The Difference Between Making a Living and Making a Life

Rev. Dr. Kitty Boitnott, NBCT

Heart-Centered Career Transition and Job Search Coach | Stress Management Coaching

In the musical Rent, there is a song entitled "Seasons of Love," and it starts with these words:

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
Five hundred twenty-five thousand moments so dear
Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure, measure a year?

If you would like to listen to it in its entirety, click here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj7LRuusFqo

The point of the song, of course, is that each moment in our lives is "dear" which means, in this context, "precious."

Consider that there are "only" five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes in a year. You can count them.

And each one counts.

We each get the same number of minutes in a year, and we only get so many years.

None of us live forever.

And you get to choose how you spend each one of those precious minutes.

I often make the distinction when I am talking to my clients about the difference between "making a living" and "making a life."

To me, "making a living" refers to how we earn money. It brings to mind the bills that have to be paid and the time we have to spend to make enough money to cover all--or most--of what it costs to live.

When I talk about "making a life," however, I am referring to intentionally structuring your day-to-day experience around what you care about most.

Making a life requires you to be in touch with the thing about which you are most passionate.

It involves you being in touch with your true purpose in life.

So many of us are focused on making a living that we have lost touch with our true purpose.

And I fear that they have gotten so caught up in making a living that they aren't paying much attention to how they are living their lives. They're just trying to get by.

One of the gifts in experiencing the pandemic is that everyone has been forced to slow down. 

I hope that during the time that we have been hunkered down with our families, we have also begun to notice a shift in what we think is "essential."

The reason I am addressing the difference between "making a living" and "making a life" is that what you do for a living has so much to do with whether or not you are experiencing a happy life.

When you hate your job and dread going to work, that's no way to live!

If you don't like or respect your boss or your colleagues, it is miserable. And your misery flows over into other areas of your life.

Being unhappy at work can impact your health. It can taint your relationships. It can ruin your ability to enjoy your life.

Life is too short to spend it doing something you hate.

When you start to feel that dread in the pit of your stomach on  Sunday evening before the start of a new week, it's time to start looking at your life.

What do you need to change to make that sense of dread go away?

The reality is that you probably can't just quit your job, even if you want to. You need to earn money to support yourself and your family.

But that doesn't mean you can't start exploring your options.

If you think you don't have options, you're wrong.

I encourage my clients to explore the many possibilities that are out there at the beginning of their job search. Forget about being "practical."

For now, forget about the "how" as in "How could I ever make this work?"

The first question to consider is, "What?" What do you want to do for the rest of your life?

To make the kind of change I am talking about, I encourage you to get in touch with what you wanted to do when you were young. What did you want to be when you grew up when you were five years old?

Admittedly, if you wanted to be an astronaut or a pro baseball player, it might be too late to make that change.

But there are some changes that it's not too late for, I assure you.

It's because I believe so firmly that each of us on the planet has a specific purpose and passion that light us up and make us feel fulfilled, I encourage my clients to dream big and then figure out the "how."

I partner with them to help them see what is possible for them.

That's why I created my online course, "Jumpstart Your Job Search," and I updated and improved the program this year, making it the "Jumpstart Your Job Search 2.0 Program."

I am offering a discount on the program for a limited time because I know with the pandemic, lots of people are feeling financially fragile.

But I guarantee that if you have gotten tired of just making a living and you're truly ready to create a life that can not only support you financially but also fills your need for expressing your passion and purpose, it's well worth the investment.

If you want to take a look at the program's description, click here:  https://teachersintransition.com/jumpstart-your-job-search-premium-program-for-job-seekers-and-career-changers.

If you want to take advantage of the discount while it lasts, click here:  https://boitnottcoach.samcart.com/products/jumpstart-your-job-search-20-premium-program-with-individualized-support.

And if you want to talk with me about whether the program is what you need or not, click here to make an appointment:  http://kittyboitnott.coachesconsole.com/calendar.

Let's discuss your specific situation to determine if this is the right program for you.

If you have questions that can be answered in an email, feel free to let me know that too. Just reply to this message.

Until next time.

 P. S.

I offered a live webinar workshop last week which was entitled, "Start Designing Your Dream Job in a Post-Pandemic World." 

If you would like to watch the replay, it's available here:  https://event.webinarjam.com/replay/12/37l4qapf6uwf6o.