Do I Have to Love My Job? Why Your Passion Doesn’t Have to Be Your Career

With such a broad question, it’s easy just to answer that mindlessly. You either look forward to heading to work every morning (lucky you), you dread the thought of it when you go to sleep, or you’re somewhat indifferent to the idea altogether. Maybe you don’t necessarily hate your job, but it’s just a way to pay the bills, and you don’t feel it’s entirely necessary to be in love with your job anyway.

However, in our society, there’s this strange feeling of guilt that follows you around if you aren’t someone who loves and takes pride in their job. Not only do you feel frustrated that the occupation you’ve chosen doesn’t fulfill you in any meaningful way, but now you feel ungrateful for an opportunity to provide for yourself. So how should you feel about your job? Do you need to love it?

There are many differing opinions on this matter, and there isn’t exactly a straight answer across the board. Regardless, in this article, we tackle the debate from both sides and examine some of these differing opinions on how you should feel about your job and why it’s okay if you don’t love it. Let’s begin!

Job Satisfaction in America

Workers in the United States are, on the whole, pleased with their employment situations, according to a survey from Pew Research Center. Despite this, a sizable proportion (30%) consider the employment they do to be simply a job to get them by rather than a career or a stepping stone to a profession in the future. That being said, views on work are significantly divided along socioeconomic lines, and the feeling of vulnerability is at its peak among workers who have not completed their college degrees and whose household incomes are lower than the national average.

There are also major disparities between different professions and types of businesses. For instance, those who work in management are more likely to be happy with their current jobs, have salaried employment, and have a more extensive set of benefits that their employer supplies. Workers whose jobs involve retail, providing services, or manual labor, on the other hand, receive fewer benefits and report lower levels of happiness.

About half of all workers in the United States consider their current position to be a career, while the remaining 18% consider it to be a stepping stone to a career. Three out of ten employees feel that their current position is simply a job to get them by. People who consider their work to be a profession are often at least 30 years old, have a high level of education, higher salaries, and occupations that require them to work full time and be paid a salary.

Identity and Career

Satisfaction isn’t the only thing that matters when it comes to your career, however. It is plausible that you could be more or less satisfied with your job while ultimately not feeling any passion for it. In the same survey, researchers asked individuals an equally-important question: do you feel a sense of identity in your career, or is it simply what you do for a living?

It turns out Americans are split right down the middle on this question, with some interesting exceptions. About fifty-one percent of people claimed they felt a sense of identity in their jobs, while roughly forty-seven percent said it was just what they chose to do for a living. Many of the same factors for job satisfaction apply here. Seventy-seven percent of people with a postgraduate degree claim they’re satisfied with their jobs, while only thirty-eight percent of people with only a high school diploma said the same thing.

These findings indicate that the higher your education, the more likely you are not only to feel a sense of identity from your job but also feel satisfied with it overall. Only twenty-six percent of workers between the ages of 18 and 29 consider their employment a career, whereas forty-one percent of those in the middle and elder generations do so. If people of this age group proceed in the same manner as those who are slightly older, many of those positions referred to as “stepping stones” will, in fact, lead to careers.

Why Pursuing Passion Outside of Work Can Be a Good Thing

So, should you make your profession your passion, or should you look for a position that allows you to pursue your passion in your own time? America seems to be split right down the middle when it comes to whether or not you should pursue your passion as a career or whether your job should simply be your way to pay the bills while you invest your free time into your passions.

Pursuing your passions in your free time can involve less risk. In order to get a feel for what it might be like to pursue your interest on a full-time basis before committing to doing so, you might want to consider joining a club or enrolling in a class first. If you choose this method, you won’t feel any pressure to turn your hobby or interest into a job, so you’ll have more leeway to investigate a field in which you have a strong interest but are hesitant to make a long-term commitment.

Setting Boundaries 

In addition, making a distinction between what you do for a living and what you do in your spare time can assist you in establishing positive boundaries between your professional and personal lives. This will also make it easier for you to create communities of people who share your interests and become an active part of those communities. You will also have the opportunity to get to know others who share your interests and who may be able to provide you with a clearer picture of what your typical day might be like if you choose to pursue your passion full-time as a career.

There are other advantages to maintaining a healthy distance between one’s work and interests. The pursuit of internal benefits like satisfaction from one’s employment might erode one’s interest in one’s hobbies, according to a study. This happens when one’s focus is diverted toward the goal of external incentives like financial gain.

This might be especially true for those whose creative passions include things like writing, drawing, or making music. Because your interests and passions may shift over time, it is possible that you will not want to commit to a specific line of work merely on the basis of that interest.

Choosing a Positive Mindset

We understand it might be challenging to maintain a generally upbeat and enthusiastic attitude while one is engaged in completing monotonous tasks. Altering the way you work will help you alter the way you think, but only if you do both. Discover the relevance of your efforts, demonstrate that you are living the vision of your business, and collaborate with your coworkers so that you may, in turn, inspire positive change and get closer to achieving your goals.

Each and every business endeavors to fulfill the objective or vision that the business owners have established for themselves and their business. Raising your relevance by working towards a common goal will keep you on the path towards success. This is true whether it is clothing the homeless or producing happy, loyal clients while keeping expenses down for the business. Positivity and a desire to succeed are byproducts of recognizing one’s place in the greater scheme of things and coming to terms with one’s own value.

Realizing your own worth and being aware of the capabilities of the people on your team are both very significant. According to the findings of a study, people who worked with a partner reported having a greater interest in the topic as well as a stronger desire to become an expert in it. To put it another way, look to your coworkers for inspiration and encouragement. You can infuse your job with interest and motivation by engaging in collaborative brainstorming and discussion.

Asking yourself, “What can I do to improve this?” is a great way to start encouraging good change in your environment and get others to do the same as you get more engaged with your workplace and your coworkers. Spending a lot of time on the job will help you develop a passion for the responsibilities you have. When you add this enthusiasm to the fact that you are taking personal responsibility for the success of your firm, you will notice that both your engagement and your job happiness have increased to a far greater extent.

When you are working, the mentality that you choose to adopt is quite significant. Maintain a good frame of mind and be cognizant of the rewards that you are producing for yourself. That way, labor will become easier to master and more fun as one progresses along the path to success.

When It’s Okay to Quit Your Job

Of course, passions and interests aside, there may come a time in your professional life when a job simply isn’t working out anymore. This could be for a number of reasons, but the primary thing to focus on is differentiating between when you’re just burnt out and when your job is actively lowering your enjoyment of your life.

Toxic Work Environment

You should consider finding new employment if you are subjected to an unpleasant working environment because this can have a negative impact on both your professional and personal satisfaction. An unhealthy work environment may be characterized by methods of management that are punishing and controlling, a culture of mistrust and dishonesty among top executives, the public humiliation and/or harassment of employees, and inadequate lines of communication, among other factors.

Compromised Morals

If your job causes you to violate your morals or make decisions that you are uncomfortable with, it is time to get out of there. This is especially important to keep in mind in professional contexts due to the potential long-term repercussions various decisions could have on your career.

If you sacrifice your beliefs in order to keep your current employment, it could have a severe influence not only on your capacity to find work in the future but also on your sense of pride and morale in the meanwhile. When staff implement rules that are harmful to customers or deceive them in order to make more revenue, this is an example of a prevalent form of ethical compromise.

Work/Life Imbalance

Even though having a strong work ethic is a commendable quality and working some overtime on occasion is unavoidable, if you discover that you are working nonstop, this could be an indication that it is time for you to find a new job. Working an excessive number of hours per week without maintaining a sufficient work-life balance can have detrimental effects on a person’s health and well-being in addition to their productivity and the quality of their work. 

If you are unable to create boundaries with your manager or set more realistic expectations, your best choice is to look into other employment prospects that offer a better work-life balance and then resign from your current position.

Unlock Your Passion

The ways in which we choose to spend our time can help define who we are as individuals and give our lives purpose and satisfaction. However, our work does not necessarily need to be defined by our passion. It is possible for each of us to lead lives that are powered by our passions by adopting a more holistic perspective on passion, viewing it not only as something that can be pursued in the context of one’s work but also in other contexts.
If you are passionate about your career, consider yourself one of the lucky ones. There’s nothing wrong with having a career you find fulfilling and enjoyable. If you don’t, however, don’t be too discouraged by it. Your job does not have to define you.