It has been written and said in every time and place that turning one’s passion into a job leads to the achievement of personal fulfillment. But this is not always possible, nor are there always many alternatives. More often, one must learn to “make peace” with the job that one can find or that one has found, appreciate the things one is doing, maintain a serene working climate and good relationships with colleagues, using intelligence and creativity in finding one’s right comfort.
Even the myth of the single vocation has been decidedly distorted. People with a single vocation and of which they are aware are a minority. All the others have been victims of years of conditioning (for goodness sake, for the greater good) by parents, school, partners or even by the external environment or by fashions, which distance us from autonomous and more conscious choices.
From direct experience, I have also become convinced that as human beings, the nuances, complexities, and tortuous paths that life leads us to take matter a lot. So I tend to think that it is decidedly complicated to be able to help someone find the “right job”!
It probably works for some people, but they are people who would most likely have done a similar path on their own, or who already had fairly clear ideas, they just needed to reorganize their thoughts.
It is certainly possible to help someone find a job, but not (or not always) “the right one”!! And then, are we sure that the right job in life always exists?
The thought of choosing a job at twenty or thirty and continuing to do it until retirement do us part leaves me perplexed. Sure, it happens to some. Or maybe it seems like the same job but it isn’t: everyday life changes profoundly during the course of life, and you have to listen to your needs and aspirations of the present.
Life is a flow and as long as it continues to flow, we can always change our minds and needs.
It is realistically more possible and useful to eliminate the conditioning received, the dysfunctional beliefs that each one has about himself, and about how the world goes. With a freer mind, it is easier to “feel” what you want to do as a job. And that is the moment when you start planning and building.
Loving your profession makes your daily work enjoyable, exciting, and motivating. But passion is not essential to make a job fulfilling. It would be enough to remember that each profession is made up of multiple activities and not all of them have to do with your passion. Some aspects may not be exciting (but if we learn to accept them they can be useful to improve our skills and perhaps have a great career). Or even discover new interests!!
On the other hand, passions are often linked to the inspiration of the moment, or when you feel an emotion, you live an experience. While work needs continuity, deadlines, and planning. And the two things do not always go hand in hand. Over time, passion can fade if it is harnessed by the tracks of the rules of the context.
A job is satisfying if ingredients such as the possibility of expressing oneself, the opportunity to grow and improve, variety, the awareness of having the necessary skills and resources, the environment, and the corporate climate come together.
The real harm that a young person can do to himself by always remaining in search of the only path that he thinks corresponds to his passion, is to waste a lot of time without even understanding if that is really “his right path”.
The only certainty, in my opinion, is that to find the path you want in life you need to try other ones too.
How can we be sure that we are on the right path if we have never explored any other?
Interesting posts Aldo.
Sometimes we do what we have to do and not what we wish to do. If that is the case then we better do it with joy.
Turning one’s passion into a job can lead to personal fulfillment, but it requires peace, appreciation, a positive work environment, and good relationships.
A single vocation is distorted and finding the right job can be challenging due to changing needs. A job should provide self-expression, growth opportunities, variety, and awareness of necessary skills. Exploring different options helps individuals find the right path and achieve personal fulfillment.
Interesting post indeed.
Thanks Prof. Ali, for reading and for the intelligent comment.
I dealt with this when in Italy, temporary work was introduced, with much criticism and protest, which allowed fresh graduates to immediately enter the world of work, not only by obtaining a regular salary (while before it was only exploitation), but above all by being able to explore the world of work, so different from the family one, as a student, allowing then to address oneself with greater knowledge of the facts. At the time I wrote various articles in a newspaper that dealt with work, obviously encountering criticism but also the satisfaction of being invited by various companies and labor consultancy firms.
Excellent what you did Aldo and my friend I am glad you contributed to the defense of the young employees. This is great.
Young people need to be supported, patiently guided to express their talents, not abandoned to themselves.
Thank you my friend for your constant support.