I think there are four kinds of people in the career world. And these are those who do what they love, those who learned to love what they do, those who are indifferent about what they do and those who hate what they do. The first two kinds are the luckiest. The difference between them is in the order of when love comes. The first kinds are even luckier because not only they know what they love to do but they are also doing it. They have found their love of their lives, so to say. And I bet these kinds are the most successful and impactful ones. Love for what you do, means for me, not the love for the financial reward of what you do but the actual thing you are doing to get the reward.
At least half of our time when we are physically active (either during the night or during the day) is spent at the work place. For those of us who work during the day, I presume that an average person will wake up at 6 AM and sleep back at 10 PM, which gives a total span of 16 hours where we stay physically active. From these 16 hours, an average person will spend at least 8 hours at work, which is 50 percent of the time during which they stay physically active. So, this means that a time that is not optimally spent at the workplace, and by optimally, I mean happily, means a life that is not lived happily half of the time. So, whatever we do at the work place is only to live half of our lives happily. That is a sad thing, to tell you the truth. We say life is too short. But by opting to live half of our life in an unhappy or at least indifferent manner, I believe we are making life shorter than it actually is.
In Ethiopia, the way I see it, I believe many of us do what we do in a rather indifferent manner. We may be satisfied with the pay, but when it comes to actual work, we simply have no emotional attachment to it. It’s like being in a relationship that has long lost its initial fire. You get used it, cannot dare to let it go because you have invested too much of your time and other resources (if any) in it, and would not dare to end it because of the uncertainty that lies at the forefront. So, you just keep going consoling yourself that at least you are not single and alone. With work, your consolation can be the nice remuneration you are getting or the job security that you have. For the rest, you are simply indifferent about, or even hating it.
How does one find their fire and learn to keep it burning? I believe those who know exactly what they would like to do in life are the blessed ones. I believe these people are half way to success, with the rest half being realized with effort and determination to keep the fire burning. I believe the biggest challenge is finding your fire, that thing that makes every minute and hour you spend at the work place enjoyable and purposeful. Although there is this one question that I usually wonder about. Does everyone have a fire, a specific career choice that they would be very passionate about? I do not know the answer. But I believe it is worth trying finding your fire for those who have not yet found it and those wishing to live life to the fullest not 50 percent of the time but 100 percent of the time.
