5 Reasons Why You Should (Or Shouldn’t) Let Your Career Define Who You Are

Long gone are the days when it was a necessity for a person’s occupation to define their life. My great-grandfather was a salesman from the 1930s through the 1970s. He was a salesman when he was at work, he was a salesman when he was at home, and he was a salesman when he was on vacation. In those days, a person’s job truly defined who they were. It permeated throughout the entirety of their existence. Today, this type of extremism is significantly less common, yet there are still many people who yearn to find that one job that will serve as a loyal companion on their journey into adulthood and beyond. Here are 5 reasons why you should or shouldn’t worry about letting your career define who you are:

1. You’ve wanted that job since you were a child, and doing anything else with your life would seem like a waste of time.

2. Your job doesn’t need to define you, but it can certainly be a means to an end that allows you to pursue your true passions.

Step 1 – Earn paycheck

Step 2 – Do stuff that you enjoy with $$ from said paycheck

Step 3 – Profit

3. You’ve built space into your life that allow for your hobbies to grow and thrive, while maintaining a full-time job that you may be less enthusiastic about (E.G. – teacher by day, aspiring science-fiction writer by night).

4. You’re one of the few lucky ones whose passions are lucrative enough to make a living out of. Congratulations, you’ve officially made it and your career is the true essence of who you are as a human.

5. Life is short. Stop wasting time trying to define who you are, and focus on creating memories that you can look back on with a smile. Those nooks and crannies are where you’ll find what your life has truly been about.