Doing what you love can be an amazing experience, but finding what you love to do can be a bit harder. You may search for many years, picking up and discarding possibilities, but when you hit on your passion and pursue it until you have mastered the skills needed for that field, you’ll find that work doesn’t feel like work but is an extension of your natural inclinations. Listed below are 10 signs you love your job. Not all of these apply to your situation all the time but many should be true most of the time.
#1 Discipline Is Easy
When you are in a job you love, remaining disciplined is not a problem. Your ready to tackle all the tasks that are needed. The biggest problem in your dream job is prioritization. There are so many fun and exciting things in your day, you may have trouble deciding which one you want to pursue first.
#2 You Hope All The Time
When you are at a job you hate, you dread the tasks you are given. Your day usually begins with, “Today, I hope they don’t make me…” vs “I hope I get to…”. Each task is exciting and you plan to learn a lot from the experience. There are so many facets to discover you find yourself studying as soon as you are assigned the task. When you hate your job, anything more than the minimum is a chore that makes you miserable.
#3 You Celebrate Others
When you love your job, you are excited about all of the successes of others. Their achievements are great things to be admired not to be gossiped about. Because you love your job, you carry positive feelings of generosity and goodwill. Their happiness is your happiness and you make efforts to help them get there. When you are at a job you hate, you may gossip about others because their success makes you look bad and you might be forced to do more work to match this high-achieving suck-up. As you can see, there is a big difference between the two. Do yourself a favor and choose happiness. Find the job you love.
#4 You’re Comfortable Speaking Your Mind
Because trust has been established in your company, you are free to express your thoughts without the worry of politics, agendas, and schemes. This leads to a relaxed environment where you can enjoy each other’s company and vent if needed.
#5 Customers Are People
Rather than just being demanding numbers that have somehow figured out how to dial a phone, you view your internal and external customers as people who have needs you can meet. You often go above and beyond for your customers because fixing their problem is your mission. When you help them through a crisis or even answer a simple question it leads to fulfillment and purpose within you. Being at your dream job hits all of your intrinsic motivators and produces joy in you.
#6 Time Isn’t A Noose Around Your Neck
One big sign you love your job is that you enjoy being there. You’re not watching the clock, certain it just ticked back a second. No, when the day ends you wish that it were longer. When you are at the job you love, you aren’t wishing to escape to your happy life just on the other side of those doors, you enjoy both your personal and professional life and they mesh together perfectly.
#7 Meetings Are Your Friend
I know, meetings. In your dream job, you love meetings. Rather than a boring 30-minute to hour-long snoozefest you were forced to attend, meetings are a congregation of passionate people discussing big picture ideas for the company. Thoughtful and challenging discourse occurs that produces decisions and changes that will better the company. And you get to be a part of the transformation.
#8 You Seek To Thrive
Rather than worrying about surviving, your worries center around the future. You think about how your business will impact the world and whether this impact is large enough. You think about whether or not you are giving enough to your company. You only want to give your best and that is your goal. Even if your company fails, you always strive to give your all because you love what you are doing.
#9 Other People’s Success Makes You Ecstatic
While your cheeks may flush when you think about what you’re doing, you are even more excited by what others are doing. When you hear an amazing idea or see a great prototype you can see their vision. The people that surround you are just as passionate, smart, dedicated, inspiring, and funny as you are. Also, they make the best super nerdy jokes, right?
#10 The Clock. What Clock?
You forget time is passing. In a job you hate, the clock rules your hours. You find yourself looking at it more than your computer screen. At your dream job, you’re too busy creating things you want or believe in to worry about the clock. On the rare occasion you do glance at the clock it’s much later than you thought because you have been in flow. With a perfect combination of challenge and simplicity, your work matches the capabilities of your mind and so you slip into the highly productive and enjoyable flow state.
Loving your job is one of your human rights. And if it isn’t a human right, it should be. I’m coining that idea, at this moment. Anyway, when you love your job you can put your potential and drive toward what you are passionate about. That’s a win-win for everyone. What better way to encourage innovation but to marry potential, drive, and passion?
