How to Get a Job That You Absolutely Love

Have you ever LOVED a job so much so that you can't believe your employer is actually paying you to do something you would gladly pay them to let you do?

What if that experience is in your future... how wonderful would that be?

In college, I accidentally stumbled into a job working on stage crew at my school's 2,000-seat professional roadhouse theater; one national act after another appeared there, over 200 during my tenure. I loved that job so much that I worked way too much - up to 40 hours a week - and often neglected my studies.

While there are no easy paths to a job you love passionately, I've noticed that most people skip the obvious steps that could bring them to their perfect job:

1.) Be honest about what you love. Want to see a blank stare? Ask someone, "What do you want?" To some, this may be the most terrifying question in the universe. They don't admit what they really want - even to themselves - and they bury this knowledge so deep inside they have trouble accessing the answer.

To look for a job without knowing what you love is to ensure you will never have a job that you love. It would be better to live in a tent eating macaroni for a month than to continue your job search without answering this question.

To access this answer, you may have to do something radical... like be alone in the woods for a weekend... ask your family and friends what seem to be most passionately about... or talk to a professional counselor.

2.) Say what you want. Once you figure out what you love, tell everyone that you want to incorporate this passion into your career. Say it again and again and again.

When you do this, be clear and strong. Don't say, "I was thinking that maybe, someday, I might like to try, you know, doing something outdoors, maybe with animals." Say, "I want to open a stable and teach people how to ride horses."

People don't know how to react to vague statements. Most won't even hear what you say, unless you say it in a clear manner, many times.

Doing this does not ensure instant success. You might be two, five or even ten years away from succeeding... but the best people around you will provide guidance towards your goals.

3.) Pay the price of admission. Few things in life are free. To get a job that you love, you might have to cut your salary, increase your hours, or move halfway around the world. Do it! Life is too short to hate your job, or to merely tolerate it.

If you are working in finance when you admit that what you really love is architecture, you may get advice to take courses at night or accept a financial job with an architecture firm; both might be good steps in the right direction. Be persistent, and be willing to invest both time and effort in moving closer to what you love. Sadly, most people won't make sacrifices to obtain what they want, and as a result, they never get it.

When you love what you do, success quickly follows. You will work harder and have more energy than those who are grudgingly going through the motions. While "the price of admission" for a job that you love may make you swallow hard, dig deep and pay it.

Bruce Kasanoff is the author of How to Self-Promote without Being a Jerk, a simple little book that can help you overcome one of the toughest career challenges. It is available exclusively on Amazon.

Find Bruce at Kasanoff.com or on Twitter@BruceKasanoff.

Image credits: Banner image by Cat/Flickr via Wikimedia Commons; "Be" image by Bruce Kasanoff to highlight which of eight "Simplify Your Future" qualities he addressed in this post.