Move forward with hope and enthusiasm even in the face of mediocrity. Opportunities will present themselves.
Don’t seek work in your passion. Seek passion in your work.
People tend to mistake hobbies as passion. Interests change when ‘it’ becomes work. People tend to be more motivated by purpose.
Enjoyment in career is how we frame things. Even a local grocer can make an integral difference in a community — hats off to Tonchi, my local grocer.
Do something you can be good at.
Passion and enjoyment can come from accomplishment and just rewards (income).
Don’t just look at the money.
Success shouldn’t be measured in dollar amounts. If happiness was being in the 1%, many of us have a 99% chance of being miserable. Don’t put that on yourself.
See: Happiness
Financial success comes from being at the top.
Everybody wants to have the sexiest, easiest job. But those jobs are not actually easy and highly competitive— just sexy. Only the top 1% of film actors are earning more than the top 30% of accountants (figuratively). The bottom 90% are financially unstable. Shitty odds.
Don’t stay still.
Don’t just wait for the perfect opportunity to strike, while skills atrophy. If we find ourselves lost, just keep moving. Opportunities will naturally present themselves when we show up 100% to anything we do.
Dreams take time.
… and are rarely in our control. Those who found career satisfaction in their passions, tend to find it seemingly naturally on their own terms, through patience and ‘luck’. Some never find it before time is up.
Find a job you love, and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.
People make good money telling us to just follow our passions.
Career isn’t our identity.
A humdrum, stable job isn’t the end of individuality. There is purpose and happiness within ourselves and those around us. Simply showing up for people is enough to be loved and remembered. Maintaining relationships with people who only respect your position is mentally exhausting work.
Make yourself valuable.
Moving up boils down to how much more valuable we make ourselves. Take initiative and learn. If we become complacent in our day-to-day, we reduce ourselves to mere commodities.
See: Purpose