How to Find Your Dream Job

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Lose the blue-collar complex 
Were you one of those working-class kids whose parents warned you to shut up, keep your nose clean, and keep punching the clock—the not-so-subtle subtext being that real fulfillment on the job isn't in the cards for the likes of us (i.e., you)? Well, you're as entitled to great work as the laptop-and-cappuccino people. So what if you didn't go to Harvard? You can go to the library, get on the Net, use the phone, and build as good a network as they've got. And you're probably hungrier and tougher than they are. Go for it.

Develop a spiritual life
Your search for fulfilling work is a wager that, if you do your part, the universe will provide what you need so that you can use your energy meaningfully and joyfully. Spiritual and religious traditions generally combine a doctrine of individual worth with a sense of humility and awe before the paradoxical face of reality. A spiritual life will help you feel the dignity of your quest and find meaning in its twists, turns, stops, and starts. And leaving its outcome in the hands of a power greater than yourself is the best way to make sure you do your part, daily, toward your dream.

Jon Spayde is a contributing editor of Utne Reader, a journalism teacher, and a fiction writer who is pursuing a long-repressed desire to do performance art.

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