Be Happy in Your Career

As thousands of people answered the questions of your Dream Life Assessment on our American Dream Project website, one thing became crystal clear. One of the greatest causes of internal stress is poor career choices we feel stuck with.

While we spend more time at our jobs than ever before, we are also least satisfied in this arena of their lives. Whereas one’s career should be our evolving means of self-expression, or better yet, soul expression, Americans are finding their careers often empty of meaning, satisfaction, and value.

Of the 10,000+ people who answered the survey, nearly 75% feel unsuited for their career and find their work to be void of value, joy, and meaning. It’s no wonder we live in a society of growing discontent when 75% of us are not working in jobs we find fulfilling.

So today when we live in a world where people are working more and more hours, under more and more stress trying to keep up in the rat race of consumer America trying to make ends meet over an ever widening financial hole, are these results any surprise at all? It’s no wonder people are filling their lives accumulating more stuff along with more debt and tuning out of their lives through mindless entertainment.

But life does not have to be this way. We can choose to have our lives be different, to stand for something that matters, to leave a lasting legacy. We are free to express our design and pursue our desires. We have permission to pursue our destiny. That’s the core idea of the American Dream. That’s what our career should be about. When our career is an expression of who we truly are and gives us the opportunity to show our traits and talents in a unique way, happiness is automatic. Sure the challenges are still there, but the background music is upbeat and even joyful.

Unfortunately, many of us seem to achieve high levels of performance doing things we don’t really value or enjoy. This is called the Competence Trap. We make a decision early in life to pursue a career that we can do – it matches our talents to a fair degree – but for which we have no heart. Thus, many of us at middle age find ourselves living with a twenty-year-old decision that no longer fits us, if it ever did. We’re competent but unfulfilled. Unfortunately, many of us build our financial lives around our competence instead of our authentic Design. We feel stuck. We think we can’t do what we are designed to do because we can’t afford to. Our lifestyle costs too much. So many of us spend 2-3 hours a day commuting to jobs we don’t value to pay for homes we only sleep in. And we think this is normal. But persisting in the grind comes at a very heavy price.

In the long term, human beings just do not invest in pursuits they do not find: 1) meaningful and 2) pleasurable. So we don’t consistently excel. To feel consistently fulfilled we must love and respect what we are doing. Our days are spent doing what we both value and enjoy.

Life is too short to live with anxiety constantly simmering. We must commit to really enjoy life as we live. Enjoyment doesn’t mean constant ease and pleasure. Worthwhile sacrifice is supremely enjoyable. And true life-joy shows up when we pursue our authentic dreams using our most natural talents to contribute to a better future.

Every time I give a speech I end with the challenge that Your Dream Matters! When you pursue your real dream, the career, relationships, and lifestyle that feed your soul, we all benefit. When you don’t, we are all diminished.

We all need each other’s dreams.

Will Marre
Founder, American Dream Project

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