Most people do not dislike work. But many dislike the role they drifted into without ever really understanding what they were choosing.

I meet a lot of people who don’t like their jobs. When I ask them what they would rather do instead, most give the same answer. “Something creative. Something of my own. Maybe a start-up venture”

When I probe a little by asking what problems you will solve and what kind of customers would you serve, this is usually where the conversation breaks down.

Not because they are incapable but because they have never really thought it through. They do not love start-ups for the problems they try to solve. They just love the idea of a start-up. They have seen enough Instagram reels and technology trends to romanticize it.

But this is not about start-ups. It is about how poorly most of us understand what is required to make good decisions about our careers.

Psychologists call this process “unpacking” which is forcing vague aspirations into concrete details. Our brains are generally lazy, so they do not like unpacking! They imagine outcomes, not the grind that produces them. That is why so many people feel stuck.

Take another common aspiration in South Asia: leaving the country. Ask what they will do abroad if they do not have a job lined up, and the answers become just as vague. Better life, more money, fewer problems.

Unpacked, none of that survives scrutiny.

The same confusion shows up in career choices. Many people choose professions for one reason only: money. There is rarely any serious thinking about temperament, trade-offs, stress, or the kind of problems they will be solving for decades.

Even people who aspire to become CEOs often do not understand what they are signing up for. Yes, there is money, power, and influence – but there are also endless meetings, constant conflicts and zero free time. Plus, there is always a boss – no matter how high you sit on the greasy pole!

The tragedy is not that people make wrong choices. It is that they make unexamined ones. Good career decisions are not about dreaming bigger. They are about unpacking harder.

Worth thinking about 🤔