“In life, it’s enough to be smart just twice: when choosing a profession and a spouse. If you miss both times, you have to be smart your whole life.” — Duško Radović
Congratulations if you’ve got a job, it’s wonderful that you’re employed… I’ll wish for you to stay in that position for a long time, but only if the job is truly yours, the one that fulfills you and makes you be yourself. If not, I wish you to get rid of the current one as soon as possible and find a new, suitable job – one that will make you happy and fulfilled, because that’s the only thing that truly matters…
A job is an integral and inseparable part of our lives. Considering how much time we spend working and how much the mood created at work transfers to our private lives – it’s almost impossible to completely separate the professional and the personal. However, even though it spills over into other spheres of your life, your job should not define you, but rather fulfill you. It is completely wrong to identify yourself with the function you currently have at work. Of course, it’s nice to have a title and all the privileges that come with it, but that’s not the essence. All of that is superficial and temporary. For a quality and long-term professional relationship (the same applies to interpersonal relationships), what matters is what’s inside. The smile on your face will show whether you have chosen the right job, whether the company is the right one, and whether the title you have is fulfilling you or limiting you. Someone once told me: “Everything you can do is easy, and everything you can’t do is hard.” Such a simple truth! And everything you do with ease – is your true path. That’s what you should pursue. Explore your talents, you may not have discovered your true value yet. I believe every person has a talent, they just need to discover it. That is true happiness – to discover your talent and work on it. Unfortunately, many people go through life without ever being aware of their abilities. Often, pursuing the wrong job leads them astray. Therefore, don’t let your job limit you in exploring your own boundaries. No salary or title can even come close to replacing the feeling you get when you do a job you love and are destined for. Try to answer the questions about your relationship with your job as honestly as possible. What is my primary motive for doing this? Does this engagement fulfill me? Do I believe in it? Am I happy?
You can choose: 1) to be in harmony with your being, or 2) to be a winner in your professional environment at any cost. If you choose option 1 – you will have peace of mind and the awareness that you are doing good and will eventually be rewarded for it, one way or another. If you choose option 2 – you will have superficial satisfaction of power, influence, and wealth, based on deceptions, lies, and frauds. The option you choose defines you better than any personality test. You might be tempted to choose the second because it sounds more appealing, but – if you are above all a human being, you will quickly change your mind and stick to your precious peace. Corporations are not only a business but also a sociological phenomenon that tests a person’s conscience and mental strength.
The most important thing is to love your job. For excellent job performance, emotions are essential. You probably expected me to write objectivity, professionalism, focus, etc., but no – love for the job comes first! Just like in life, nothing is without emotions. They are the primary “driver” for dedication to everything we do. If only reason is involved and you are oriented solely towards practicality – you will have results, of course, but they will not be top-notch. You must love your job to dedicate yourself to it fully and be most successful in it. For more than 100%, emotions are necessary. They should be controlled, but not excluded. However, when you become emotionally attached to your job, you will need lion-like strength to endure when “problems in paradise” arise.
The special beauty of my job was that I worked on different, diverse projects every year. That was true enjoyment for me, as I was not created for routine work. Only if you choose the right profession can you work with enthusiasm and faith. An excellent baker, an excellent salesperson, a tailor, a winemaker, a restaurant owner, an accountant, a painter, a traffic policeman, a teacher – you just need to find yourself in your field. However, no matter how much you love and enjoy your job, things can change because people change, and everything is subject to change. It is quite natural that, over time, for some reason, you may want to change your profession, and if that’s what you truly want and not just a passing phase – do it. Why wouldn’t you? In some developed countries, it’s a common occurrence, acceptable and easily achievable, while in our conditions, people usually take this step only when forced to. For example, when a person in their fifties in America wants to change professions, no one looks at them with surprise. Here, only hardship can force you to change professions, and then people look at you with pity and comment on your move until you become successful. Then their attitude changes: everyone congratulates you on your courage and boldness and says they always believed in you… You need to be open to new things because curiosity gives us a life impulse. A manager in a corporation becomes a blogger or starts producing healthy food or writes a book… Why not? Everything is possible and doable. Keep your options open.
“Do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.”