The people who say you should be able to find a job you enjoy usually have glamour jobs.
What’s with all these entrepreneurs saying that you should find a job you enjoy?
What’s worse is that they say you can. But they’re wrong and just blowing a lot of hot air.
First off, it’s important to note that it’s quite possible that some of these authors write such articles for engagement. After all, a title such as “Five Ways You Can Land a Job You Love” will grab attention.
It’s also intriguing that usually, people who give this advice do NOT have a full-time job year-round.
Instead they’re living off of passive income or making full-time income on part-time freelance work from home.
Or they make a small fortune traveling all over the country giving speeches — a far cry from the 40 hour/week grind.
Or maybe they lucked out with Etsy and spend only seven hours a week creating their hot-selling art designs.
And if they do work closer to full-time, it’s often a glamour-type profession such as life coaching, podcasting, creating online courses or YouTube tutorials, writing novels…. which all come with time off whenever the entrepreneur wants.
Like, Duhhh
When these people say you should seek out a job that you’d enjoy – isn’t this “duhhh” advice? Like who purposely looks for a job they’d hate?
Certainly, some people will intentionally train in a line of work they know they won’t like, but they do so for the high pay.
Nevertheless, telling readers they should find a career they’ll love is like telling people, “When you chew food, swallow it.”
Why It’s So Unrealistic
It’s unrealistic to expect you’ll ever find a full-time job you can actually like, let alone love.
Though there seems to be a good number of people who claim to “love” their work, these articles target those who dislike and especially hate their jobs.
So let’s stick to the demographic that does not like doing what they do for a living, as well as those who are actively seeking employment.
As an entrepreneur, I’m a firm believer in following your dream.
One of my favorite sayings is, “Who makes the history books: the critics or the dreamers?” Everyone knows who Henry Ford and the Wright Brothers were.
But can you name even one of their critics? Walt Disney’s dreams were criticized. Name one of his critics.
Keeping your big dreams alive is very crucial. If your dream is to write scripts for TV dramas, then go for it.
But there’s a problem: How do you “get in”? This isn’t like filling out an application online for Walmart or Home Depot, where you’ll get called in for an interview if your application is halfway decent.
I have a great story idea for “Law & Order: SVU.” How do I get this in front of the series’ script decision maker? Oh, wait…I forgot — there’s a website that lists the direct phone numbers for the producers of this show. I’ll just text them my storyline, and away we go!
Decades ago I realized there’d never be a job I’d actually like. To me, working was strictly a matter of economics.
My life, my livelihood, was what occurred outside the workplace.
What do you enjoy doing?
If you ask 1,000 employed adults this question – without mentioning their job — how many will describe the things they do on their job?
Don’t ask, “What do you do in your spare time?” or, “What are your hobbies?” Instead, just leave it as, “What do you enjoy doing?”
See how many describe tasks they do at their workplace.
Even the people who claim to love their jobs will probably name activities they do outside of the workplace.
So it really makes you wonder just how many people, who claim to love their jobs, actually truly love their jobs!
Lawyers will tell you they love their work. Are these the same ones who get hotheaded in discovery depositions?
I’ve proofread thousands of these lawsuit transcripts over the years, and many don’t seem to enjoy this process at all. And this process consumes a lot of their work time.
Work Now, Ski Later. Ski Now, Work … Yeah, Right.
That’s a bumper sticker I once saw. And it rings so true.
Think of all the things you love or enjoy doing. How many of those activities can directly transfer over to an income stream? Very few hobbies have a direct transfer.
An example of a direct transfer is that of loving doing your friends’ nails. You can work as a manicurist and do the nails of strangers who come into the shop.
However, beware: Opening your own nail salon significantly changes the dynamics. You are now in charge of paperwork, overhead, insurance, supplies and employees.
So if all you want to do is manicures, then you should become an employee of someone else’s nail salon, rather than open one yourself.
Love to cook? Opening your own restaurant is not the same thing. But what about being a cook at Denny’s or even a high-end chef?
Seems that this would quickly become tiring, preparing meals as fast as you can for strangers and always having to worry that something wasn’t cooked just right.
This isn’t the same thing as cooking at home at your own natural pace; and if you flub up, nobody will get on your case. Well, maybe your mouthy tween will, but, you get the picture.
Love to play guitar or piano? Sorry, but you probably won’t gain fulfillment spending 40 hours a week selling product in a music supply shop.
And giving lessons isn’t the same thing as strumming your guitar when you suddenly feel inspired.
Love to golf? This doesn’t mean you’ll like operating a cash machine and taking and stocking inventory full-time at The Golf Emporium or manning a check-in desk at a golf course.
Maybe you’ll enjoy working full-time at a bowling center if you love to bowl. I fail to see the carryover.
Do these entrepreneurs not know what bowling center employees must do? Hint: One of the tasks is handling shoes that’ve been worn by hundreds of stinky feet.
Like to work on cars? You can get a job as an auto mechanic. Duhhh!
This is a direct transfer. Love airplanes? You can become a pilot or airplane mechanic. Duhhh!
Like young children? You can become a preschool leader. Duhhh!
Many jobs seem fun and may even have many amusing or enjoyable moments, but overall, they’re boring, monotonous and/or stressful.
Are you into fitness and working out? You can become a personal trainer!
BZZZZZZ! That’s the buzzer, because the dynamic is significantly changed once you try to make money in fitness. Yet those entrepreneur-authors will recommend this.
However, if you enjoy trying to convince people who are living paycheck-to-paycheck to spend $2,400 on personal training sessions, then you should become a personal trainer!
And if you don’t mind the pressure from you boss at the gym of having to sell $10,000 worth of PT packages every single month, then sales … er, I mean … personal training is for you!
Years ago, long before I had become a personal trainer, my brother once insisted that I should make fitness videos.
At the time he had already amassed wealth as a marketing pro. All he knew was that I regularly did gym workouts. I’d never even mentioned any desire to instruct.
I knew NOTHING about how to make a video (this was long before YouTube). I could barely operate a camera! And what about marketing the videos? Yeah, right.
Making instructional videos is an entirely different skillset than knowing which exercises work what muscle groups.
Plus, a stage personality heavily factors in. Somehow, my brother thought I could be the next Jane Fonda or Denise Austin just because I could bench press more than he could.
Sometimes, entrepreneurs give the worst career advice. Not always. Sometimes.
