Today is January 28 and the Navigate the Chaos question to consider is “How many dreams do you have?
The phrase dream job has entered our career language recently and it suggests that there is just one job perfectly suited for each person.
But how realistic is that?
A dream job is often based on what psychologists call affective forecasting.
According to Lisa A Williams, a professor of psychology at University of New South Wales in Sydney, affective forecasting is “how people predict they will feel” in a particular circumstance.
When you label a specific position a dream job you are in effect predicting that you will be happy once you land that position.
Can you honestly tell yourself that you know all of the factors involved with a position well enough to label it a dream job?
In their pursuit people often fail to consider the downsides, hidden costs, and extra work involved with securing a dream job.
As one observer noted "People are generally not as happy as they expected they would be when they achieve their goals.”
One of the many reasons involved with this is because people fail to see life as John Gardner described it in his famous 1990 speech “Life is…an endless process of self-discovery, an endless and unpredictable dialogue between our own capacities for learning and the life situations in which we find ourselves.”
Those who navigate the chaos often believe in a process more than specific goals. That allows them to always have something to work towards.
Another approach is to have as many goals as you need two lifetimes to achieve. Ted Turner knows this perhaps better than anyone.
Ted Turner’s father echoed such sentiment when he told Ted Jr. “Son, you be sure to set your goals so high that you can’t possibly accomplish them in one lifetime. That way you’ll always have something ahead of you. I made the mistake of setting my goals too low and now I’m having a hard time coming up with new ones.” Shortly thereafter Ted’s father committed suicide.
When you achieve your goals what do you do? How do you respond?
Just as there is no one dream job; dream house or dream anything, realize that life is an endless process of self-discovery. Doing so just may allow you to navigate the chaos.
As you go about your day, consider asking yourself how many dreams you have?