You’ve probably heard about the “perfect job” numerous times throughout your life. After all, that’s what being young is for, right? To find your interests, gain life experience, and prepare yourself to find the job that’s just perfect for you. Just how realistic is this, though? There are so many factors that go into finding the best job for you, such as location, salary, and the company. Is it truly realistic to think that you could find a job that hits every single category on the mark?
The short answer: no.
Sorry, but it’s nearly impossible to find the perfect job for you. There will always be one miniscule problem or hiccup that prevents a job from being perfect. Many people also find that even when they’re working in a field they’re passionate about, they inevitably get burned out. They start to associate this burn out with the job field, and they start to lose their passion. Here’s the thing: is finding the perfect job really that important? Does everyone really have a “calling” that is just waiting to be found? Why is there so much emphasis placed on the perfect job, when there’s so much more to a person than what they do? Despite what work culture and hustle culture might say, your job isn’t your entire identity. There are many other factors of you that are just as if not more valuable. This is where the “good enough job” comes in.
The “Good Enough Job.”
Simone Stolzoff, an author living in San Francisco, wrote the book The Good Enough Job: Reclaiming Life from Work. The title came from the idea of “good enough parenting,” coined by British pediatrician and psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott. Overprotective parents often try to shield their children from all negative emotions, and they’re disappointed when their child is inevitably upset or angry. Winnicott thought that a “good enough” approach to parenting was better. “Jobs, like a crying toddler, are not something that we can always control,” Stolzoff says in a podcast interview with Alison Beard. “And so I make the argument in the book that taking a good enough approach to work can actually help us not lose ourselves in our professional rises and falls.”
What Does a Good Enough Job Look Like?
Stolzoff defines it as “a job that allows you to be the person that you want to be,” although it’s also “intentionally subjective.” This means that a good enough job will differ from person to person. Perhaps it’s the job that allows you to work in the comfort of your home, or perhaps it’s the job that has flexible work hours, allowing you to pick up the kids from their soccer game or go to your favorite spin class. What’s most important is that the “good enough job” doesn’t entirely consume you. You still have time outside of work to work on personal projects or hobbies, spend time with friends and family, and any other tasks that you may have, such as cleaning the house.
Nothing in life is perfect, that’s just reality. Instead of spending your entire life searching for the “perfect job,” focus on finding the job that allows you to be you.
Become a member to take advantage of more features, like commenting and voting.
Register or sign in today!