As a writer and blogger, topics of interest, of course, will change as my life does. I will always be interested in beauty and fashion topics as well as books, and cooking, and decorating. But as I grow, I’m becoming more invested in financial, productivity, and wellness topics. Today I wanted to talk about changing the way you view your job, more specifically, talking about you being more than your work. A little different than usual program, but something that has really been with me recently.
I’ve been extremely down in the dumps surrounding work for probably the last year. I’ve been very transparent in the workplace that my retail management job is not my forever job. I went to college for fashion and wanted to be a fashion journalist. My senior year, I sort of realized I wanted to focus more on the behavioral psychology aspect of the fashion industry–doing market research and color research and trend analysis. But here I am, a manager at a menswear store, not doing what I thought I’d be doing or what I necessarily want to be doing. In my opinion, I have a job, not a career.
I know I’m like a lot of people who grew up being kind of conditioned to think we are our careers, and that’s the big part of our lives. And it is huge, and it’s really important to be employed and have some sort of job happening. However, I’m getting older and realizing 1) it’s not the most fulfilling part of my life, nor do I want it to be, and 2) I am so much more than my day job.
I’m going to break this down into the sections I used to rationalize my feelings. What’s a job vs. a career anyway? If I don’t have a cool and enjoyable career, what do I have? And how can I actually start changing the way I think about myself and job?
JOB VS CAREER
Basically a job is a thing you have to make money, and a career is a thing that combines that need to make money with a passion or longer term goal.
I’M MORE THAN MY JOB. SO ARE YOU.
Like I said, I grew up fantasizing about my career and what it’d look. I’d focus heavily on it and be where I needed to be in my 20s. I’d love it. And I’d make a living so I can do things like pay bills, invest in my future, and have some discretionary income. Realistically at the moment, I have a job that’s kind of related to my passions, pays me a living wage, and I kind of like going. See how this can be conflicting? Raise your hand if you feel similarly.
But honestly. I’m a girlfriend and a sister and a daughter and a friend. I am a writer and someone who enjoys baking and makeup and watching TV. I’m someone who loves thrift store shopping and am immensely interested in human behavior. I’m so much more than an assistant manager at a retail shop.
I think society has gotten a point where when someone asks what you do, you automatically give them your job description–and that’s generally what they’re asking. I think it discredits people and their interests and who they are as individuals.
So if you feel like your job isn’t accurately depicting the person you want to be, don’t sweat it. Because your job isn’t the only thing that’s going to create a diversified you. Your job makes up a small part of the blue print of you, but it’s mixed together with your hobbies, interests, and passions as well.
YOU SHOULDN’T DISREGARD YOUR ‘JOBS.’
While I am actively looking for a job more geared toward my future career, I don’t want to completely disregard my current job as something I just have to do but don’t want to be doing. No matter what you are doing currently, you will learn things and develop valuable skills that will help you in life as well as in other jobs and career jobs.
For example, typical skills I’m learning in my current position are managerial skills, how to manage a team and be a better team player, and how to confidently and effectively handle conflict. However, I’m learning other things that are less obvious. Every day, I’m strengthening my communication skills and doing my own subtle kind of market research. I’m learning about consumer behaviors toward marketing, trends, and the ways consumers like to shop in 2018.
I’m also learning a ton about myself. I am really really good at customer service, but it’s not something I enjoy. I’m good at selling in the aspect of talking to customers and taking care of their needs, but I’m not so great at sales. I don’t like being too aggressive.
I’m constantly learning about the industry and my job, and while not all of the skills I’m developing are going to directly translate to my career…or even my next job…I can still appreciate having learned them.
HOW YOU CAN ALSO START CHANGING THE WAY YOU THINK ABOUT WORK.
If you have found yourself feeling similarly to what I’ve described above, I do have a few tips on how to change the way you view yourself at work.
The biggest things is to simply change your mindset from “I am my job” to “My job is something I do from 9-5.” Technically my schedule is never constant, but for the sake of example, we’re going to pretend it is. For me, I am a manager from 9-5, but after work, I’m a blogger and someone who is reading about behavioral economics and recipes to meal prep with this week.
Other examples;
- I’m Kayla. I’m a barista, and I’m also writing a book.
- I’m Dana. I’m in marketing, but I also teach a spin class and am a mom.
- I’m Sara. I’m TV broadcaster, and I also paint and own a Paint and Sip studio.
What do you do outside of your day job? Try to come up with a list of at least one other activity outside of your job.
Another way to change how you think about yourself at work is to answer this question: Is my job the most fulfilling thing in my life? If it is, okay, maybe you should try to focus all of your energy in your work (which I don’t think is healthy, but we’ll save that for another day). Most likely you’re answer was no.
If you’re a mom, your children are probably more fulfilling than your job. Or maybe it’s religion or sports or spending time with your friends that makes your life feel complete. Whatever it is, you need to remind yourself these things are also important. You can’t forget them because of your job.
THE BOTTOM LINE
I’m no career specialist or personal finance professional, but as I said, I am someone who has struggled with their identity in terms of careers. My job is never going to create 100% of Jacqie, and that’s okay. We need to change the way we view ourselves at work, especially if we aren’t in our dream jobs. Every job we have will teach us lessons of value, whether it be about the industry we’re in or simply about ourselves and our interests.
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