Are you in your role primarily to get by and pay the bills?
If so, you’ll be feeling the tension between the current reality and your dream job – but it doesn’t have to be like that!
Economic dependency on work can feel like a hostage situation.
While it may not be feasible to directly ‘fix’ that problem overnight, a question worth posing is: Can you derive more meaning and enjoyment from your work?
Having worked for nearly twenty years in corporate roles before embarking on a freelance career, I can say that I love the freedom I now have, but it comes at the cost of the regular and reliable pay cheques!
The reason I left the corporate world was due to an evolution of meaning – the reasons for fervently pursuing that career were changing over time. Plus, I was becoming less tolerant of ‘values and behaviours’ mismatches at work.
That job served my economic interests until questions of ‘why’ were too hard to ignore: Is there more to life? Why am I still doing this? Do I want to work in this industry for the rest of my career?
There comes a time of reckoning that’s often associated with certain life events – the ones that cause us to take a beat and question the treadmill that we’re on. It can also be a gradual accumulation of concerns that reach a tipping point, as it was in my case.
Voluntarily leaving the economic certainty of a job is risky.
Over the years many people have asked for advice on leaving their day job and transitioning to ‘a job like mine’. The grass always looks greener on the other side, so I make sure they understand the pros and cons of freelancing.
In some cases it puts a dampener on their desires – especially when financial commitments impose pressures on their lives.
So, is there an alternative to quitting and taking your chances in the job market or riding the rollercoaster of self-employment?
Yes, there is.
And that revolves around re-connecting with the reason you do the work you do.
Even if it isn’t your current dream job: Who are you serving? How are you serving them? What can you gain from it?
Maybe it’s about building a portfolio of skills and experiences to help you land your dream role. It could lie in satisfaction from the benefits that customers or clients receive from your organisation. You might enjoy applying your strengths, reaching stretch goals and much more.
In other words, there might be more meaning to be derived from what you currently do than you think. Taking time out to do some structured and guided reflection can be useful.
I learned this the hard way. I have no regrets about leaving my corporate career to become a freelancer, but it was a high risk strategy.
What I didn’t realise at the time was that were other options that I hadn’t properly appreciated nor assessed.
Having this discussion back then would have been very useful!
The upside is that my experience has led to The Power of Why keynotes and workshops, where I break down the challenge into three practical steps before guiding the construction of a plan of action.
Connecting with – or at least consciously recognising – the meaning embedded in your work builds resilience, especially when workload pressures and change fatigue are wearing you down.
How does this sit with you?
Please share your own experiences if you wish.
Phil Preston is a leading resilience and adaptability speaker with keynotes suited to individuals, teams and leaders. He can be messaged via hello@philpreston.com.au
