Filed under: 2026, A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Career, Corporate Gaslighting, Family, Fulfillment, Happiness, Jill, Love, Mum & Dad, My Childhood
When you’re a kid, you can’t wait to grow up.
Some of that’s because you want to do things you’re not old enough to do – like having adult portions of food or staying up all night – and some of that is because you want to get started doing the job you believe you were born to do.
Now, it’s fair to say, a lot of the time the jobs we dream of doing as a kid are pretty unlikely or unrealistic
Astronauts.
Rock Stars.
Pilots.
But some are definitely within the realms of reality – for example, I was obsessed with becoming a Policeman up until the age of 14 – so you spend loads of your time thinking about them, learning about them and preparing yourself to become them.
The thing is, most of the time, the jobs we want to do aren’t the jobs we end up doing.
It might be because our ambitions change.
Or because we don’t meet the requirements needed to do the job we wanted.
Or because we learn about roles we never even knew existed, let alone were a possibility.
Or maybe it’s because life gets in the way and we end up taking another path because of need, circumstance, context or opportunity.
Whatever the reason, many people end up taking jobs that are different to the ones they dreamt about – and while many are perfectly satisfied with what they end up doing, I’ve met a lot who aren’t.
That doesn’t mean they hate what they do, but they also don’t love it.
It’s more a case they tolerate them than adore them.
And even though the best jobs will all have their bad days – the reality is when we do something we’re not really into, niggling doubt tends to flourish.
Oh, we may push the feeling down.
Or flat-out deny it.
Or just say we can’t possibly start again given how much we have put into whatever it is we are now doing.
But every time we experience a shit moment, we are forced to acknowledge what we’re doing.
What we have ’satisfied’ ourselves with.
And then there’s a point where every little thing starts to sting.
Hurt.
Annoy.
Frustrate.
Until one day – you find that you no longer are in control of the job you do, because someone has decided to control it for you.
It’s why some of my favorite ever pieces of advice that I’ve received are:
“Do what you think is right, because you’re going to get fired anyway”.
Or my parents classic:
“Live a life of fulfillment, not contentment”
And my wife’s:
“Always choose the bigger life”
I appreciate that’s a position of privilege. Or insanity. But, given life will force us to endure, deal with and handle endless amounts of pain, suffering, pressure and tension, isn’t it worth making sure we’re suffering for something we actually love doing?
Maybe that’s why I loved this piece of writing below …
Because while I appreciate life doesn’t always work out as we planned, no one should forget the importance of what makes them happy.
It may not deliver every day, but it is better than never doing something that can achieve it.
Because with companies increasingly telling people to deal with whatever pain they dish out.
Don’t choose their suffering.
Suffer for a better reason.
