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To play devil's advocate: it sounds like you let your 12-year-old self pick your career, not knowing what it would entail, and now you're trying to rationalize

To play devil's advocate: it sounds like you let your 12-year-old self pick your career, not knowing what it would entail, and now you're trying to rationalize it. You say you love your work, except what you have to do this morning, and you're putting off another task that needs doing ("for obvious reasons"?). That's not exactly the behavior I associate with love. It's called "work" because it needs doing, not because it's inherently unpleasant. Your boss won't make a penny more just because you don't happen to like doing it. (I see the same thing with relationships. There are people I'd be miserable to be with, but that certainly doesn't mean everyone would. Likewise, many people pick a mate in high school and then discover 10 or 20 years later that their teenage self wasn't such a great decision-maker, or simply that they've changed as they've grown.) I switched careers recently, after many years in software, and now I adore going to work -- every day, every task. I cannot believe they pay me for this. How would you know if all other jobs would also be "crap work" for you if you haven't tried any of them yourself? EDIT: I'm glad I used a throwaway for this comment! Are people so offended by the concept of needing to try something to discover if it's pleasant or not? Or that another job might be a better fit for them?

markkanof 8y ago
Agreed that something being called "work" doesn't mean that it has to be unpleasant, but like you said, it's called "work" because it needs to be done, and in most cases ALL of it needs to be done, even the parts that a given individual might not enjoy. It also might be true that even though a person doesn't like some aspects of their work, they still get a lot of fulfillment from other aspects of their work, and are also compensated well financially, so as to make it worth the tradeoff to sometimes have to do tasks they don't enjoy. And really are there people that truly take great delight from reviewing a help file? Somebody has to get it done. As long as that kind of work doesn't become the only type of work you are doing, what's the problem?
egjerlow 8y ago
Which career did you switch to?

markkanof 8y ago

Agreed that something being called "work" doesn't mean that it has to be unpleasant, but like you said, it's called "work" because it needs to be done, and in most cases ALL of it needs to be done, even the parts that a given individual might not enjoy. It also might be true that even though a person doesn't like some aspects of their work, they still get a lot of fulfillment from other aspects of their work, and are also compensated well financially, so as to make it worth the tradeoff to sometimes have to do tasks they don't enjoy. And really are there people that truly take great delight from reviewing a help file? Somebody has to get it done. As long as that kind of work doesn't become the only type of work you are doing, what's the problem?

egjerlow 8y ago

Which career did you switch to?