This is the Business English Podcast, Episode 129.
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One more time, allearsenglish.com slash connection. hey michelle how's everything today hey lindsay good good i'm happy to be on the mic with you and you know we love our jobs right we're so lucky to do what we do and i know you really love your job and i mean but does it feel like work to you even though you love it yeah it does i mean podcasting feels the actual like being on the mic together right now feels the least like work it feels the most like play of all the things that we do but yeah there are things that we do that definitely feel like work for sure.
Yes. Right. Yeah. So today we're going to talk about this topic because I've read an interesting article about, you know, loving work and that kind of thing.
And so we're going to briefly talk about some points in the article, but we're mostly going to talk about our thoughts and really dive into it so this article was from huffpost.com by caroline bologna uh april 18 2023 and the article is why find a job you love and you'll never work a day in your life is silly that's not exactly the title but close enough um and then it says career experts and people who love their jobs break down the problems with this cliched expression so yes yeah so lindsay have you heard that expression find a job you love and you'll never work a day in your life what did how do you feel about that oh i mean it just depends on what job you have i always when i think about this job i think about my dad i think he would agree with that quote i think he would take that seriously and say yeah that's true i mean he started his own business took a lot of risks um built a practice in optometry in our little town and I mean, he went to work every day.
Yes. And there were some things he didn't like, but I think he loved his job.
And I always admired that, that he took a lot of risk and kind of worked hard so that he could have that job he loved.
So yeah, I think for someone like him, that was probably pretty true.
Right. And that's great. But I'm sure your dad had parts of his job he didn't like.
No question. I'm sure dealing with insurance is a famous one that is not beloved.
Those kinds of things, all the paperwork on the doctor's end is probably not so much fun.
Oh my gosh, no. He had lots of challenges dealing with insurance companies over the years, for sure.
But there's no job where you're going to love everything you do.
It's just impossible. Right. Yeah. And I think that that's the point.
So we're going to get more into that in a second.
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Good stuff. Yes. So, yes. Let's go deeper.
So let's go deeper. I mean, this expression, I think, and the article kind of touched on this as well, is that's great, but it almost sets people up for an unrealistic set of expectations.
I totally agree with that. That's the danger of the exit.
If we take it literally, I think it's a little dangerous for like younger people coming into the job market.
I think for people like our age and older, like we get it, like we get that quote that that's not every single thing we're going to love.
But someone new to the job market might think I have to love everything.
Otherwise, I have to quit and find a new job.
It's like the dating market or the dating world in New York, Michelle.
It's like, if this person's not perfect, right, there's some little, little tiny thing.
I'll call that a red flag and I'll move on through my dating app.
That makes me think of Seinfeld, like how they were always so picky about everything.
Remember, like... But yeah, it's true. Yeah, because I think it does maybe set people up for a little bit of disappointment.
Like, why can't I find that job that's making me happy?
Like, why can't I completely love every day?
Why does this feel like work to me? And so I do.
Yeah, if you're gonna take this literally, I think you're gonna be disappointed.
Yeah. well also i think it comes to the the core problem here is that people look for happiness in all the wrong places right like we can get some level of happiness from our careers but it's somewhat limited right it can't be everything you know this is getting all spiritual and buddhist now but the happiness comes from inside not from anything outside not from our partner not from our work right oh from our body image Yes, yes, that's true.
That's true. So I think having a realistic outlook is important for this.
So, I mean, yeah, the article also talks about and then you had a theory about where this comes from as well.
It says, I quote, some so some site. So they talk about this.
Some people say that the quote was from Confucius, but there's not that much information about how where this actually came from.
But it also says, I quote, some citations of the expression date back to the 1980s, but it seems to be even more prominent in the Etsy era of embroidered quote pillows and inspirational memes.
So I thought this was super interesting because it is true.
There's all this, you know. inspirational cat and you know all of those things where people feel you know like go go get them and everything and what do you think about that yeah well two things came to mind when when I saw the eight the 1980s these are theories right we don't really know where this quote comes from but my thought here was if it came from the 80s it's probably a Reaganism thing because we know that Reagan President Reagan was a conservative president Republican president and he really brought in tax cuts i think he kind of ushered in you know post 1970s post inflationary times with jimmy carter post things moving a little more towards the socialized end of things he kind of swung the u.s economy back in the other direction massive tax cuts i think that's where kind of the concept of rugged individualism came from so i could see him This is just a theory.
This could totally be not true. But the idea of like, let's put out some ideas that will get people to go start their own businesses, work hard, make your career your life.
That would make sense for kind of a Reaganism mentality, I think.
Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Well, yeah, to keep people working more, right?
Exactly. It's your identity. I mean, I think this kind of goes with what's a job and what's a career.
And some people want to have that career where it is their identity.
And some people want to do their work and come home and that's their job.
And I think there's not enough maybe respect given to that. kind of feeling of just like, I feel like there's too much, oh, it's my identity, my job, but it's also okay.
I mean, I know someone who's like, oh, you know what?
Like I'm, you know, I'm a mom. I want to get back into the workforce a little bit.
I'm totally happy to go. I want to be a receptionist and then I just want to leave and go home.
And that's okay too. And I feel like, so it's kind of almost putting that down of this, oh, you have to love every second of it.
Yeah, totally. I think the key is just having a real conversation with ourselves and saying, like, what do we what do we want?
Like, you know, and yeah, it's true. But I could see that kind of this quote inspiring people to maybe give too much weight to our careers.
Like it matters too much. And I think I do think in the U.S., You compare American culture to like Western Europe and you see the amount of vacation they take and how there seems to be from what I've seen more of a separation between this is me and this is my job.
Whereas in the States, it's like I am my job and I my whole identity stems from my job to different extents, depending on who you're talking to.
Yeah. Right. And the whole work to live, live to work thing.
So, yeah, it's different. I actually I remember that when I studied in London, I still remember that like one of the one of the first things that they talked to us on day one was that expression and like the differences in the cultures.
And so. Yeah, for sure. Did you feel like in England, like people were more work to live or live to work?
I think I think more. Yeah, I think maybe more work to live.
I think here is very, you know, can be very intense.
But I don't know. Maybe I mean, any listeners were living, working in England.
Let me know if I'm if I'm wrong, because it's been a while, honestly, since I studied there. yeah i mean it's not a coincidence right the biggest economy or one of the biggest economies in the world that's why because we've been told for the last 30 years that this should be a big part of who we are and i think now in the states people are kind of starting to question that depending on the person there's a bit of a trend yeah um and so it'll be really interesting to see what happens in the next 20 30 years with lifestyles with the economy that kind of thing Yeah.
Yeah. I mean, and the article mentions that, like, yeah, like it would be great.
You know, this this career strategist, Anna Goner, says doing what you enjoy should be the norm, but it's still work.
You are still trying to make a living. So, like, we can't lose sight of that.
That's great if you love it. Like, we hope everybody loves their job, but it's still a way to make a living, you know?
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Exclusions apply. See details online. OK, what else do we need to know?
OK, and the other part I thought was interesting was they talked about how you might be passionate about something else and you and you would like to do that as your job.
But it may not be, as they say, like it may not be realistic to work And that feel like maybe you want to be an astronaut.
Maybe you want to be an actress. Maybe you want to, you know, do something where it's pretty rough out there.
And so if you... don't do that, you know, then I feel like this expression can make you kind of feel bad.
Like, it's also okay to say, okay, something is more my hobby and something is more my job.
Or maybe there's something that relates, that ties it together.
We recently did an All Ears English episode about that expression.
But maybe there's something that you can do in your career that's not exactly that thing, but there are aspects of it.
Like for me, I majored in theater, right?
And And now am I an actress? No, but I feel very fulfilled because I podcast and I used to work in radio as well.
Yeah. So I feel very fulfilled because I do that.
And because teaching, you know, it's not about the acting.
It's about the speaking, the connecting.
Podcasting is a form of performance for sure.
Absolutely. So I don't feel like I've lost that because so much of my love for it gets to be used on the podcast.
Yeah, it's so true. It's a good point. I think about our wedding photographer.
We got married last summer and the wedding photographer that we hired, I don't know.
I wonder that decision to become a wedding photographer, did that lessen her joy of photography or increase it?
Because there's so much pressure for a wedding photographer.
To be honest, she missed a couple of key shots.
Oh, so did mine. So did mine. There's no shot with the bride and the dad.
Like, what? That's weird. But she was great.
She was great. We loved her. But I just wonder, that's a lot of pressure.
There are key moments in a wedding that it's like, okay, you can't miss these.
So does that take the joy out of something that used to be maybe a natural talent or a hobby?
Right. Right. Well, first off, my photographer is like, I feel everything like I know.
It was all very upsetting. But anyway, but it's OK.
There are worse things. So but so I have a similar experience, but sounds like yours is better.
She's good. She made up for it in creative shots, different creative shots.
It was OK. Yeah. Well, the thing is, wait, so we were talking about, oh, oh, oh, I remember this.
Actually, when I was a theater major, like, I loved theater so much.
And then when I started studying it more, I would have to go see a lot of shows.
And then I would have to analyze the shows.
And it kind of goes with what you're saying.
Like, it did kind of make it feel a little different to me when it became that, like, Oh, I'm like being so studious about it now.
And I don't know, it kind of changed things for me.
And then I started to back off the theater and go more into the radio.
And I studied theater, but I don't know.
So it's interesting how that can happen.
Yeah, really interesting. Really interesting.
Yeah. I mean, what's the moral of the story here, Michelle?
Where should we leave our listeners? What should we think about coming away from today's episode?
Well, I think the goal is to find a job where you can use your strengths.
I think that's like more of what to think about.
And Lindsay, we talk about that a lot on our team and use your interests as much as possible.
But you shouldn't have those unrealistic expectations that like every part of your job is just going to be amazing and like fantastic all the time.
You're never going to have to do something boring.
You're never going to have to do anything like that.
So I think having that realistic outlook is important and also knowing that it's okay.
Hey, if your job is your job and that's your job and that's totally separate from you as a person, that's okay too.
And I think we need to value that a little bit more in our society as well. yeah so there's two ideas right so broadly when it when you think about your job like think about it holistically do you look forward to going maybe not look forward to but do you not mind going to work do you get this yeah two week or not um that's one key piece there's always and i would say also you know if you are Only wanting to do the things that you enjoy at work, that's not going to look good, right?
Like that's not going to – like you come to your boss or something, that's not going to work out.
Everyone has to do – even your boss has to do things they don't like.
So it's just totally unrealistic to just do things that you love.
And then, yeah, but if you feel like it's just not the right career path, like maybe you're – you could be doing something better, don't be afraid to go and look at something else.
That's what I would say. That's right. Okay, good.
Oh, well, this is a lot of discussion, Lindsay.
I love our deep talks. As always, Michelle, I'll talk to you very soon.
Have a good day. Thanks, you too. Bye. All right, bye.
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