Confucius once said, “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.†40+ years of time served in the working world (and counting), and I can safely say, I’m still working, hard, 5+ days a week, every week, of my life. Is it really true that passion erodes all work unpleasantries and turns the workplace into your comfort zone? I don’t know for sure, but I definitely want to give myself a chance to seek out the job I truly love, and I beseech all of you to do the same as well. Sure, you’ll be out of your comfort zone and things will get rough at first, but just remember that in order for you to say “hello†to the good things that are about to befall you, you must learn to say “goodbye†to the drudgery that is holding you back, and you can start by doing a quick check against this guide.
1. No work-life balance
Sure, drawing a clear-cut 50-50 balance may be too nebulous but if you find yourself having to constantly check and respond to work/emails calls (or otherwise find your career in jeopardy or risk undue pressure or caustic comments from your boss) after office hours, on weekends, legitimate sick leave, or even till the point that your dreams are consumed by work, you know, this job is swallowing you whole. Leave, take a sabbatical, do an eat, pray, love and find yourself again. It’s not worth losing yourself for a paycheck.
2. Unappreciative or apathetic colleagues
There’s nothing worse than slogging your guts out not only to be unrecognized and undervalued but worst, being debased and undermined. Beyond the boundaries of work, have your bosses and colleagues gone the extra mile on a personal level to show that they truly care for you as a human being, and not part of the factory line? It doesn’t take too much to show they care. For instance, a simple “How was your vacation?†after you’ve been away or “Are you feeling better†after you’ve returned from your sick leave will do the job. If all you got was silence or another work related comment, time to leave the robot manufacturing plant and move somewhere where humans with souls actually exist.
3. Bosses who overstep the boundaries
In every way possible. Abusing their authority to get into your pants, debasing you in front of your colleagues or worse, your subordinates, taking full credit for your work and the list goes on. In short, all of us have an innate capacity for tolerance and self-respect. But once this is breached, you know it’s time to make a stand, pack up and leave, not for anyone, but yourself, and the rest of your self-pride left in you.
4. Your Learning Curve
Ask yourself – is your learning curve on the upward or downtrend trend? A job exists to grow you mentally or physically and even emotionally. Has your job evolved you into a better person that you once were? If the only takeaway from your job is a mundane series of administrative brainless duties that you find yourself wishing you could be elsewhere everyday, it’s time to stop the degeneration of your brain cells, hit the job search pages and find a job description that matches your learning expectations. Your next job should uncover, hone and maximize your potential, not trap you in confined territories.
5. It’s a job you LOVE, not the PERFECT job
Always remember, perfection does not exist so don’t get your hopes up unrealistically but just know that you can always make do with a job you love. Just don’t settle for less than what you deserve. How do you know it’s a job you love? Well, for me, my personal conviction is that a job you love is one you actually look forward to waking up to every morning and even if you think about work off office hours, it’s because you want to, and not because you need to. If you’re nowhere near there yet, maybe a career in Real Estate is just right for you!  Visit: http://RealtyUSA.com/careers  for more information.
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