The Myth of "It"
Have you ever looked around at others pursuing meaningful work they love and thought you were the only person who hasn’t figured out what you want to be when you grow up? And you’re 30 or 50 or 70! I’ve worked with a lot of clients who have spent a lot of time looking for the one big answer and waiting for an “aha” moment. Well, let me share a big secret with you that might just help – there is not one big “it” for you! Actually, it is not about finding an “it” at all.
Most of us are passionate about many things and it is important to understand that passions are about who you are, not about what you do. And our passions can be expressed in lots of different ways. It is certainly not about any one specific job or idea. That would be far too limiting! Your passions are always broader than how you chose to express them through a single job. And by approaching passions as a range of possibilities, you open yourself up to many answers to the question of how you want to express and pursue your passion at this point in your life.
Your passions will likely change and grow as you change and grow. Check in with yourself often to see if you are still on track with how you are expressing your passions. It is also worth noting that passion is not necessarily something that has us skipping around all day with little cartoon hearts coming out of our ears. Rather, it is something that is important to us and that we are proud of and inspired by and willing to work hard for, because we need to and are drawn to. The biggest difference is that working hard for our passions is something we also want to do.
Aim for purpose, not perfect. There is no mythical perfect job out there. All jobs have elements of boring or necessary that don’t necessarily leave us giddy. The reality is more about moving the needle towards work that you enjoy doing or has meaning and purpose so that those less than exciting elements don’t drain your energy. Aligning your expectations with the reality of all elements of your job you reframe what a great job and meaningful work are really all about.
