with their job, you might be tempted to console them with
this aphorism of dubious origin:
“Do what you love, and you’ll never have to work a day in
your life.”
It’s only natural to reach for advice like this. It’s so easy on
the ears: take what you’re passionate about and do that. It’s
an easy-to-recite invocation against drudgery. It’s a promise
of freedom from the daily grind. And it’s advice that all of us
want to believe in. But is it true?
The internet is teeming with battle cries of inspiration urging
you to hunt down work that doesn’t look like work. You might
even feel like you’re doing something wrong if you’re not
wading in your passions for 40 hours a week. It might make
you feel like what you’re doing for a living isn’t what you’re
supposed to be doing .
Put this advice back on the shelf. You don’t have to make
your hopes and dreams the foundation of your career to be
happy. (I love Nutella and five-pin bowling —what kind of job
would that be?) Instead, we suggest swapping the idea of
“doing what you love,” for loving what you do . Work doesn’t
have to look like your favorite pastime to be meaningful.
A cheerless job can tempt you to dust off your resume,
but you don’t have to quit just yet. First, make a genuine
attempt to improve things from where you sit. Fulfillment at
work is often a matter of perspective—not place. In fact,
simply doing what you love is no guarantee your work life will
be satisfying.
“Fulfillment at work is often a matter of
perspective—not place.”
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They said yes
Do you remember the precise moment you landed your
current job? What a score! It’s generally a moment of
triumph and validation. Landing a new job is like moving to a
new town. It’s a chance to start fresh, redefine who you are,
and do something great.
Now consider another moment (say, early on a Monday
morning) when you felt much less elated. You’re negotiating
with the snooze button instead of rushing into work. What
happened? That job that was once fresh and inspiring is now
another stressor in your life. Without really noticing it, your
exciting new gig (the one all your friends and family
congratulated you on when you got it) has undergone a
metamorphosis. Now it’s an obligation, or even worse, a
source of anxiety.
Sometimes there is a right time to move on from a job, but
often the biggest difference between the first day of work and
the “first day of dread” is your point of view.
To love what you do you must understand how (and why) you
do it in the first place. That process can start by cultivating
appreciation for your teammates, by diving deeper into what
you do every day, and by thinking carefully about the results
you achieve—at the job you already have. You don’t even have
to leave your chair.
Here are four strategies that can help you shift perspective.
Learn something new
Whenever you start a new job, your mind is exploratory and
receptive; your lack of institutional knowledge is actually
beneficial—especially if your employer wants fresh, outside
perspectives. As you gradually learn the ropes, understand the
culture, or figure out how to operate the coffee machine, you
exist in a state known as Beginner’s Mind. And in this state,
you are more willing and able to abandon
your preconceptions, consider processes more carefully, and
think more creatively.
Tap into this mindset once more. Challenge your
assumptions . Spend time thinking about individual steps,
rather than brushing over things that are routine. And spend
time in the moment. Being situationally aware and present
can make you happier doing what you do.
Even if you’re a veteran of your industry, there’s always
something new to learn. Perhaps especially so. Push yourself
into the darkness of uncharted territory to become a beginner
again.
Share your wisdom
If you’ve been at a job for while, you have probably gained
some specialized knowledge or skills. Consider sharing or
trading these skills with a teammate. It can give you a more
positive perception of the work you are currently doing, and
help you learn something different.
You could also become a mentor to a new employee or
intern. Leveraging your experience to help others at work
usually requires little cost or effort on your part, but it can
immensely help someone starting out.
Your brain will thank you too. Giver’s glow is your body’s
neurological response to altruistic acts, like helping:
“Such thoughts activate the mesolimbic pathway in the
brain that is associated with happiness and production
of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that helps control the
brain’s reward and pleasure centers. Actual face-to-face
helping also triggers areas of the brain associated with
happiness.”
Mentoring can also be a catalyst that reminds you of your
accomplishments and provides structure to all that
you’ve learned at your current job. Spill the beans.
Reach for your strengths
Research shows that the more we employ our natural
talents, the more likely we are to be happier at work and more
engaged. You could take a personality test like Myers-Briggs
or StrengthsFinder , but it’s often as useful to approach
the people that know you best. Query your friends, a partner,
coworkers, or a manager if there is particular talent or
strength that you might have that you could be utilizing more.
For example, if you derive energy from presenting your ideas
in public, seek out those opportunities at work, even if they
are outside the scope of your current role. If you are an
introverted type that prefers detail-oriented, self-directed
projects, ask to see if that kind of work is available to take on
(or provide assistance on).
They don’t have to be “career-furthering,” or high-profile
assignments. They should be things that leverage the skills
you naturally bring to the workplace. The kind of work you
really get a kick out of might be torture for someone else. Ask
around, and you might be surprised at the opportunities that
are hidden in plain sight.
Be honest about what you truly want
and need from your job, and give your
manager actionable ways to help you.
Enlist your manager’s help
In many ways, the relationship you have with your manager is
the defining factor in your happiness at work. As the adage
goes, “you don’t quit your job, you quit your manager,” so it’s
crucial that whoever you report to is on board with keeping
you content, thriving, and productive.
Every good manager wants their reports to like their jobs, but
they can’t read minds. The boss-employee relationship
requires input, cooperation, and work from both parties. In a
Forbes article about improving your relationship with your
boss, Joyce Maroney explains: “We get out of them what we
put into them—as long as both parties are committed to the
relationship.”
Keeping your boss accountable is important, but be
accountable to yourself too. Be honest about what you truly
want and need from your job, and give your manager
actionable ways to help you. Getting a raise or promotion isn’t
always easy—or guaranteed to increase your job satisfaction.
But your boss can probably find ways today to act on
requests like “I need more encouraging feedback” or “I want
opportunities to learn new skills,” so speak up and let them
try.
The sum of the parts
We’ve said before: if your daily work doesn’t ladder up to your
stated objectives you should stop doing it . The same goes
for your career too. It should lead you to where you want to
be. Your objectives should be as much map as they are
destination .
Think carefully about your company’s goals to calibrate them
with your personal values. Is it a mission you can stand
behind? When you think about serving a larger purpose, it can
help renew your passion for what you do.
Falling in love—whether with your job or with a human—is as
emotional as it is introspective; knowing yourself is truly the
first step to being happy. And staying happy is an ongoing
process of regrounding your long-term goals within your
current objectives. When those align, you’re on the path to a
job you can adore.
Have any advice on how to turn it around at work? Tell us
about it in the comments.
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