Living the Dream

Do you love your job?

When I do professional coaching, one of the questions I sometimes ask is, “If you won several million dollars in the lottery, would you still come into work?” For most people, the answer is “no.” For many people, they do their jobs because they are paid to do their jobs. While we often pick areas that interest us when selecting our careers, the “40-60 hours every week for decades” grind is something we do so our kids have food and shoes.

What would you need your job to entail for you to choose to do it, even if you didn’t need the money? What gives you a sense of purpose, of meaning, of accomplishment, of making a difference, of helping others, of authority/power, of competence/expertise, of contribution, of being part of something important? What makes you do a happy-dance around the desks when it happens? What makes you look forward to getting into work in the morning? Why do you do THIS job, instead of something else?

Most jobs have good and bad parts, but if you can figure out the best parts, you can then work to maximize those aspects. Consider asking your staffers, “What’s the best part of working here?’ for each of them, and then see if you can maximize the good bits for them, too.

(Photo by Alex Kotliarskyi on Unsplash)