If you’re a soulful deep thinker like me, chances are good that you’re a dreamer.
You crave purpose, beauty, and a better world for you and your loved ones…
And you can often imagine the possibilities with crystal clarity.
Buying that home, where loved ones can eat holiday dinners.
Traveling to that country, where you can have adventures and be awed by new cultures.
Making a living by simply being yourself and doing what you love.
Living by the beach, where you can take sunset strolls every evening.
Having the freedom to drop everything and go support friends and family whenever they need you.
Enjoying full creative license on whatever projects you’re working on.
Donating to and volunteering at nonprofit organizations you believe in.
Having time and energy to play with your fur (or human) babies everyday.
With all this ability to “see” how things could be, I wonder how often we’re actually making them so.
How often do we pursue these dreams in an intentional and strategic way, by putting our time and energy behind them?
For many of us, our work (however you define that) is what takes up most of our time and energy on a daily basis.
Does your work support your dreams?
Does the thing you’re spending most of your waking hours doing actually support the life you want - or does it hinder it?
There’s three main ways that your job can support your dreams:
You feel fulfilled and lit up by your job
…which infuses the other areas of your life with energy and confidence because you’re making meaningful contributions in your community by being your authentic self. You feel good about what you’re doing, you feel good about why you’re doing it, and you feel good while you’re doing it.
Your job gives you peace of mind
…in the form of stability or security, so you have one less thing to worry about. It gives you a sense of safety and groundedness, so you can successfully manage the other things in your life that are scary or unpredictable. If you’re experiencing a lot of challenging priorities in your life right now, having a stable and not-so-stressful job can be a wonderful strategy that protects your energy so you can focus your energy on what’s most urgent or important.
Your job directly feeds your passion projects.
In other words, your side hustle, passion project, artistic endeavors, true calling, etc. comes first - and you have your day job for the sole purpose of funding the things that truly light you up. (Think: actors who work as servers in restaurants in between gigs.) This kind of job may be a tad tedious, but you don’t mind, because it still allows you the financial cushion and stored-up creative or emotional energy to do what you love.
When most people talk about a “dream job”, they’re talking about the first kind of job I mentioned - the kind that lights you up while you’re doing it. The kind of job that encompasses ALL your passions, energizes you, AND gives you financial freedom. The one that checks alllllll the boxes.
If you find a job like that, great!!
But demanding that our job meet all of our emotional and spiritual needs is kind of like demanding that our significant other meet all of our needs as human beings - and that can be a tad difficult to find.
And there may be some of us who, in our heart of hearts, don’t even want to put all our eggs in one basket like that.
What I wish more people would talk about is how a dream job does not need to be all that.
A dream job is simply a resource to help you get closer to your dreams, whether those dreams are work-related or not.
And it’s natural to change your definition of your “dream job” over your lifetime. Your dream job right now might not be the same as your dream job 10 years from now, and that’s okay.
So I want to know…
What are the dreams that you have for yourself this year? What is most important?
And are you spending 8+ hours per day at a job that helps you get closer to those dreams, instead of pushing them further away?
Does your job help you to invest energy, peace of mind, time, and money into what truly matters?
I hope so.
And if not, it’s not too late.
Much love,
Diana
P.S. Ready to find or create a job that works FOR your dreams, instead of against them? You might be interested in Get Aligned at Work, a coaching & curriculum-based program that supports introverted empaths to find more soul-aligned work.