July 24th, 2011
Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life
If you can’t wait for the working week to be over before you enjoy life, you’re not alone. According to a recent study, more than 50% of the world’s workforce is unhappy or dissatisfied with work, and Canadians are among the most dissatisfied.
The reasons people are unhappy point to low pay, lack of opportunity or no chance of improvement. An Accenture study in 2011 found that 30% of workers plan to look for another job, 70% of women and 69% of men plan to stay, with a startling 60% of employees hoping things will change.
As a career counsellor in Toronto, this latest study comes as no surprise. Career dissatisfaction is something I encounter on a daily basis.
Confucius wrote, “Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life”. Is it unrealistic to believe this? Shivali Misra writes in the Globe and Mail, “I spent six years of my full time career utterly lost. I was getting by in the conventional sense – I received promotions and was respected by my colleagues – but no matter how hard I tried, I was tortured by an inner dialogue of self-doubt.”
Shivali figured out that she wanted to be a physician, and the weight lifted from her shoulders. She confronted many questions about her future but writes, “I am discovering with greater awareness what it means to live in the present. The broken record of my monologue has stopped. It is possible to have more than one career. I pass on the message to anyone out there willing to listen.”
In my experience it feels wonderful to work at what you love, to make a difference in someone’s life or in the world at large. This is the philosophy of my practice in career transition, coaching and mentoring. People need to discover their strengths, and build their working lives on what they get satisfaction from doing every day. Working at what you love is true satisfaction. Why not be brave, and make the first step today?
Valerie Elliott Hyman is a Toronto career consultant for Hyman Associates Learn more about Valerie.
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