#JobLove? Why It's Okay Not to Love Your Job 100% of the Time

“Choose a job you love, and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.”

Wouldn’t it be great if that were true?

I’m afraid platitudes like this one make a lot of people pretty unhappy at work. To make matters worse, folks leave their jobs way too early on the endless search for the lost city of Job Love.

The reason this nirvana remains unfound is how we define one key word: Love.

What is love – other than never having to say you’re sorry? When we see it in movies or hear about it in songs, it tends to be unbridled endless passion, connection and romance. It grabs hold of us in a moment, and stays with us forever (or at least until the end of the movie). And that’s the type of love we think about when we consider loving our job. 

I hear people – especially those who have just begun their careers – lament their lack of job love; that every day is not overflowing with fun challenges, continuous personal development, important assignments, wrapped in a delightful environment filled with extraordinary people…oh, and a pool table. After a few months or a year, it might be time to move on to find that perfect job. Good luck.

But those of us who really know love, know that idealized love is only a part of what love is. Love usually has ups and downs – lots of them. For instance – and trust me, I realize I’m about to tread very delicately here – I love my wife and three kids dearly, deeply and powerfully. I’d do anything in the world for them. But I may not love every second I spend with them. There are plenty of ups – and downs. And that’s okay. I’d strongly encourage you to think about your job the same way.

You can love your job, but not love every second of your job. There will be a multitude of tasks that are no fun and that don’t seem to advance you professionally. You may have a manager that’s not perfect, a rough temporary assignment, and work on outdated office furniture. But if the good days outweigh the bad, if you work with a strong group of motivated professionals, and you feel like you’re growing over the course of the year (not each and every day), it’s probably a job you can end up loving.

So, the next time you feel like your job does feel like work, it may not be that you don’t love your job. It may just be that you need to realize that love does take some work. And that’s okay.