Perfect job? Apparently, it doesn’t exist. But who among us has not dreamed of a perfect day at work at least once? And very good, because such dreams can be quite helpful. Especially if you are heartily fed up with your current job and are about to change it.
When you think about a job change in your head, a lot of thoughts and doubts arise. This can be especially overwhelming if you don’t have specific career plans. Usually, you consider options or… you have no idea at all. In either case, you don’t know what to do next.
PERFECT DAY AT WORK
One of the coolest exercises in this type of situation is to describe your ideal day in life in the future. This is a simple exercise that can be the beginning to create a more elaborate vision of life.
Creating this picture of your ideal workday can help you decide what to do next. When describing the perfect job, you can become aware of your needs, motivations and aspirations. Moreover, you start to think about your future job in the context of your whole life, not just the professional sphere.
A perfect day at work can help guide your actions. It will be easier for you to decide what tasks, positions and jobs to choose to make this image come true.
This exercise will also help you identify possible obstacles and challenges to your perfect job. You will be better prepared and the image itself will motivate you to continue.
DETAILS IN THE DESCRIPTION WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE
The exercise involves detailing your ideal day at work. It’s not just about describing the tasks themselves, but the whole day.
You start by imagining what you would like to do in the morning – what mood do you wake up with, what your way to work looks like, etc. It’s important to describe everything in detail. The idea is to get your imagination going. So you describe the whole day – from morning, through the day at work, until late evening.
The more details you put in your ideal day description, the better. This makes it easier for you to identify the job you need. This description may be useful to see how the job fits into your life.
We often dream about a profession or job, completely ignoring its realities. We usually only see the good sides – more money, status and other benefits. However, when you imagine one day in the life of such a person, you see the full picture. What you see will not always suit your life. You may quickly come to the conclusion that this is not a job for you after all. This way you will save yourself a lot of disappointment.
It’s best to take a long moment to think about what you would like to do in your perfect job. Remember the tasks you like to do. However, don’t limit yourself to just making your to-do list. Work is also about places, systems, people, atmosphere and many other important things.
GO BEYOND THE PREVIOUS SCHEME
There is a limitation to describing a perfect day at work, however, that you should keep in mind. When I was doing this exercise quite a few years ago, I never dreamed that you could work and earn money outside the job. Of course, I knew you could work in your own company, but at the time I thought that meant renting an office and physical products. I could not even imagine that all activities can only be conducted online, talk remotely with clients and earn money practically without leaving home. It made me ditch my dream of my own business, and my perfect day at work was full of a full-time job.
This is where the limitations of this exercise come in – most of us cannot imagine a life outside of what we are actually doing. Yes, we imagine that we earn more money, travel further and further, we have more time for ourselves and our family. Unfortunately, these descriptions still fit into the patterns we are used to – working full-time, from 8 to 16. We imagine work similar to what we have done so far or to what our friends do.
It makes our ideal life very different from what we have. Except we only have more – money, time, material things, etc.
However, this exercise is also about going beyond these well-known patterns. To start dreaming a little bigger – to reach your deeply buried desires. Something that intimidates you and almost automatically triggers an answer within you – yeah, that’s it! That’s what I’d like to do the most… but it’s impossible!
DARE TO DREAM
Are your dreams really impossible to come true? Or maybe they are just not feasible at the moment?
Remember that we tend to underestimate what we can achieve in the long run. Maybe today it is not possible to achieve a perfect workday, but in some time – who knows? If it is not impossible then maybe it is worth exploring this topic?
Why am I encouraging you to dream big? I will make a reservation right away that there is absolutely nothing wrong with dreaming of a comfortable life, but without fireworks. Even research confirms that most of us dream of “just a little” more money, “a little” better car, “a little” longer vacation etc.
There is only one problem with such shy dreams. By imagining a life that differs little from what you lead, you do not go beyond the usual pattern. And the established pattern gives you little chance of significantly improving the quality of your life. By sticking to the beaten and safe paths, you don’t progress and progress to the next level.
When I write the next level, I mean very different things – it can be a promotion and life at a higher level financially. It can also be better health, more lasting relationships with people, and more care for the world you live in. The next level is a better use of your strengths, natural predispositions, and greater joy in the sense of agency and purpose in life.
A PERFECT DAY AT WORK HAS ITS PRICE
I realize that not everyone may want to move to this higher level. If it is good enough, why give yourself additional challenges?
However, we need these challenges in order to experience a fuller life. Just look back at your life – remember a moment when you had to face some difficult challenge. In retrospect, wasn’t it the moment when you learned the most? Didn’t this difficult situation strengthen something in you?
Getting closer to your perfect day at work will also require you to overcome some challenges. It is impossible to change life for the better without paying. Even winning a lottery ticket plays a role.
Every dream comes with a price, but the costs are worth it. You get something more valuable in return – experience, skills, valuable relationships.
So don’t be afraid to dream as you describe the perfect day at work. Give yourself a couple of days to do this exercise. The image should become clearer over time. This will make it easier for you to define a new career goal and finally take the next step.
