By Liz Ryan, BusinessWeek
We know it's possible, even if we haven't read "The Four-Hour Work Week" yet. We know people in our neighborhoods or we've seen people on TV who have dream jobs, so we know they exist. It's the post-millennium workplace fantasy: To do work we love and are
passionate about, be paid well for doing it, and to work among smart and supportive team members under the
leadership of a wise and ethical chief
executive officer. Sounds
reasonable on paper. Why is it so hard, in real life, to get all the dream job ducks to line up in a row?
我们知道有份理想的工作是可能的,即便我们没读过《The Four-Hour Work Week》这本书。在街坊里、在电视上,我们认识或见过那些拥有理想工作的人,所以,我们知道,"理想工作"是存在的。这就是"后千年"时代下的职场幻想:做自己喜欢的、抱有激情的工作,有丰厚的收入,同事们要聪明,会支持我们,领导要明智、有道德感。听上去合情合理。可现实的生活中,找到理想的工作怎么就那么难?
For starters, it's helpful to remember that our dream-job requirements often change over time. One job I held in my youth was a dream job at the time but would be impossible for me now because of the
working hours. When I was twenty-something and single, I was
perfectly happy to sit in a
conference room with my workmates, eating pizza and talking shop at 11 p.m. Couldn't, wouldn't consider that now.
对于刚开始工作的人来说,要记住我们对理想工作的要求往往会随着时间发生变化。年轻时的工作在那时是理想工作,但是现在由于工作时长则一点都不理想。当我二十来岁、单身的时候,我可以晚上11点和同事们坐在会议室一起吃着比萨,兴致勃勃地讨论公事。现在不能、也不会有那个念头了。
You may have longed for a
management role at one time and realize now that's the last thing you're interested in; or you may learn that you're happiest
working independently, where your teammates are
available if you need them but aren't in your face all day long.
也许,你曾渴望过一个管理位置而现在发觉对此毫无兴趣;或者你曾感到独自办公时最快乐,你的同事们在你需要的时候出现,但是不要整天都在眼前晃。(to be continued)