Would I ever be satisfied with my job?

-

 Hey guys, it’s been a while since I’ve popped by.

After realising my interest in writing and pivoting my career into the content space, I’ve ironically turned into one of those who have unknowingly made something they’re interested in into a job. 

That means tragically turning what I’ve previously enjoyed into something I find a chore.

Nevertheless, I’m trying to make it a point to jot my thoughts down here to make sure that future me would have something to laugh at.

Anyway, back to the main point of today’s post.

I’m currently covid positive, which means I’m stuck in my room nursing my health back while enjoying this mandatory solitude. 

Which means loads of space to think and ponder about life.

Woohoo!

Being away from work for a week also meant that I had some headspace to not think about work.

Which made me realise how much I don’t feel like heading back to work next Monday.

And then I suddenly felt pretty sad - am I supposed to have Monday blues for the rest of my life? 

Like… is this it?

As I’m typing right now, I’ve been working for almost 6 years full-time since graduation, and am on my third job.

I also thought I was the kinda person who would stick to my first job till my retirement years, but look where we are at haha. I guess I can even be considered a ‘job hopper’ to some based on the number of roles I had.

Looking back, I think my priorities towards a job have shifted so much over the years.

I’ve since learnt the dangers of mixing passion with work. And that it’s not all roses and butterflies if you do so. And it’s OKAY to not be 100% passionate with what you do at your day job.

That your day job can be just a vehicle for you to earn your keep and allow you to sustain your standards of living.

And was what gave me the push to move on from my previous role to my current one.

But… why do I feel like I still dread work? 

Am I just too demanding, or asking for too much?


I tried to compare what I used to have and what I have now.

I’m earning slightly more than my previous role, with lower stress levels and better work-life balance. 

But now that I’m doing something that doesn’t interest me as much, I can’t seem to feel motivated at work.

I can’t help but to feel like there should be more to this.

Am I the only one feeling this way?

Will I ever find the perfect balance in a job?

I guess there’s still so much for me to figure out in this career journey of mine.


Comments

  1. monster25 March 2022 at 08:57

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  2. monster25 March 2022 at 08:58

    From my experience, it seems quite common for most employee not to like their job, maybe it's the politics. The business owners and self employed seems to not have this problem. some don't have a stable income and maybe financially more stressful to get business, but interestingly they don't suffer from Monday blues.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Kevin L18 May 2022 at 08:42

    Hi Mel, 2yrs ago while embarking on a journey to explore beyond the public service, I chanced upon one entry of yours and discovered LITO podcast. Since then, I’ve transited careers and even set up my own career coaching practice. Hope you’ll find the balance you seek through deeper reflection that our social-media driven shallow lives make difficult for us…

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

30 lessons I've learnt at 30

-
Image
I turn 30 this month. If you were to ask 20-year old me, I would've dreaded this day. There's a lot of stigma when it comes to turning old, especially if you're a female. However, as I grow older, I slowly find myself being okay with it. Maybe turning old isn’t as scary as it seems. There are so many things I’ve learnt over the years and I’ve seen articles detailing lessons that were recounted which have given me insight to the writer’s learnings and perspectives. And so I’ve decided to create my own version as well, which could be something worth looking back on in the coming years. 30 things I’ve learnt at 30: 1) Be kinder to yourself. We tend to be really hard on ourselves. One way I’ve learnt to measure this is to imagine how certain thoughts I have for myself would sound when it’s verbalised to someone else. With this, it’s surprising how self-critical I can get. If we’re never like this to others, why are we so unkind with ourselves? 2) Your metabolism slows down grea
Read more

Saving my next $100,000 - How’s it going?

-
Image
The concept of $100,000 by 30 has been so popular in recent years. As someone who was mildly obsessed with personal finance, it was an idea I subscribed to too because of how this goal seemed within reach back then as a fresh graduate. With my ‘always-below-the-median’ meagre salary, finding ways to stretch every dollar became my personal mission. I was a big fan of food discount apps and cashback deals, and would also feel so pleased with myself for not having to fork out the full price for any restaurant meals. Slowly but surely, I reached the holy number that I (and honestly every other person out there) have set out to reach. Not gonna lie, seeing that figure in my finance tracking sheet did feel good. It gave me that little ego boost, and I even felt a little smug about it. It showed that even corporate peasants like me could do it. So what do humans do when they’ve achieved something? They look for a new goal. If you’re someone who frequently reads financial blogs, you would’ve c
Read more

Tracking my income growth since graduation

-
Image
There’s something about the end of the year that makes you particularly reflective. We tend to do a yearly round up or set new year’s resolutions, hoping that the next year would finally be the year that we make it. While I didn’t set any new targets for the year, I decided to still do something to take advantage of the do-something-to-feel-like-im-adulting-right feeling that I was having.  And being the slight psycho that I am (I might be the only person I know who enjoys tracking my net worth monthly ), I decided to reorganise my personal finance sheet - by extending the number of tabs I have to include more aspects in life.  Please tell me I’m not the only one who feels like my life’s more put together after noting down life’s figures on an excel sheet? Haha.  Anyway, after drawing inspiration from a few finance YouTubers/bloggers, I decided to track the following in this holy personal finance sheet that I now proudly own: - Financial port
Read more