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Advice / Succeeding at Work / Work-Life Balance

Your Dream Job Might Not Tick All the Boxes, But it Can Still Be the Right Job for You

If I was to list out everything I wanted in my “dream” job, it would be a pretty long list. I’d want to be able to write every day, but also travel the world while doing so (expenses paid, of course). I’d want to incorporate some form of teaching yoga into my daily routine, and also make Tasty videos on the side. Oh, and there would also be something to do with babysitting sea otters.

OK, so it’s a long shot. But hey, I get to do at least some of those things—I write for a living, and in my free time I enjoy baking, traveling, and exercising.

I stumbled across the trending hashtag #My3WordDreamJob today and was reminded that we all have aspirations, both near and far. While it’s not wrong to shoot for some of them (in fact, you absolutely should go after a job that fulfills your career goals!), others sounds so awesome that they’ll probably only ever exist as “dreams”—at least for most of us.



I may love playing with animals and eating food just as much as these people do, but it’s writing and editing that I actually want to get up every day and do (and that’s why I found a position doing just that). Your ideal job should be about identifying what makes you feel happy—but also exists and pays you money.

And even if you find that, it’s also completely normal to wake up some days and not feel completely fulfilled by your to-do list. No single job will ever incorporate every single passion you have, and that’s what hobbies and side gigs are for—to make sure even during your time off you’re doing what you love.


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