Trading in the big $$ for job flexibility and enjoyment

Time recently published a great article called Finding a New Boom Amid the Bust. Depending on your perspective, the recession can be a great opportunity to follow your true passion with rising competition for higher salary jobs. According to the article:

"Workers who are elated to simply have a job aren't squawking about money, and according to a Randstad survey, they now name job security and benefits among the top factors in their happiness...and some at least are happy to trade a big salary for work with meaning and which allows for a better work/life balance, so long as the bills still get paid."

What's a bit odd about this is that it implies that the recession instigated the changing mindset about what defines 'job satisfaction.' I guess, for change to happen, their must be a catalyst of some sort - although it is a bit sad that an en masse revelation like this requires such a huge economic downturn to spur it on.

I can really take this article to heart, as I recently faced a similar situation with my job. Although not motivated by the poor economy in Singapore to start searching for new work, I was driven by a strong feeling that I couldn't continue to do a job that had me facing a computer 8 - 10 hours a day. It reached a point as drastic as getting a pink slip on your desk one morning, and the time came when I knew I needed a change or my sanity would be at stake.

When deciding to take on a new role (in a different field), I was faced with re-evaluating my priorities; something I didn't have the luxury of doing when moving to Singapore for my other job. The same is true for many Americans in the US on the job hunt this past year - what many finally got was the chance to step back and think about what their ideal job looks like.

For me, that includes:

• flexible hours
• ability to exercise in the morning (without getting up at 6am)
• job responsibilities that challenge my many interests and frequently change
• opportunities for training and professional development
• 50% of my time spent interacting with people
• opportunities for travel

Nowhere on my list did, "make boatloads of money," come up. As with all things in life, there must be balance, and the list above is quite the tall order.

The items on this "wish list" are more about personal satisfaction and a lot less about stuff.

In the few months leading up to snagging this new job, I reflected on this list a lot. I imagined in my head what this new job would look like. I imagined getting up every day with a sense of excitement and passion. I imagined myself working from home on some days and heading into the office on others - working independently and at my own speed.

Although I didn't know exactly what kind of job I wanted, I darn well knew what I would look like doing this job. And surprisingly (to myself, at least, but probably not to guru Stephen Covey of course), it slowly became clear over the course of a few months that teaching could offer me most of those things. And actually, in some way, all of my past jobs had an element of teaching/training/helping and leading others at its core.

As Viktor Frankl said, "We don't invent our mission; we detect it. It's within us waiting to be realized."

That's the beauty in situations that we have no control over - whether they be economic or otherwise - it is only when we are disrupted from our usual routines that we are forced to reflect, and ultimately detect, those inner desires that have been on low flame waiting to be turned up.

Check out the article, seriously - there are some good job profiles and overall, it is written in an interesting way.

www.laurelgrey.org