What type of enjoyment does your career give you? Any? Do you feel like it makes it works? I (30f) can’t tell if “the best way is through”, with my career or not. I make $100k+, which gives my life more security than before and I’m able to seriously save for a home. The culture at my work is supportive, but we’re a bit over loaded. That’s not too unusual in my field. And the places that did not overload me, required absolute perfection and were quick to fire people.
I could probably market myself into a new field for a small pay cut, but am not sure that this will solve my issue. Is this just part of being an adult?
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I like the money and I like working remote.
Besides that, it’s a means to an end. I don’t want to work any job at all lol
I’m someone that will probably never LOVE working, but it’s also important to me that I don’t HATE my job. I’ve been there, and it sucks! I do see working as a means to live a full life outside of work.
My kind of barometer:
Do you dread going in? (Sundays, mornings)
How often do you cry immediately before or after work?
Do you (personally) have tough season or is it ALWAYS a tough season?
These might need to be different questions for you, but this is how I evaluate my jobs. I don’t dread going in, I cry sometimes but not often, and usually the bad days or seasons are rare but not constant. A 7/10 is pretty good for me!
I’m 64. My original career was in Healthcare. In my late 30’s I was in a rut and discussing it with a peer. They asked me “Do you trust your high school aged child to make a decision for the rest of their life?”. I laughed and said “of course not!”. They responded “Thats what you did. Graduated from high school at 17 then chose your career. You don’t have “pharmacy” tattooed to your forehead.” I changed careers.
You have to figure out what you want most and what you’re willing to sacrifice to buy yourself comfort and security. Right now might not be the best time to switch Fields or jobs if you’re in the US.
I stopped viewing my job as part of my identity and simply look at it as a paycheck. Not only does it pay the bills, it affords me a quality of life that I enjoy. I’m not wealthy by any means but I can live the life I want and that is worth a lot to me.
It’s normal to dislike your job or be unhappy with your career. Most people do it for a lot less money than you make. So there’s that.
I have had two careers, both of which I have loved. I flunked out of college at 19. I did boring just-a-jobs for several years. At 26, I went to massage school. I got straight As and walked out after a year ready to command $50/hr in 1986 dollars. I loved the work and was brilliant at it.
But massage is time-limited, like being an athlete. In my early 40s I started writing about nutrition. I have something like 16 published books now. At 66, I’m podcasting.
I am not my own sole support; my husband has a day job. But I have made enough money writing that if we sold the rentals we have bought with my earnings we could retire.
Depends on the level of hate I guess. Not loving your job is normal, but if it’s ruining your mental and physical health I would leave. I’ve been in jobs I loved before and eventually things change enough that it became just a job. I once had a horrible manager and mentally I just couldn’t do it anymore. Now I have a job that is stressful but sometimes interesting, pay is good, people are nice, I work remotely, flexible hours, so even though I got too much on my plate most of the time and it’s not even in my area of interest I decided to stick with the job.