It’s time to change your perspective of your career. Too many people see their jobs as menial tasks in exchange for money and this is a terrible perspective. It prevents you from enjoying the day-to-day tasks of your job and ultimately may be holding you back from reaching your full potential with the company. Your job should be more like an adventure, with bigger goals constantly coming into focus and bringing you closer to them every day as you work towards success. Here are seven reasons why your career should be more like an adventure.
Sometimes, you wonder if you’re spending your days on earth in a way that really matters. If your work isn’t fulfilling enough to give your life some purpose, then it may be time to make a change—but how? It could be as simple as asking yourself how what you do contributes to others and whether it makes a difference. If it doesn’t, here are seven reasons why your career should have more purpose
Practicing and learning new skills creates new neural pathways in your brain, while pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone is a great way to develop crucial coping mechanisms. A job doesn’t have to be thrilling to give you a sense of purpose and adventure, but adding excitement can greatly enhance it.
Adventure creates great stories
Life is more enjoyable when you have great stories to tell. By making your career into an adventure, you are creating a richer life full of memorable tales. Before long, people will begin asking you for these stories and eagerly wait to hear what comes next! If your work life isn’t fulfilling and entertaining then perhaps it’s time to rethink how you approach your job.
Adventures are associated with happiness and excitement. Even when they’re not, as psychologist Edward Diener has shown, even thinking about what you’d do if you won a million dollars (even though it’s unlikely) can make you happier. In general, most people have goals that are more consistent with personal progress than with financial gain and status in society, Diener explains in his 2010 book on happiness research titled Happiness: Unlocking the Mysteries of Psychological Wealth.
Stop comparing your professional progress to your peers. It’s completely normal to feel like you’re not moving quickly enough in your career, but take a step back and remember that everyone else is on their own journey and it takes time to reach success. For example, Steve Jobs was fired from Apple—and it took him years before he became CEO again at age 37! Don’t let negative emotions of envy or impatience stop you from enjoying what you do.
We all face obstacles. The key is to not allow those obstacles to control your destiny. A career that’s more like an adventure means being able to work past setbacks, both personal and professional. It’s easy to throw in the towel when you hit a hurdle, but having a purpose makes you fight through them instead of letting them bring you down. Reaching toward bigger goals: A job can be something that takes up all of your time if you let it.
An important part of creating a fulfilling career is finding something you’re passionate about. If you hate your job, it’s likely because it just doesn’t feel like anything you want to do. You probably don’t want to make a career out of it. So find something that you love and start taking steps in that direction. It may take time to get there and money may be tight, but if passion drives you then nothing will stand in your way.
If this sounds exciting but you don’t know how to take control. Check out this article on just that.