“Find a job you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.”
It’s a phrase that gets thrown around often but context matters.
A senior manager once said those exact words to me during a performance appraisal. Not to inspire, but to justify a lower rating suggesting that my desire for growth was unrealistic because I didn’t “love my job enough.”
But here’s the truth:
You can love your work and still feel drained.
You can care deeply, strive to get things done, and not even realize you’re inching toward burnout.
Passion doesn’t protect you from being overlooked or undervalued.
Many mid-career professionals especially in demanding sectors like finance are grappling with this reality. They’re navigating not just performance metrics, but also deeply personal questions around balance, fairness, and long-term well-being.
And while some well-meaning people offer the phase Find a job you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life as encouragement, it misses the mark. Loving your job doesn’t erase long hours, mounting pressure, or emotional fatigue.
And here’s something we don’t talk about enough:
For some of us, it’s about means. There are financial obligations, family responsibilities, aging parents, tuition fees, and a career built on decades of hard work.
So what can you do?
Start with small, deliberate steps:
- Honour what you feel your exhaustion, your ambition, your frustration.
- Question the narratives that dismiss your efforts or suggest your concerns aren’t valid.
- Reassess your values what matters to you now not those over the last 5 years.
- Seek out mentorship or coaching especially from voices outside your current environment.
- Build a network aligned with your future goals, not just your current role.
- Reclaim boundaries whether that means setting clearer limits, delegating more, or saying no more often.
- Invest in learning one course, certification, or project at a time.
Redefining success isn’t about abandoning responsibility.
It’s about finding room for you, your voice, your peace, your goals within the life and career you’ve worked so hard to build.
💬 If you’ve ever felt dismissed at the very moment you needed encouragement, you’re not alone.
Tell me What’s one thing you wish someone had said to you instead?
Image credit: Google Images
#MidCareerProfessionals #FinancialIndustry #RedefiningSuccess #CareerGrowth #PerformanceAppraisal #LeadershipInTransition #BurnoutAwareness #CoachingForChange #PurposefulLiving
