Enjoy your work(.)(?)

Some of my friends on hearing where i work remark that my job seems to be or sounds like the kind of job that I like. It always makes me wonder if it's the job that gives the impression or are there some traits which people associate with me that lead them to make that assessment so readily. I mean, how much do they know about the nature of my work to form that opinion?

And when asked that dreaded question Do you like your job? I am inevitably at a loss of words. I become hesistant. As with so many questions in life, it's never a clear-cut Yes or No. Even to my colleagues whom I know silently measure me by my words, I never offer an enthusiastic 'yes' even though this would have been a politically-correct and easy answer. I have to be truthful with myself.

I once heard that in order to get the job you want - it was at a career seminar - you need to have three As: Aspiration, Ability, Action. You need to have a goal, an aspiration which sets out what you want to achieve. Then you need to possess the abilities required to help you achieve your goal. So for instance, a person who desires to be a doctor must possess medical skills; someone who aspires to be a writer would need to have real writing abilties. As for action, it is necessary to help translate your abiltiies into real output, to materialise your dream, so to speak.

But what if I want to achieve something but i realise i only possess two of the three As? What if i aspire to be something, i worked for it - but only to realise that I lack the ability? The purpose of the three As as a concept is that it helps us manage our expectations and make realistic decisions about what we want and can do in life.

I also came across a blogger who wrote: What you are good at, you may not enjoy doing; what you enjoy doing, you may not be good at.

How true.