Do you enjoy your work? Such a simple question. Are you waiting for the bell to ring or are you carried away in a project when 5:30 rolls around. As I look back on my own career, there was one period when I vividly remember a pit in my stomach as I arrived to work each Monday. Lucky for me, that time in my life was brief. I had just given birth to my first child and experienced 10 months of difficult post-partum depression. Everything that had been going so well, suddenly began to unravel. There are so many things that I would have done differently during that period of time. When you boil it down, I was in the wrong job, at the wrong place, working for a really, really bad boss.
It is hard to say if my professional life suffered because of the challenges I experienced in those first few months with a new little one. When you are unfulfilled in your career, you are at greater risk for physical and mental illness. I have to believe that if I had loved my work and felt supported by my manager, perhaps my life at home would have been much different.
You see, having a job that you love is pretty darn important if you want to be happy and fulfilled in the other areas of your life. So when people love their job, what does that look like? Whether you are a stay at home Mom, a thriving entrepreneur, a high school counselor, or a phd student, you have to look forward to the work. The majority of your waking hours will be spent doing that very “thing”. When you love your work, the transition between Sunday to Monday is relaxed and restful. Your plan of attack is laid out for the week with hope for productivity. You have the confidence to communicate your strengths and put them to work.
I think it is important to note, that YOU get to decide your purpose. We should not allow perceptions, shoulds, or the expectations of our families and friends determine our personal and professional path. If your purpose is to make your children your work for the next ten years, rock it and make no apologies. Yep, I am talking to you Moms out there. You decide your purpose. I could not be the stay at home Mom that my kiddos needed me to be. I try to be the working Mom that gets it right most of the time. It works for our family for now.
What you do everyday shapes your identity. When you meet new friends, your discussions likely start off with “what do you do?”. When you don’t have a story to tell that you are passionate about, it can have a great impact on your physical health, your emotional well being, your relationships, as well as your engagement in your community. Find the work that you love, and the rest will follow.