Busting some myths about work
For many of us, from the minute we enter high school, we’re conditioned to start thinking about what we want our careers to look like. Everything from the subjects we choose to study to the extra curricular activities we take part in are assessed in terms of our future prospects and what they’ll mean for our careers.
It’s often around this time that we start to be exposed to some common myths about work. Myths that are so readily shared that you may not have even noticed that they were myths. And these myths shape us - they shape our ambitions, our dreams, and the goals we set for ourselves. They shape our beliefs, they determine what we think we’re capable of.
Today I wanted to bust some of those myths. I wanted to scrutinise them, to challenge them, and to perhaps challenge your perspectives on them. Here goes…
1) Work is supposed to be hard
Boy oh boy, did I grow up believing this one! From the minute I understood what work was, all I heard was people complaining about it. This attitude was only enforced when I entered the world of work and shared a desk with two people who complained constantly, spending every minute in the office counting down to Friday or moaning about our boss.
Don’t get me wrong - all jobs have some hard bits. But work CAN be a source of joy and purpose and fulfilment - it’s not supposed to make you miserable all the time. There are millions of people out there (myself included!) who derive real pleasure from their work, and if it’s possible for them, it’s possible for you, too.
2) You can’t make good money AND enjoy your job
The most common thing I hear whenever I’m supporting clients to explore a career change is something along the lines of “I’d love to enjoy my job more, but I can’t take a hit financially”. The fact that these sorts of comments are so commonplace shows that we’re all buying into the myth that doing something we enjoy or that we feel passionate about automatically means we’ll have to take a paycut, reinforcing the idea that work can either be enjoyable OR pay well.
Whilst of course there might be some cases where this is factually accurate (if you leave your job as a CEO to become a window cleaner you might need to think about how this will impact you financially), what the research in this field tells us is that the more you enjoy your job, the more likely you are to be financially successful. This is because when we enjoy something, we perform better - so making a change to a job that brings you joy might just be the best investment you ever make.
3) You need to start from scratch if you want to change career
This is a worry I come across ALL the time. People tell me that they feel stuck and that they know there’s a career or job out there that would suit them better, but that they don’t have the energy to start from scratch, or are worried about throwing away all of the experience and respect they’ve worked hard to build.
I understand this reasoning (and felt the same way before I changed my own career), but what I know from supporting hundreds of people through this process is that you never ever start from scratch. All of the experience you’ve gained so far comes with you in whatever you decide to pursue - I’m constantly surprised at how regularly I use skills from my old corporate life as a business owner, even though my role as a coach is completely different from my role as a Head of Retail.
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Do you buy into any of these myths? If you’re ready to explore new career opportunities and find a path that works better for you, my signature programme Find Your Thing can help. Doors are currently open for our September cohort, and you can find out more here.
