Best Job Ever

You’ve probably heard this cliche before: Just find a job you like and you’ll never work a day in your life. Well, the reality isn’t that simple. After all, work is called work for a reason. What makes it worse, though, is that lots of people have unrealistic expectations about their jobs.

For instance, when asked to describe their dream career, people tend to say things like, “a job that lets me travel a lot,” or “one where I make twice as much money as I do now.” But such notions are totally off base. Just like winning the lottery, which some people list as their ideal career, the notion of luxurious jobs is a fantasy, with an absurdly low probability of realization.

While some people want the most pampered career they can imagine, others would take virtually anything but their current job. In fact, lots of people are unhappy with their jobs, even though many of them like the field in which they work. Indeed, a 2013 global Gallup survey found that 87 percent of employees weren’t satisfied with their careers.

But while lots of people are left unsatisfied by their work, it’s not the type of work they do that leaves them feeling unfulfilled. The real issues are characteristics of their workplaces; things like bosses, coworkers, salaries or even office politics.

If this is true for you, it might make sense to look for a different position within the same company or the same role at a different one. For example, if you have a family, but your job requires loads of travel, you might prefer a different role within your organization that keeps you closer to home.