I’ve just completed a survey of approximately 500 currently employed 20-39 year-olds.  The topic was dream careers, and even the pragmatist in me was stunned to learn that fully half of my respondents don’t like their jobs and don’t have friends who like their jobs either.  And when I asked, “Why do you think people in our generation are more likely to pursue work they love?”, I expected to hear that today’s twenty and thirty-somethings are empowered to find themselves and find a way to make a difference in the world.  Instead, several people told me flatly that “our generation is no different than any other.  We go to work to get a paycheck.”

Everyone who answered my survey selected at least 3 jobs they considered to be “dream careers” for them.  These people aren’t universally negative.  They have strong interests and preferences, and lots of activities they like to engage in.  They’re just not spending their work days doing them.

This is rather disconcerting, don't you think?  Assuming we work from age 22 to age at least age 65 for 235 days a year, we’re on the job for about 80,000 hours, or one tenth of our lives.  That’s a huge chunk of time to spend doing something you hate.  If you’re going to be fair to yourself, you must figure out a way to create a meaningful and rewarding job experience.  This doesn’t necessarily mean quitting your job and heading to Yosemite to be a Park Ranger (though I did just meet someone with this very cool job who loves it).  Rather, with a little imagination, you can assess your current work situation from top to bottom and find something in it you feel passionate about, something that makes you want to get up in the morning.  

If you truly can’t muster enthusiasm for a single aspect of your job, it’s time for action.  Make an appointment with a career counselor, take a personality inventory such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator or read a career assessment book like What Color is Your Parachute.  Do a thorough self-assessment of your values, how you like to work, and what you’d be compelled to do even if you never got paid.  If my little “dream careers” survey, or even this post, represent the first step in this process for even one unhappy cube-dweller, I’ll have done my job today.