HOW to “Do What You Love”
by Mary LloydEvery so often, a new voice of career wisdom advocates “Do what you love.” It’s the best career advice ever, whether you’re just starting your work years or getting ready to throttle back for retirement. But what if you’re already doing something you don‘t love? Most of us can’t afford to just implode what’s paying the bills. How do you get from what you are doing now—which you may literally hate—to what you really want to do without totally starting over?
- It doesn’t have to be a jump over the cliff. We tend to think either/or on this. Either you keep doing what you’re making money at now or you take a massive, scary leap into the unknown that cradles your dream job. You can do a lot on your current job to prepare for that better work life. Think remodel rather than demolition.
- Get real about what you want to do. Flesh out your dream job right now so you know what you’d actually be getting into. If you fantasize rather than taking a serious look, you see only the minuses of your current job and only the pluses of your dream job. Be honest about that new work and thorough with the details. You’ll either be creating momentum for the day when you can make the transition or learning that your “dream job” isn’t all that much better—or maybe even different—than what you’re doing.
- Become a virtuoso at everything you can now. Many of the skills you need to do your “perfect work” can be developed in any job. Follow-through, time management, writing, speaking, and critical thinking are all transferable skills. Patience, tolerance, and persistence are attributes that are golden anywhere. Work at becoming a superstar at these kinds of things right now.
- Find the center of the sweet spot. What’s most important about your dream job? Sometimes the real crux of what you yearn for can be part of what you are already doing. If you can’t find a way to put it in your current work, give yourself that special thing in a hobby or with group involvement. Doing so will whet you appetite for more and create the motivation to take bigger steps eventually.
- Educate yourself in small doses. The word “educate” conjures up expensive, time-intensive options—college degrees or formal training for accreditation of some sort. That thinking makes the dream unachievable because the “entry fee” is more than you can handle either in time or money or both. Get your education in smaller doses. Read books. Surf the Net. Make friends with people who do what you want to do. Join groups involved in that profession or interest area. You can learn a lot in doable steps if you get rid of the idea that learning has to be in some kind of formal setting. Plus as people in the field get to know you, you develop a network that you’ll need later.
- Don’t wait. Staying in a job you hate indefinitely is self-inflicted slavery. Anything you can do to help yourself move toward something better is healthier emotionally. Getting your feet wet has lots of benefits. People in that field get to know you and start to appreciate you. Your focus becomes sharper as you get more depth. And if you do eventually decide to seek that formal credential, the coursework will be easier because you are already familiar with the terminology and the concepts.
Anybody can say “I hate my job.” And any job is going to be awful on occasion. But if you really need something different to make your heart sing, the only one stopping you is you.
You can change that.
Mary Lloyd is a speaker and consultant and author of Supercharged Retirement: Ditch the Rocking Chair, Trash the Remote, and Do What You Love. Her passion is in capitalizing on the potential of those over 50. For more, please visit her website http://www.mining-silver.com. She can be reached at mary@mining-silver.com.
Source: March, 2010 Put Old on Hold Newsletter
Barbara Morris — Image F/X Publications
Barbara@PutOldOnHold.com
© 2010 Image F/X Publications, All rights reserved
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