The other day, I heard an interview with someone who said “The other day, I woke up and the first thing I thought was ‘Oh yay, I get to go to work today!'” She absolutely loves her job that much. At first, I laughed, and then I felt jealous, and then I felt a little discouraged because I definitely don’t have that feeling in the morning. (In fact, we’re supposed to get some “severe weather” over the next few days, and I’m hoping for a snow day.
I posed this to a few friends, and the general response I got was “It’s a fake! No one loves their job! Those jobs don’t exist!”
Personally, I think those types of jobs do exist. Oh, sure, we all have days where our alarm clock goes off and it’s cold and rainy and all we want to do is stay in bed. But that’s different from wanting to stay in bed because you loathe your job that much.
Unfortunately, I think that many times, the jobs that are the most rewarding, the ones where you jump out of bed with excitement about going to work, are the jobs that end up not being all that well paying. Unfortunately, sometimes you have to sacrifice and choose a job that perhaps you aren’t as passionate about so that you can pay the bills and provide for your family.
It’s a great dream though – finding that job where you leap out of bed in the morning, excited to go to work because you love your job, and at the end of the day, you’ve made enough money to have a good life. Maybe not a great life. Maybe you won’t be rich. But I think loving what you do everyday is worth so much more than money.
Megan is a 30-something government employee in the Washington, DC area. She got interested in Personal Finance when she got out of college and realized that her paycheck wasn’t going to go as far as she had hoped. Since starting this blog, she has managed to buy a house and make a solid start on her retirement goals, and hopes to help others do the same. Here is her story:
In 2007, I was a gainfully employed 20-something with no debt but not a lot of knowledge about personal finance. It was a co-worker’s comment about Roth IRAs that sent me to the internet, searching for information. It was then that I realized that I really didn’t know a whole lot about personal finance and that my current financial situation was due a lot to inherent frugal tendencies, generous family members, a fear of debt, and good luck. While that was working for me, clearly I needed a better plan.
While I had no debt, I was also pretty much living paycheck to paycheck and not worrying about going over budget (I say this as if I had a real budget) because I had an emergency fund set aside to cover any overages.
Except that’s not what an emergency fund is for.
So I did a lot of research, read a lot of blogs, and decided that I needed a plan. I needed to budget. I needed to know what I was spending my money on. I needed to prepare for the future.
I decided to create a blog not only to make myself accountable to others but also to share the knowledge that I gained along the way. I’ve learned so much from my fellow bloggers, and I hope that my readers can find something useful in what I have to share as well.
I completely agree. I had a job I HATED once and it infected every part of my life. I couldn’t just leave work at work. After that I vowed to at least have jobs I like if not love. As long as the pay allows me to live and save a little it’s worth it.
i have wanted to quit my job several times now. been here for more than 3 years and everything is just lackluster.
the job that i really, really, really covet are the jobs of those in travel shows. they get to see the world, eat native cuisines, meet local people, and they get paid for it.
Oh those jobs are real alright – i got one of ’em myself! oddly enough, i actually told a co-worker today that i don’t mind at all coming to work – even on snowy days like today!
It def. has its bad days, but overall i’m happy as hell w/ the work, pay, and coworkers…it could be better if the economy got back on track now, but that’s a whole other story 😉
Just yesterday, my wife told me she had the best job in the world. Of course, she stays at home and raises our son, but that does not mean it is easy. It is a 24/7 job, but well worth the time and effort. Of course, it helps that I really like my job as well (note that I did not say “love”). When you are able to say that you love your job, you are truly blessed!
I agree. I hate when people say that it’s impossible to love your job, but even doing what you love to do becomes a little tiring after a while. Think about the people who probably have jobs that impact their lives more than others – police officers, social workers, journalists, etc. Those people are not only paid the least for crazy hours, but they also take those jobs home with them. So it’s a trade off, definitely. You may be doing something you love, but you’re not getting paid anything. And you’re forced to choose between your regular life and your job constantly. All that being said, I think after I reach my big financial goals (paying off student loans, buying a home with cash) I’d like to go back to a job I’m passionate about. Because being able to wake up and be excited about going to work does make a difference.
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