Mom,
I am concerned about my career after I graduate from college. Do I take a job that will make me great money over a job that I will love that doesn’t pay as well? Some people say that success is having that great money job but I want to be happy, too. What would you advise?
Sincerely,
Thinking of the future
Dear Future Thinker,
Obviously, the best scenario in this situation is to hope for the high paying job that you love, but let’s be honest. Most of us wish we made more money than we do. For this reason, people take on jobs they shouldn’t and spend years behind a desk doing paperwork when they should have been working in the great outdoors.
Finding that perfect job is never easy, nor is it always a perfect fit. But one thing is for sure; if you’re looking for a career after school, make happiness your first priority and not the money.
Do what you love and let the money follow. If you have to take another side job to make your lower paying dream job work, do it, but don’t give up on happiness for the sake of making money.
Truthfully, money is never a good excuse for staying with a job you hate. Who wants to spend their entire life doing something they hate just so they can make the money they will never have time to enjoy. Besides, when you work full-time, where do you spend more of your time?
Not snoozing in the bathtub.
It’s amazing to me how much energy people will put into a job they hate just for the sake of a paycheck. I am also surprised at the people who obviously hate their job and do the least amount of work possible to keep it. Why not search for a career that includes happiness?
If I was involved in a career that paid big bucks I wouldn’t be in journalism. But then again, I wouldn’t be in a job I loved either. Once you know what you want to do, and it fills your veins like hot glue, you know you’re in the right place. It’s kind of one of those unexplained things, like when you know the man or woman of your dreams is standing across the room, or when you meet someone new and you seem to have known them forever, or when one day you sit inside a new class at college and the subject really intrigues you. You feel so strong about this feeling that you change your major. You’d rather do this new thing than almost anything else in your life.
Having a career you love is just like that.
Mom
