of routine as I know it can help with efficiency, but it can also be a great way to get in a rut.  Mix up the way you do things when you can and try to see things from different perspectives when possible.  Not only will this help keep it fresh, but can be a great way to keep your creativity sharp.
• NEVER stop innovating! No matter what you do or who you work for, never stop thinking outside the box.  Never stop trying new things.  Many of us have a tendency to find what works and then stick with it, but this only leads to boredom and a stifled imagination.  If you want to keep your career fresh then you need to always keep one foot outside the proven path.
• Spend your free time FAR AWAY from your career. What are hobbies for , right?  Neil, of be4success, made this point in his comment on Friday’s post.  Basically, we all need diversity, both mentally and physically.  If we are crunching numbers all day than we might find painting on the weekends to be the perfect balance for a fresh Monday morning.  Or if we’re a painter, we might find some kind of technical hobby to be just what we need to keep our art exploding with creativity.

If all else fails, keep searching.

I really encourage you to never stop pursuing your dreams.  I’m fully aware of the fact that these financial times are tough and that it’s not as easy as trying on a new job like a new pair of shoes.  But if you’re truly unhappy, what’s the difference.  Now, I’m suggesting that any of us quit our jobs and go hungry for the sake of a dream, but if we’re not at least headed in that direction we will NEVER see it become a reality.  Baby steps are fine.  Heck, many believe that baby steps are the best way to go.  Just make sure you’re take SOME kind of step so that as things begin to lighten up you will be THAT much closer to enjoying your work.  And if you ARE in the right place, just not enjoying it like you used to, keep your eyes peeled for changes that might just make all the difference.  I may still be a technology consultant, but I’m a MUCH happier person now that some key adjustments have been made.  Now it’s YOUR turn!

Eric