5 Reasons Why You Haven't Found Your Dream Job Yet

As we're nearing the end of 2021, I've come to the realization that I'm reaching year four of my gap year I started in 2018. With that, I've discovered some of the variables that may be contributing to my tough time finding a career. In brief, these range from more serious concerns such as long hours, to more personal concerns like green hair not being allowed (ew!). Nevertheless, after some intensive self-reflection, I've highlighted five of the reasons why I haven't found my "dream job." Or Jobs.

1. Routines Suck

Everyday I wake up and take a deep breath to prepare myself for the day. For me that usually entails feeding my cats, going to work, and returning home to do it all over again. While there's nothing inherently wrong with having a routine, for me it's a challenge. The challenging parts lie within the idea that I have to do something everyday. Actually doing the tasks that make up the routine is less draining than thinking about having to do them in the first place. As a result, trying to come to terms with the idea of working eight hours a day, five days straight (forever), makes my skin crawl. Why would a data entry clerk need to work forty hours a week?

2. I Don't Understand Social Hierarchies

From a young age, I never understood why we respected our teachers or other authority figures by default. At the time, I assumed it was due to age difference and wrote it off. However as an adult, I've found that other adults just expect respect from children, but will pick and choose themselves who to respect based on their own personal beliefs. This has directly translated into my experience working in a corporate office. One of your peers with the same title isn't offended when you call them "dude." Why does it become offensive when that same person is now your boss? Does no one else find it strange that you can't call your boss "dude?" Just me?

3. I Wasn't Encouraged to Be Creative

From childhood, I understood that I could be a doctor and have guaranteed income, or become an artist and barely survive. Some parents even joke about their child becoming a broke, struggling, artist as opposed to having a real profession. Growing up in a Capitalist society teaches that if you have enough privilege to get an education, then you should specialize in a career with a steady income. As a result, there is a push to sharpen your most profitable skills instead of focusing on what you genuinely enjoy. There are a multitude of reasons why some may opt for income over quality of life, but I have learned that I can't opt out. There is no amount of money that can supplement my need for a life that isn't consumed by work. A life where I can be a creative without missing out on what life has to offer as a whole.

4. Careers Are for Forever

Committing to some careers, in the United States at least, means agreeing to devote your time and knowledge to a company to gain experience (to take elsewhere), or to work your way up through the ranks. At one point, I faced this myself. I had to decide if I wanted to work up to being someone's manager one day or continue to be managed by others instead. At 20 years old, that's a pretty difficult decision to make. Considering it could determine the next 5-10 years of my life, the decision ate at me in every way possible. I eventually did the only rational thing I could come up with, and I quit. I started working my dream job at an animal clinic and began to regroup and figure out what I actually wanted to do. Not necessarily for forever, but for a while at least.

5. I Don't Want Everything I Do to Be Monetized

I've been reading some articles and threads discussing the guilt some people may feel when doing their hobbies for enjoyment only over profit. This guilty feeling resonated a bit too well with me and I began to seek out all the hobbies I had been avoiding. I can't believe I avoided DIY'ing my clothes because I could sell them afterwards. That's insane! I stopped baking cookies and cakes because I could make a profit from selling them, but I don't. I just enjoy them with my family and that's it. It doesn't have to be more than that. However, this has complicated my process of finding a career by making me fearful of turning a passion into a business, and then losing that passion somewhere down the road. Naturally, this doesn't happen to every person that pursues their passion, but the possibility still lives in the back of my head. I'm hoping I'm able to find a balance between my hobbies and potential careers at some point. 🙂

To wrap up, I feel that everyone should be encouraged to pursue what makes them the happiest and not what will make them the most money. Our society is designed to encourage certain fields over others and I hope that changes. IT and tech is becoming more prevalent in terms of well paying careers, yet more artsy jobs like game design or game writing are under scrutiny. I just wish art was taken more seriously by Western society as a whole. Finding a dream job can be difficult when your dream isn't incentivized.