If You Hate Working, Are You Pursuing Your Dreams?

Seneca, the ancient Roman philosopher and ‘poster child’ of Stoicism once stated, “ A man is as unhappy as he has convinced himself he is.”

Happiness and Fulfillment

We struggle to find tools and fight for our happiness. From a young age the idea of happiness is stitched into our adolescent fabric, through others’ stories.  We lose our blossoming identity and our choice to be happy, by the constant bombardment of everyone else’s experiences. The classic ‘projection of emotions’ scenario. Most commonly our jobs, that primal source of identity, tend to snuff out happiness and extinguish our dreams. And if these tools are not downed, we run the risk of suffocating our inspiration.

In a Gallup 2022 report on the State of the Global Workplace, 60% of people reported being emotionally detached at work and 19% as being miserable. That figure cuts deep, this trickle down affecting relationships, financial freedom, stress levels, undeniable health complications and the ability to add happiness into days dominated by, yes, work.

The Risk of Unhappiness and Dissatisfaction 

Seneca was onto something.  Convincing ourselves of being unhappy is directly correlated to our hatred of our daily work.  More than half our life is spent at work and almost two-thirds of us have become detached from our jobs.  Quitting is an alternative but we fear the unknown outcome.  Reasons for why not to quit simultaneously arise, to back up the decision to remain in the life-sucking job.  Pursuing anything else, but the 9-5 slog, is deemed risky and only the wealthy take risks.  Why?

Most of us are deeply afraid of this unknown.  It is a place that runs against the grain of logical thinking.  With a job comes financial security and lifestyle stability.  To forgo that and pursue our dreams would be, and is, frowned upon.  We listen to what society tells us is the ‘norm.  Education, marriage, house, kids, work, retirement, death.  But the ‘norm’ for one person is always going to be completely different to our own ‘norms’.  If we fall into alignment of the societal template, we give up our right to free will and choice.  And the open door to this unknown. The irony of this?  All our answers are in the unknown. Yes, by staying in our known routines and hated jobs, we lose the key to the authentic door of our happiness.

How do we gain enough inner strength and perseverance to step into this unknown, to pursue those forgotten dreams?  And help ease the pain and drudgery of an unwanted and soul destroying job?

There are ways that you can create your own way. Make the big changes that will ignite excitement in your life. While it might not be easy, it is the most rewarding experience to believe in yourself enough to pursue your own dreams. 

Dream big yet stay small in the steps to reach it. Go ahead, grab a pen and paper and write down 5-10 perceived outrageous dreams/passions of yours.  They can be ones from yesteryear or recent ones, in no particular order.  Research has shown that by having a physical outlet(eg. writing) for internal thoughts/ideas, we are more likely to follow through with them.  Seeing them on the page will trigger core truths about you.  As you read through your list of dreams/passions, quietly sit with this question, ‘Who am I becoming, if I had to pursue this dream/passion?’. Truly feel the emotion(s) that arise from your answers.. They are all messengers.  

Some dreams/passions might not conjure up any deep feelings, others, however, will jump off the page and scream, ‘Pick Me!’. Stay curious with this process and take note of which ones fire up the heart.  The heart is always in sync with sincerity and love.  This small leap is the first part of venturing into the unknown, in pursuit of your dreams. And staying present to this leap, allows you to deprogram any negative thoughts that might arise.