Everyone always refers back to that not-actually-Chinese-philosopher-Confucius quote: “Choose a job you love and you will never work a day in your life” (frankly, we don’t know who to attribute this to, only Wiki says it’s not Confucius), when they’re trying to help you figure out what you wanna do for the rest of your life.
It seems weird to be taking advice from a person who may or may not be American philosopher Arthur Szathmary/a motivational poster set against a background of clouds or something, but the reason the saying holds so fast is probably that it’s heaps true.
Because, while you’re trying to figure out a hypothetical career pathway, there’ll be a shed tonne of different factors pushing you one way or another: from chasing a stable/FLUSH income, to your mum weighing in, to wanting to have the time and space to make flexible work arrangements so you can go travelling or raise a fam or pursue other hobbies and interests.
There’s a lot going on when it comes to career trajectories – and that’s without taking into account the commonly cited stat that you’ll likely change jobs five to seven times throughout your lifetime – and while it may seem tough to navigate that many ch-ch-changes, it really does just boil down to finding a job that you love, and that makes you feel fulfilled.
Contributing to the sense of fulfilment shared by people who love their work is a sense of pride in what they do, and the feeling that they’re making an impact, whether in the workplace or in the world.
And while, working your way to a job like that can be a hard slog, it actually has distinct health benefits: in a recent study, people with productive work lives were found to be healthier and live longer than those without, while working in a field they loved gave them meaning and purpose.
Meanwhile, research has suggested that finding your work wife/hubby/BFF contributes to finding that job you love – and that those very friendships are in themselves motivating, making co-workers more collaborative, productive and accountable.
And finding that job you love needn’t be entirely about what you do, but about walking into somewhere with a healthy work environment – like those open-plan offices with free snacks and a foosball table, that focus on employees’ overall wellness to help boost productivity.
That’s a lot of compelling data to suggest we should all be taking the time to think about what it is we really, really want to do, and charting plans to meet those goals – it’ll make us a lot happier and healthier in the long run.
While a balanced life can’t be entirely centred around work, it’s one piece of a very complicated puzzle – and the first step towards it, for some, is to earn themselves a sparkly degree.
Doing a course you love can make you just as motivated and happy as scoring yr dream job, and it’ll certainly make yr uni years go by much quicker – they fly by so fast you might wind up wishing you could maybe tack another year on for old time’s sake (I’m not even kidding).
Struggling to make the first move towards your dream job because of a less-than-ideal ATAR? Try UTS Insearch, a pathway not only into UTS, but to the skills you’ll need to thrive at uni. Find out more at their info night on February 22 at 6pm. Register HERE.
