I’ve met very few people who absolutely love what they do for a living.
I think it’s because most people can tell you “what” they do for a living, and they can even explain “how” to do it, but they don’t have a good answer for “why” they do it.
If you are feeling unmotivated or unhappy in your job, take a close look at why you do what you do. If it’s simply to make money, then that’s a pretty poor reason for choosing your career. You can make money doing just about anything these days. I know of a guy who makes a living collecting baseballs at sporting events (yep, he actually charges money to teach people all the tricks to getting foul balls at stadiums). So why waste your days on earth at a job you don’t find fulfilling?
Here are my two tips to finding fulfillment in your job:
First, understand how your company makes a positive impact on others. Google makes life easier by saving people time finding information online. Facebook helps millions connect and communicate with friends. Apple creates computers that are easier to use. All these companies have purpose for existing beyond making money, and every employee enables that mission, therefore their employees have a purpose for what they do beyond their paycheck.
Second, understand what you were made to do, and do that to the best of your ability. A hammer is made to hit nails. It would be happiest when successfully driving a nail into a board. It would be least happiest if used as a decoration or children’s toy. Likewise, you were made to excel at certain tasks. Find those tasks you were made for and do them as well as you can.
Remember, a company can be the most powerful force of good in the entire world. You’ve got small groups of highly skilled individuals all focusing on a specific solution that makes life easier for others. What kills most organizations is money.
Companies should raise money from their customers who are willing to support the good work they are doing. <- That’s the right way to do it: treating money as a means to and end. The problem comes in when money becomes an end in itself, and people become a means to making more of it. It’s such a subtle difference, but for many it is the reason why they hate going to work.
I never did hate going to work. I decided before applyimg for the job that I would love the work and with that mind-set, I always enjoyed going to work. If I was not able to bring myself to love the job, I didn’t bother to apply, because I knew that I could never be happy doing the work.