I have no dream job

I do not dream of labor, but many people do… & you may too.

it’s become common for many to seek out a dream job, an occupation to make money that they enjoy. Seems logical, & reasonable right?

… right???

Recently, I wrote about a jobless society & the nobility humanity saw when prioritizing leisure 1,500 years ago in ancient Rome but…

Today is a little different.

Today is about the idea of dream jobs and never working a day in your life because you love what you do.

Pursuing an occupation where you can simultaneously check off 2 main boxes may seem reasonable.

box #1: make money
box #2: enjoy your time spent making money

& I’ll admit, its far from black & white if aiming for checking these boxes is a good or bad thing

But what are the side effects on us as humans? & where does this mentality lead us?

A forewarning before we dive deep into this topic: Recently I have been experimenting & exploring a multitude of trains of thoughts on work & what it means in the grand scheme of life, the following writings are a reflection of my own mind’s exploration of these topics, & mine on my own.

I encourage you to question every part of it & leave me a reply if you have any thoughts about anything below.

No sh*t Sherlock

Of course, we want to enjoy our lives more, of course, we all want more money, so yeah: of course want our work to be enjoyable & to bring us money

No sh*t Sherlock, right?

But wait a second, hold the phone, & your horses too…

Why?

Why do we want more money? Why do we have a job? Why do we want more of both?

To live a life worth living.

or at least that’s the idea, however, it’s hardly ever the output provided by the actions we take in our jobs or our work.

Dream “job” advice is sour

When given the advice to “get paid for what you love to do”, there are many ways to perceive it.

But most of the ways in which we choose to perceive this advice leave a sour output (as mentioned above) — an output that doesn't actually give us a “better life” even when we have more money & a more fulfilling or enjoyable occupation.

One of my favorite quotes from Alan Watts, a philosopher who got paid to; funny enough… philosophize, is the following:

The concept however of getting paid for doing what you enjoy has since created the alternative concept of finding your dream job, but the fine line not drawn enough is that work is still… work.

Alan Watts studied all sorts of interests & curiosities while he spent his time on this earth, but it’s not to say he didn’t work just because he got paid for doing what he enjoyed.

He accomplished a “dream job” & then drew a line between work (making money) & the rest of his enjoyable life.

Now: people do find their “dream job” but then forget why they wanted it to begin with, then end up working extra hours to their calling and being abused by employers or just working until bedtime not leaving time for anything else.

Someone with their dream job is actually more likely to endure a period of their life they find miserable and forget that the whole point of having a dream job or job at all was to still: make money.

Money allows us to do all sorts of things in today’s world, because money buys things, shocker. But making your work or job your entire life is no way to live, it is a way though to never be able to stop working.

Doing what you love

the most logical way to "do what you love" as your method of making money on earth is to learn how to run your own business or learn how to work for yourself

Although this is no easy task, it’s the one that allows you the freedom to win big & lose equally big.

It’s important to note, that even when you hit it big: if you're a self-published writer with a best-selling book for example you are really: an entrepreneur who sells their writing.

You can see: it's easy to get engulfed by the game you're playing and fall back into the hamster wheel that’s now disguised as a pool of wealth & fulfillment.

but in this way out, there is a much more likely chance that you can play the game without becoming it compared to being an employee vs owner in your field of work.

To enjoy what you do (sometimes, you won’t enjoy every moment) & have your outputs (successes & failures) directly fall back on you: you must be your own boss.

Win BIG, lose big --> you'll be compensated at a full price working for yourself

Working for yourself comes in many forms, and all bring a large amount of uncertainty, which is the most significant cost of it & I know it’s not for everyone… but that’s likely why many won’t reach where they want to be.

The good stuff in life is not easy. (fortunately)

There are other methods for living a better life, but for my own personal scope, the above is what holds true thus far in my 23 years on this lovely floating rock called Earth.

If you have any other tips on this topic of breaking free from work & dream jobs. please leave a reply to this email so I can read them & share them with others in another post about this topic.

Work is work

The ideal form of work is one that looks like work to others but feels like play to you.

Many people chase this idea their whole lives trying to find what feels like play to them but looks like work to someone else.

& It’s a great pursuit, worthy of trial & error: but at the end of the day anything you yourself deem as “work” will be just that: work.

For a long time, I found my play that looks like work, but then I got bored, I won a lot financially and emotionally, but as we grow into our new interests and rediscover past ones, we tend to change what looks like play in one way or another.

So yes: try new things to discover what feels like play to you & looks like work to others (this is almost always found in exploring genuine curiosities).

But also test what “works” for you: Lately, I’ve been testing dedicating time to “work” activities (even ones that feel like play to me) to a limited portion of my day & then setting Non-work segments of my day as well where I am not allowed to work.

This is aimed to do 2 main things:

#1: Get more work done during working hours because I know I won’t be able to push it off to later, so I’m more prone to stay on task

#2: Give time to my life to enjoy it via leisure & explore alternative curiosities (read books, dive into anything my mind wonders about, spend time with loved ones, etc)

— Ultimately my aim is to not only win in areas of my work but to set up a time to enjoy the fruits of my labor too so my entire life isn’t just about my work (an easy trap to fall into especially working for yourself)

— what’s the point in succeeding if you can’t enjoy your spoils?

Life is a cakewalk?

It may seem like im saying that everyone should follow their passions and stop working so much then life can be a cakewalk, but the reality is that all of this is hard to juggle & Life is far from a cakewalk.

Life is struggle & suffering & pain, constantly, consistently.

The reality is that even when you're exploring your genuine curiosities, working for yourself, or achieving massive success, there will be hard tasks you have to accomplish.

& Being able to accomplish these hard tasks does have a large impact on your future life.

A great book I’ve read that helped me make “hard tasks” much easier is Atomic Habits by James Clear. If you haven’t read it before, it’s a great book for anyone to pick up.

This marks the end of the article on me telling you why dream jobs are overrated & what I’m testing in my life to counteract a work-only lifestyle.

but before you go I have 1 offers for you (one is free) ⬇

Make time for the tasks in your day that actually matter, download my free daily planner template here

That’s it for this one, & thank YOU so much for reading <3

from your friend,
jack ♠