What If There’s No Such Thing as ‘The One’?

09 Dec What If There’s No Such Thing as ‘The One’?

Since about the age of 17, I’d been searching for it. The one. The all-important job I was meant to do with my life.

And I’d been looking hard. In college and university program catalogues, by talking to others about their professions, reading books, and trying as many new things as possible.

I learned a lot through this process, but I never had an epiphany moment of all-consuming joy at discovering the very thing I was put on this planet to pursue. (That’s what’s supposed to happen, right? Right???)

Eventually, after over 10 years on this scavenger hunt, it occurred to me that perhaps there is no one true job.

Two things happened when I thought this thought. The first: panic. Complete and utter panic because if there’s no one true job then what is my purpose? And have I really been wasting all these years dedicated to a fruitless search? Ahhhh!!!

The second though, was sweet relief. I’m certain I let out an audible sigh. Because if there’s no one true job, then I can stop searching for it so desperately, panicked that everyone else has already found theirs and I’m the odd one out.

And also, because if there’s no such thing as “the one” when it comes to careers, then perhaps I can just do anything at all, anything I want that speaks to me? How freeing. How completely liberating. It suddenly felt as though a whole new world of opportunities had opened itself up to me.

The more I thought about it, the more this revelation made sense to me. People are not static beings. We’re in a constant state of change. Always uncovering new things about ourselves that we didn’t know before, including what makes us tick and what we’re interested in.

And these revelations guide the direction in which we choose to take our lives, including the careers we pursue. As they should, because what is life but a process of self-discovery and a quest to be our most authentic selves?

So it makes sense, then, that there’s no job equivalent of the Holy Grail. At least not on a permanent basis, anyway. Sure, there will be roles that you desperately want and work hard to achieve throughout your life. But it’s perfectly okay (and in fact, normal) to grow out of them and desire something else, something more.

Trying to force yourself to continue being happy and content with something that your past self once desired is like trying to fit into a sweater from your childhood because eight-year-old you used to love it. It’s nonsensical.

Instead of spending so much time in search of a (mythical) job that will be SO fulfilling you’ll want to keep doing it for the rest of your life (that’s a long time, you know), perhaps just chase after something that interests you right now. See where that leads you.

And then, down the road, when you start feeling the need for something new again—because you’ve changed and so has what you want for the next phase of your life—pursue what’s calling to you at that time, just as you did before.

Follow the clues the universe is offering to you. It’s like a treasure hunt, except there is no pot of eternal career bliss awaiting your discovery. Because the journey itself is the gold.