There Are No Perfect Jobs, Just Your Current One

My personal story

A year ago I started out as a part-time content writer at this multinational company that works in the luxury furniture industry. As someone coming from a middle-class family who takes no interest in and is unable to afford luxury goods, I hesitated to take that job. I wondered if I could do well despite my limited knowledge about the field. 

Yet, I took it anyway because I needed the cheddar. 

After six months working as the sole content writer for the company, I was promoted to a full-time position and eventually Head of Content when the team grew larger. 

In the beginning, I struggled with this job a lot since I had tons of research to do and I was not passionate about what I was writing. Above all, I thought this job was not right for me and something better was out there. 

So I applied to other companies and daydreamed about doing a different job while waiting for the results. 

As rejection letters started to pour in, I grew exhausted and had some self-reflection.

Okay, so the job I was having was not picture-perfect but it gave me a reason to wake up in the morning, paid my bills, and allowed me to learn something brand new. It also gave me what others couldn't: mobility. I could leave work whenever I wanted, provided that I completed all my tasks within the given deadline. 

Most importantly, it was the only job I had.

So I shifted my mindset and focused on acing it.

Did I ace it? I did help the company's social media accounts gain traffic and I did a great job with the website content. The website articles were well researched and the website had an average SEO score of 75/100, which I think is pretty decent. At one point, an article I wrote went viral and gained my company 200 followers within a day. 

But I did not completely ace it since I could not meet my boss' expectations and set KPIs.

Yet, I did give it my everything. I spent time outside of work researching materials. I took time out of my day to talk with my teammates to make sure they were doing well. I went out of my way to connect the content team with the design team and the IT team, which is usually the job of HR and is extremely difficult considering we all worked remotely.

After a year of working hard, I grew tremendously, professionally and personally. I could see clearly which steps I'd like to take next and was ready to embark on a new adventure. I don't think I'd be who I am today had I kept the "the grass is always greener" mindset.

Your future is defined by your present, not an imagined future

I find myself fortunate for realizing at such a young age that even at the job I thought was my dream job, I could be dissatisfied.

There really are no perfect jobs. Even if you get to work for a company you've been dreaming to get into, you'll be discontent with at least one of the following aspects: environment, employee recognition, psychological well-being, position level, relationships between co-workers, and so on. 

It is wise to no longer waste your time thinking you could be somewhere else doing something else more meaningful and beneficial. Doing so will only raise your dissatisfaction level and lower your concentration at work. 

In other words, you are not giving your job 100% of your effort if you are too busy wishing. 

It is this job you are having that is paying rent, feeding you (and your loved ones), teaching you, giving you the chance to experiment, fail, and grow. 

I'm not telling you to stay at a sucky job for years. You can and should definitely switch jobs once you no longer have fun and learn anything new. 

But only do so AFTER having given it your maximum attention and effort, after treating it as if it was your baby, and after doing the best you can to help the company and make everyone else's jobs easier.

Once you have done so, trust me, you will become a much better person than you were when first signing the contract. You will have a clearer picture of who you want to be and what you want out of life. You will be much more resilient and competent. You will see crystal clear where you are standing and have a reasonable ground to demand a higher and better position. 

And people will notice.