How do I find the right balance between making money and work that I love?
Some people find this balance right away. For the rest of us, it may take a lifetime to figure out.
Many of us would like to achieve ultimate career status. Making more than enough money, living in a nice area, and driving a nice car. We would like to go on nice vacations with our families and afford to send our children to decent schools. We all want a job that is going to afford us the things that we want in life. We are willing to do what it takes to get us there. We work to achieve our educational goals to get the job we desire. So what if we do all of this and we are still miserable? We dread work on Mondays or find ourselves unhealthy or stressed. Yes, making money is important. What happens when you realize that even though you want those things, you need something more to keep you going.
Finding what our personal motivations are is a big factor in finding a dream career. If money and attainment are your motivation, then, by all means, go for it! However, if you are like me and looking for passion and purpose, then please keep reading.
A great question to start with would be: What do I like to do at work that I would do without being paid? What are those things that you do either on your own as a hobby or at your workplace that you would be doing regardless if you were paid or not? Think about that for a few minutes before reading further.
We obviously need money right?! Maybe there is a career in doing the things that we actually enjoy doing.
Maybe you love gardening, cooking, building things, writing, or maybe just being helpful to others. Some jobs don’t pay much. There are definitely some trade-offs. We just have to figure out what trade-offs are most important to use in the long run.
In my journey for figuring this out, I have tried to nail down my top priorities for a career besides money. In writing those things down it was helped me in my search a bit. Every job that I think of now has to address those three things first. This list may be different for everyone and it may change over time. The important thing is to know what those are.
For me, those things are:
- My children and family will always be my priority
- My physical, mental and emotional health is important and must be protected
- I want to be able to work in an environment that is supportive where I can create applications that help improve the lives of others
My passion
My favorite thing to do has always been designing how something appears on screen or paper. From creating comic books as a 1st grader to designing yearbook layouts, and now designing interfaces for apps. I’ve been drawn to do the same thing all my life. I don’t to much care about the inner mechanics of how things work. I care about how it feels when people see it and interact with it. The emotions it evokes. How it feels when you see a picture or when you hear a song. I love to create and I love to solve problems. I get super frustrated writing code some days, but I love the feeling when people use the applications that I’ve worked on and tell me how it has helped them. Ultimately, I want to do that for an organization who really cares about improving the lives of others.
Honestly, I am at a crossroads. Not sure if my next role will be a software engineer or a product manager or a UX designer/developer. I am a person that likes to create. A person that loves to solve problems. I just happen to have the skillset to code.
If you have any insights on following your passion and finding the right career, especially in the tech space, let’s discuss. Contact me at nikiyasimpson@gmail.com. I’m interested in thoughts on the subject.
