What if Your Job Was Just a Job? (And 4 Other Thought Experiments)

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On this episode

We often tie our sense of identity and worth to our jobs, which makes us feel like our work defines us. When things go wrong or we face criticism, it feels like an attack on who we are. On the other hand, if our work is only about earning a pay packet, it gets draining pretty fast.

If we think differently about what we do, we can find a middle ground where our work can provide both income and joy.

Ask yourself these questions:

What if I won the lottery?
What if I could wave a magic wand?
What if I couldn’t fail?
What if my job was just a job?
What if I measured success by how well I looked after myself?

Without that regular evaluation, unfulfilling work can become a source of stress, disappointment, and disconnection. But these simple thought experiments will help you have an honest conversation – with you and those around you – to help you create more balance and joy in your work.

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More episodes of You Are Not a Frog:

How to Choose What Kind of Problem You Want – Episode 257
11 Ways to Back Your Wise Self – Episode 263
Getting into the Flow – Episode 26, with Rachel Morris

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Reasons to listen

To explore thought experiments that challenge how you view your job and its role in your identity
To discover practical ways to find balance between work as a source of income and personal fulfillment
To reflect on how changing small aspects of your work or mindset can lead to greater satisfaction and joy

Episode highlights

00:03:07

Flow

00:06:07

What if you won the lottery?

00:08:18

What if you could wave a magic wand?

00:09:33

What if you couldn’t fail?

00:12:04

What if your job was just a job?

00:15:08

What if you measured success by your self-care?

00:16:28

What is in your way?

00:18:07

What thought experiments do you undertake?

Episode transcript

[00:00:00] Rachel: The other day, I was in a group of really successful women talking to them about their businesses and things like that. And I asked the question of, if you didn’t need to work, if you had a really good private income, what would you do? And half of them looked at me as if I was mad. And they said, well, we wouldn’t be doing this. [00:00:16] Rachel: And I was really shocked. I turned to the person next to me and we were like, we would, we’d be doing this a hundred percent. And some people…