Responding to Cal Newport’s “The Passion Trap: How the Search for Your Life’s Work is Making Your Working Life Miserable”
We have to know, and we probably already realise this, but not all of us are going to get the dream job we wanted. We dream big, we read quotes, we go to seminars, we try everything we can to learn how to be successful. 10 years later some of us indeed become successful, some not so much. Is it because we haven’t learnt enough? is it because we haven’t dreamt enough? is it because our personality is not charming? Unfortunately I do not have the answer myself.
But I can say that not achieving our dream is not our demise. Heck, most of us will probably work in a job our degree won’t have any relation to. Wilfred, one of my friends, took a science degree in engineering, and a masters degree in accounting, yet now he is running a traveling business, and he’s fully committed into church, helping people whenever he is available. He is one of the kindest person I know, and he’s in a good stage in his life.
Before coming to Melbourne, I did an internship at my local theme park (the picture above is some of the members) . I didn’t do anything important, my job was to watch over the dancers costume, see if they’re using the right prop. I watched the dancer day by day using the same costume over and over again, and performing the same routine every day. I wondered why they stay, when they know this isn’t going to give them a life full of luxury. Then I added their path (a social media platform thats basically a simpler version of Facebook) and I saw their photos, their coworkers and then I realised they were with the people that encourages them, people that they care about. They did not find comfort in their dream job, but instead they get one from the people surrounding them. Some people find their dream job, some find their comfort and decide to stay. If you are working to provide for the people you care about, then boring is just a small bug you can just scrap away.
Aside from all above, we should not give up so easily. We should always try to be the best of what we can be, and using opportunities given to us. But sometimes the ship just got to anchor down right?