The myth of the “Dream Job”
I don’t know where we fell into this thing where we have to do our dream jobs or do what our heart desires.
We should do a job that first and foremost, pays the bills if that’s all we can get. Then after that, something that uses our skills, knowledge and talents. Then after that, a job you are good at and enjoy 80% of the time.
My job isn’t my “dream job”. No one dreams of this!!! I guarantee you. But I’m good at it and I enjoy it 80% of the time and that is the best anyone can hope for.
What’s worse is many “dream” jobs pay crap pay because everyone has a dream to be in fashion, for instance, so they know this and treat you accordingly like crap because the supply is huge.
The jobs where you do make bank like athlete or influencer, is a lot of hard work, sacrifice and not many make it, which makes it unrealistic.
Even if you get a “dream” job to go around eating and traveling around the world, that is still work. All the things you have to do in that “dream job” are not that glamourous, and frankly, it isn’t just fun and games. There is a schedule, there are points where you have to redo something over and over again for the right shot or video clip, and then spend hours editing the footage. How about when things go wrong? No one posts about that either.
That’s why trying to get your “dream job” is terrible advice.
4 Comments
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Sherry of Save. Spend. Splurge.
That’s a good point. For me, I consider my job to be a dream job if I had to work but I would not do it for free. My contracts are hit and miss in terms of employers, but overall I love what I do, but it’s a rarity.
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Steveark
I agree that it’s a fools errand to search for a dream job. But, you can build one if you pick a good paying field that you have real talent in and then develop mastery of it. If you do that you will, in time, find you enjoy it quite a bit. I know I did, and I do consider it became my dream job as I became great at doing it.
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Sherry of Save. Spend. Splurge.
That was the same for me as well. I fell into my job, and it became my dream job. I consider ourselves very lucky, as many never reach this.
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Sense
I dunno…I think it depends on what basis you are defining your dream job!
I consider myself to have my dream job because it perfectly aligns my values and what I feel is my purpose in life (which I defined even before I knew my job existed), with being able to support myself, work with inspiring, wonderful people and community, and growing exponentially as a person and scientist each year. I can honestly say I love 99% of everything about it every day I go to work, which I know most people are not fortunate enough to be able to say. The tasks fit extremely well with my (unfortunately unmedicated by necessity) ADHD strengths and weaknesses, too – what a huge, fortunate boon! I also have an amazing, flexible, understanding boss and get tons of time off, which helps heaps, but honestly I spend a lot of my time off thinking about ways I can do more things at work, better.
I know what it is like to do a job that fits into your criteria: 1. makes money 2. takes advantage of my skills and interests, 3. you like 80% of the time, and I found that it eventually became extremely tedious and boring to the point that I had to quit because it didn’t align with my personal values. To me, that is the key – align the above with your life’s purpose and BAM. So I guess my caveat would be that dream jobs *do* exist, they are just extremely rare, require you to know yourself really well, be privileged enough to be able to go to school or gain the skills you need to get that job, and for the job to actually exist (or for you to be able to create it).