“Choose a job you love and you will
never have to work a day in your life.”
~ Confucius ~
Welcome to part three of my Authentic Happiness Series. Be sure to read part one (self care), part two (home environment), and part three (community) if you missed them.
Do What Your Love
For those of us who have to work to support ourselves and our families, we spend too many hours working to not enjoy what we do. For this exercise, you may have to stretch your imagination. To get to your authentic truth, I don’t want you to focus on money when you think about your ideal career. I want you to think about what you would enjoy doing 30-40 hours a week for 50+ weeks a year.
Some Questions to Ponder
- What job you would enjoy?
- What would you create or make?
- What service would you provide?
- What kinds of things have you enjoyed in past careers?
- What do you think you would be good at?
- What kind of people would you work with?
- What hours would you work?
- Would you work from home if you could?
- Would you like to work in a really funky office building?
What can you do today to incorporate aspects of your ideal career into your current job?
What actions are you taking to have your ideal career?
What would your work look like if you didn’t need the money?
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[…] Be sure to read part one (self care), part two (home environment), and part three (community) and part four (career) if you missed […]
Hi Stacey,
My ideal career is one I can work on from anywhere in the world, from a home office. I used to think I’d travel the world as a writer, spending a few months each in different cities. I also want control over my time, to choose when to work and when not to.
What I’m doing now is pretty close, except that I’m not a published author, and I’m still operate from a home base in one country. So I consider myself blessed.
If I didn’t need the money? I would sit in a cafe all day with a coffee and a book, pen and journal on hand. All I want to do in life is read and write!
Daphne @ Joyful Days´s last blog post..8 Lessons from the Lindy Hop
These are great, thought-provoking questions that everyone could benefit from asking themselves. I’ve always known that I wanted to be a writer. Lately, I’ve spent a lot of time writing, but I haven’t been doing it as a job. I don’t think I’ve been as proactive as I could be in finding a career that allows me to do what I love all the time and this post has inspired me to really think about why I’m not doing that and how I can start. Thanks for making me ask myself some questions I needed to be asked!
Positively Present´s last blog post..13 ways you distort your thoughts (and how to stop doing it)
I like the tone and the focus.
My single best gauge again and again is … am I working with the right people on the right problems and making the right impact.
I’m also a fan of reshaping your job by working yourself out of it … so you can move on to new challenges.
J.D. Meier´s last blog post..Outsource Your 80 Percent
Hi Stacey. Same as Daphne! 🙂 Except that travel is not a “have to” for me. Writing, writing, writing… and helping people through the writing. Landing insights. It really wouldn’t be called a “job” anymore.
Davina´s last blog post..Positively Breathing — Affirmation 1
Daphne – Having the freedom to work where and when you want to sounds ideal to me too.
Positively Present – I’m happy this post got you thinking about being proactive. If you are interested, I’m always available to provide support and accountability as you begin to think about why you are not moving forward on this dream and as you begin to move forward living this dream.
J.D. – “…am I working with the right people on the right problems and making the right impact.” – That is a golden question. My ideal (and current) job definitely provides opportunities for new and exciting challenges.
Davina – It’s great to know that your ideal career revolves around one of your natural gifts. Your writing is stunning.
Stacey,
Great post!
I especially like the Confucius quote. If you can find a career you enjoy, are good at, and can make a living at, then you’ve really identified the right career.
Roger | A Content Life´s last blog post..Meditation for Beginners (Week 1) – Introduction
Stacey, this set of questions, or a variation, would be a wonderful thing to start tossing out now and then to high schoolers and college students!
~ Julie
Julie´s last blog post..Making Life Beautiful for You
Roger – Your comment sums up my post.
Julie – You are right. I wish I had a career coach back in college.
I just went through this exercise the other day…and the good news is I’m doing it. Work at home I love, the lifestyle aspect of it, and like Daphne if I could sit in a cafe (during winter, beach in summer!) and write all day I would be happy. Alas, that doesn’t pay the bills yet, so I have a lot of projects to aid in my goals/dreams.
One thing I learned is that I don’t have to focus on just one thing. Which is so brilliant. I coach runners, teach yoga, coach professionals on presenting with confidence, create products, write, it keeps things fresh and exciting and doing everything I love to do!
Stacey Shipman´s last blog post..Present with Confidence: Beware the Nervous Habit
What would work look like if I didn’t need the money? I wouldn’t be working!!!! Noooooo …. I would be in full blown retirement mode. 🙂
Urban Panther´s last blog post..Is this a mid-life crisis?
Stacey Shipman – You have been one of my inspirations for a long time now.
Urban Panther – So my question to you is what would you do with your time if you were in full blown retirement.
@Stacey – okay, in full blow retirement I would garden, finish renovating the house, boat, read, scrapbook, draw, photograph, write, write, write, create, create, create
Urban Panther´s last blog post..Is this a mid-life crisis?
I love helping people to discover their natural greatness, which is what I do right now! Although I’ve been spending a lot of time on products and marketing recently, the service side of what I do — the one-on-one work — is the real reason I do it.
I’m doing it. 🙂 Not earning as much as I would like yet, but getting there.
Vered – MomGrind´s last blog post..Bloggers Who Quit
Urban Panther – Sounds wonderful!
Chris – As a life coach, I can relate. I’m working on my marketing efforts, which is a fascinating process, but helping women who want to live more authentic, happy, and energized lives is what it is really all about.
Vered – Hooray!
Do you remember Lance’s post about The Money Tree?
This is just as wonderful. Thank you.
And luckily, with my music, I wouldn’t change a single thing. (Spoiled me, eh?)
Jannie Funster´s last blog post..The CDs Have Landed!
Hi Stacey – I really love this approach – and thanks for the Guy Kawasaki video – I haven’t seen him before. He looks young! When I didn’t have any money and had not much work (and I refused to go back to school teaching), I used to spend hours writing out lists answering the sort of questions you asked, and looking for ways to bring the qualities into my life as soon as possible, and it has worked for me so far. An idea I use, also, is that we can be engaged in occupations that excite us, and the money can come in from some other source eg lottery, etc – the universe rewards us for being nice to ourselves sort of thing (ie we don’t have to tie up work with income in our minds). Thanks for the post, Stacey!
Robin´s last blog post..Wanting To Look Young
Finding (and getting) the job of your dreams can be hard for some. You can, however, come to love what job you have and make the most of it.
Joseph Mercola´s last blog post..The Benefits of Pure Neptune Krill Oil
Jannie – Yes! It is great to have a career that makes you feel spoiled. You created your reality, so cheers to you!
Robin – Thanks for your comment. I think it is important to remember that money can come in from many sources.
Joseph – Agreed. I think it’s important to find what you do enjoy about your job and expand on the positives as much as possible.
Hi
I love the quote..
“Choose a job you love and you will
never have to work a day in your life.”
~ Confucius ~
Have a great day. 🙂
Giovanna Garcia
Imperfect Action is better than no Action
Hello Stacey,
I am already on the way to having the ideal and perfect setup for a career. It is now about putting more of the things I have learned into practice. I also need to bring the various elements together in a harmonizing way.
Well, if I don’t need the money, I will be less in a hurry. My issue is less about what to do but more about having the time to accomplish all that I want to do. I doubt I will do anything differently, even with all the money. I just love what I do now!
All the best to you! I think you make a wonderful life coach!
Evelyn
Evelyn Lim´s last blog post..What Do You See if You Are Standing Next to God?
Giovanna – Me too. Loving what I do makes me feel alive.
Evelyn – Thanks. I love being a life coach and look forward to growing my practice. I too have so much I want to accomplish.
Hi Stacey,
I find it amazing how different our lives would be if we didn’t need money. I’m pretty close to doing what I love. In fact, I wish there were more hours in the day so I could do more.
Then, if blogging paid off, WooHoo, THAT would REALLY make my day. 🙂
Barbara Swafford´s last blog post..The Secret Is Out – Our Blog Posts Are Not Being Read
Hi Stacey, I absolutely agree with your thought. If we don’t like our job, we would become stressful in doing it.
And thanks for the questions, Stacey.
Arswino´s last blog post..How To Build and Achieve A Dream
Hi Stacey
I’m on my way there – finally. I quit my job last week. Yay!
Juliet
LifeMadeGreat | Juliet´s last blog post..Coping With Praise
Hi Stacey – I wish everyone would take notice of what you’re saying here. I am now working on my fourth business.
When I’m having a bad day, I sometimes think about how easy it would be to go somewhere 9 to 5 and get a wage at the end of the week. But it would be such a waste if I wasn’t doing something I enjoyed.
Too many people are unhappy in their work, toiling away for a retirement that may never come.
Barbara – I also wish there were more hours in the day so I could do more.
Arswino – Thanks for taking the time to think about your answers to these questions.
Juliet – Wow! I can’t wait to hear about all of your success!
Cath – You and all of your businesses inspire me.