I’m going to start this piece off by stating something that for some readers may be too obvious, but which I think is worth saying anyway. There is a big difference between searching for a job and searching for a career.
For the sake of simplicity, I see a job as something you do for money, whereas a career is something you do to give meaning and purpose to life. Many of you may be perfectly content separating livelihood from living and see a job merely as a means to a financial end. Living, for those of this mindset, consists of contentment found in mainly choosing things and experiences that make life interesting and stimulating. Together they make up a life that is at a minimum, good enough. Getting paid for being sufficiently stimulated, by whatever means, appears to be the primary goal. Money is generally necessary for this kind of lifestyle and therefore getting and keeping a job that pays decently becomes important. Fine. It is a perfectly conventional viewpoint about work. And one I don’t recommend.
Work in a capitalist democracy such as ours displays its greatest value not in just how productive the society becomes, but in how everyone has the potential to express their unique contribution to both the greater good and to themselves. I do not see a benefit in drawing too sharp a distinction between living and work. I am alright with thinking that what you are is what you do. Now, some of you may think this sounds like a workaholic Boomer talking, who has not yet learned how to chill. Perhaps. Rather, I am suggesting that integrating work and life, career and self, can result in a fuller sense of being and completeness.
It is good to have an identity. It is of value to see yourself and to have others see you as comprised of those significant elements of our lives, be they family member, citizen, leisure-lover, or worker. To define yourself in terms that exclude or downplay your work and how you spend such a large amount of time and energy denies yourself much of the richness you could be feeling from life.
I am impressed by people who know something very well, be it a skill or body of knowledge. These people enjoy sharing their expertise through reaching out and teaching others or by making available the products and services they can craft expertly. To develop a talent to the point in which you are an artisan means you can be living a great life. You have meaning and purpose. You give yourself a gift beyond what money alone can provide.
It is easy to blame our employer or simple circumstances for our despair with work. Having each week be a countdown to the weekend starting with a Blue Monday is sad. If you associate Wednesday with Hump Day, then your career is not on track. It’s not working for you.
Take time to reflect on what you are doing. Are you just working or are you living? Life does not have to be just getting by or getting through it. You can have a relationship with yourself that is highlighted by growth and mastery. You can be somebody and your work can be a big satisfying part of who you are.
Despite the current Recession, this is a great time to form a career in America. We are not as constricted by class, family legacy, race, or gender roles as we once were or as is still the case in many parts of the world. Here, a true meritocracy is coming about. [Update: In the years since I wrote this paragraph, I have become more aware of how gender roles and meritocracy can lack fairness. I address this issue in future essays.]
The upcoming years should be open to entrepreneurial solutions and our collective value propositions. Now is the time to find your place and to carve out your niche. Do not let the difficulty of shifting to this way of thinking hold you back. Enjoy the congruence of livelihood and life. You can be happier than you ever thought possible.
