Disliking One's Profession

Gentle Lamb said:

How does one deal with being in a profession that you come to dislike more and more each day, when you started off with a love of it?

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Unless you're earning a mint, change professions.

That is to say, I hear this same lament from a lot of people, and the only ones who work through it are the ones who, sooner or later, go with their hearts and start working at something else, usually something they always knew that they had a knack for. The fact that you started off with a love for the present profession I don't think makes much difference one way or another UNLESS you can identify something other than the profession itself as being the problem (like, for example, the co-workers or the location or your particular company's management).

Gentle Lamb said:

How does one deal with being in a profession that you come to dislike more and more each day, when you started off with a love of it?

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i would say to test your feelings. It could be a passing dissatisfaction that, if given in to, would cause great loss. Think about it rationally, but at the same time pray on it and plumb the depths of your soul and see whether there is another direction you(?) should be headed in. Survey it with a healthy dose of pragmatism, , but check your heart to make sure that baseless fear is not what is holding you back. Give it time and make sure (1Thess 5).

Gentle Lamb said:

How does one deal with being in a profession that you come to dislike more and more each day, when you started off with a love of it?

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It's possible to be in a profession where you don't belong. Since you once liked your profession there can be legitimate and illegitimate reasons to dislike it now. Before you decide to leave it try to decide which it is. You may find yourself in something you like even less. We can become our own worst enemies in life. Make sure you know where the real culprit lays.
Best wishes to you and may you follow God's leading 1st and foremost.

Think back and make a list of the things that you loved about the job when you loved the job. Evaluate, are those things still true. Think in the present, make a list of things you hate about your job now. . . evaluate, were those things present at the beginning?

Doing so will give you clarity if the job has shifted and is no longer right for you or if it is a perspective thing & then you can make a more informed decision from there.

It could be just the current work situation or environment and not the profession itself.
Hard to know...would you mind telling us what the profession is?

People change, and also, as we grow more into our roles we find things that give us joy. Dont let anyone steal your joy.

Gentle Lamb said:

How does one deal with being in a profession that you come to dislike more and more each day, when you started off with a love of it?

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so what is exactly you do?

what was the reason you feel in love with it in the first place and why have you come to dislike it?

Fifty years ago, [mostly] men would plan what they want to do for a living, find a job and spend the next 45 years in that job - and if they became dissatisfied with that job, they would move up their corporate ladder or find another job in the same career.

Today, people will change careers on average about 6-8 times and jobs far more often even than that. Consider your career in developmental terms. There was a time you entered into the career, you gained experience, probably gained at least in-service training, etc. Your career has developed to get where you are. If you are now dissatisfied with your career, maybe consider that it's time to go through a growth spurt. What are some ways you can take your career to the next level?

Gentle Lamb said:

How does one deal with being in a profession that you come to dislike more and more each day, when you started off with a love of it?

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Hi,

I used to hate my profession.

Years later, I found out it contributed much to the world.

Still later I found out, what we want to do, we are normally not as good at, as our profession.

Still later, I found out almost all the real greats, think anyone can so what they do.

Typically, it is a person's disdain of their own best contributions, that causes dislike.

My friends all told me, to get my thrills outside of work, not at work.

LOVE,

Gentle Lamb said:

Thank you all for your input, it is greatly appreciated. What's bothering me most right now is the new changes that have taken place (which I wasn't even there for, as I'm new to this ) but which have been changing things beyond recognition. At first I was idealistic about how things would go, but I've learned a lot within the past few years. But what I see happening now is just disappointing and disheartening and purely evil. I will continue to pray for God's guidance on this issue as He is the one who has placed on my heart to work in this field. It's literally going to take His own intervention for anything to change, but God is good and I know He has not steered me wrong and He will just continue to show me where and how I should go.

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Hi,

Oh. That's a tough one. I eventually left all organizations like that.

Economically it hurt. For me though, it worked out in the end run, anyway. Your God took care of me.

LOVE,

Gentle Lamb said:

Thank you all for your input, it is greatly appreciated. What's bothering me most right now is the new changes that have taken place (which I wasn't even there for, as I'm new to this ) but which have been changing things beyond recognition. At first I was idealistic about how things would go, but I've learned a lot within the past few years. But what I see happening now is just disappointing and disheartening and purely evil. I will continue to pray for God's guidance on this issue as He is the one who has placed on my heart to work in this field. It's literally going to take His own intervention for anything to change, but God is good and I know He has not steered me wrong and He will just continue to show me where and how I should go.

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That's how I feel about social work. I was really quite disillusioned when I got into it because so many top-down policies restrict social work practice - we can't help people except what and how the government says we can, and the government has no idea how their policies affect the people we are trying to help. It's a mess and I'm angry that I was taught I have a voice - but I only have a voice if I don't want a job, since those who challenge the policies get fired and then we become those we are trying to help in the first place. But then I remember - if I can't be a hero to a whole demographic, I can try to support one at a time, and to that one, the work is meaningful.

I encourage you to try to look for those ways that your profession is good, and dwell on those things....