I want to do something I love (employees, paycheck, job)

[arleigh]

I've many jobs in my lifetime ,some I liked and some I didn't.
Pay was not always the motivator ,
the learning curve involved in the job challenged my mind and abilities and made me a better person all around.
The people you work with even though the work is laboriously hard can make a big difference.
Fighting forest fires with a team has it's perks, and looking out for one another drew us closer together.
Most of my currier was as a mechanic working on a vast number of different kinds of equipment ,a very special education in it's self .
I've learned that one can adjust their attitude to a job and feel better about it no matter how discussing it is .
Ive worked down in a hole replacing a sewage pump , watching matter drop down right in front of me not a foot away . the smell was unbelievable. but the whole process was vital to those living in the homes that pump serviced.
Sweeping a floor may not seem all that important but if some one is hurt having slipped on something on that floor, the whole world is looking at you.
Working on military ships and working on personal boats and water craft have their challenges , and though you may but a small cog in a really big wheel, what you do matters . Doing my best matters to me. and I enjoy each challenge.

[Gaylord_Focker]

Originally Posted by Aery11

No job could ever make me 'happy'. I had to make myself happy and I was happy for the most part if I felt that I was doing my best, learning a lot, and challenging myself in some way.


I did loads of jobs in my working years and interestingly one of the ones I remember most fondly was one some would think was THE most boring job in the world .. and I can't say it lead anywhere, it was dirty (despite the water) and it was not challenging .. holding a hose for 8 hours a day to melt down slag heaps in the basement of a lead/zinc mill. I LOVED doing that job .. because it allowed me to 'think', to write poetry in my head, design a house, to sing out loud at the top of my lungs where no one could hear me, to dream .. you name it .. if there was a way to use my brain in the most brainless job I ever had, I did it. And I got paid to do it too.


But, I also did many other jobs too .. each, even pedestrian ones, were interesting in themselves - at least for a time. I even loved waitressing - because my challenge to myself was usually just to do what the job really asked me to do - keep the customers happy and fed - and the money came (not from wages - believe me - from tips). Where they failed me was when there was nothing more to learn it seemed. I never much cared what I was learning, just that I was learning.


The most 'on the edge of my seat' fun (aside from being 'up to my butt in alligators' 'going down the tubes' so to speak in the air traffic operational world on occasion) was probably when I started my own consulting business, working 24/7 on getting contracts and then on fulfilling them. It could have been very scary (and I won't say it wasn't at times when the prospects were thin) but it was also a challenge and each time I got a job or finished one, I was rewarded and felt really satisfied - with myself .. and that for me .. is happiness.

I used to wash dishes in a restaurant. I would much rather do that than this white collar job I have. The pay is the issue of course.

[David A Stone]

Years back a friend went to college and he said a professor told him his talent was in art.


He really enjoyed painting.


He got a college degree and after his wife divorced him....because she was sick of supporting him and their toddler....he got a factory job to buy food and pay for a tiny studio apartmen t.


Yup, chased a "dream" in college doing what he loved.
So much for ........" select a career that is your passion "

[Nov3]

My passion came and I embraced it! For 13 years it was a blast getting paid for something I had a knack for. I didn't plan it...Didn't think twice when it happened ....Was just grateful for being happy .Content and valued.
Funny thing is... I now make 1/2 of what I used to....And still I go to work and am happy...Content and grateful. Maybe being able to contribute in life and be of service is good enough

[aliss2]

I have a wonderful job The pay is decent, the hours are flexible, and I don't have to commute. I enjoy the work. It took five years of university and a few years of experience (plus volunteering) before I was able to ladder up to this job. It was a long road. I worked towards it while doing jobs that I hated

[Tallysmom]

Originally Posted by Gaylord_Focker

Is that realistic? Does anyone love what they're doing? I make a good living, but I am miserable at work. I feel ungrateful even typing that, but is the adage "do what you love and the money will come" true?

Some people do find a way to like what they do,but there are always aspects to every position that are not fun. Just life.

As to that adage? No. Often doesn't happen. But that doesn't mean you give it up. Read Barbara Sher....she talks about working your dream life into your real life. Lots of people do what they love while working a real job to put food on the table.

And a lot of people find that work life/dream life balance makes the work life much easier to deal with...

[Manimuni]

Me too.

[Serious Conversation]

I neither love not hate my current job. It's a job.

What I get ticked off about in IT is how you're supposed to come in and take over complex, poorly documented environments other people drew up with a week of training (literally how much I got from the person in my role), and then held liable for the inevitable mistakes.

I can't think of another profession where high end professionals are just thrown to wolves like that.

[veuvegirl]

After years of working I have found you have to find happiness in where you are. I had a job that I loved, but didn't challenge me. So I moved to a new job. Hated everything about it.

My next job was my dream job. I was incredibly excited. My boss was a loon, she made me miserable. The job I have now I don't love what o do, but I have a great boss, great coworkers and I am challenged.

I don't know anyone that has everything they want. Pick your priorities what is most important. For me working from home and having a great boss is my happiness.

[artillery77]

Originally Posted by Serious Conversation

I neither love not hate my current job. It's a job.

What I get ticked off about in IT is how you're supposed to come in and take over complex, poorly documented environments other people drew up with a week of training (literally how much I got from the person in my role), and then held liable for the inevitable mistakes.

I can't think of another profession where high end professionals are just thrown to wolves like that.

Nah, that's becoming the status quo in a lot of places. 1 part of managers perpetually hiring people weaker than them. 1 part of making it easy to report no problems that managers aren't going to look for. 1 part of shifting problems that can't be avoided anymore to a different group....it's chronic because it's gotten dangerous to find a problem in companies, and nearly suicidal to attempt to fix them because someone may look foolish. With nobody able to bring about excellence individually, relationships run supreme. That's what I hate. I want to do a good job, make it right and go home. I often find it difficult to achieve that happy mix to my satisfaction. Maybe others have different reasons.

On the other hand, my wife likes fine clothing. She also likes talking with customers about clothing. She likes making small sales. She does alterations and dry cleaning. She has her own store. For the first 9 years, she worked 7 days a week. When we started dating, she went down to 6 days a week, 10 hours each day. She's never come home and complained about her store once. Not a single time. She can solve problems, negotiate rents, switch suppliers, fire customers. Would she be as happy working for someone else? Not sure. All I know is she loves her store, and does ok financially.