Your Dream Job is Probably Wrong.

From the outside, I have a badass job. Designing cutting edge aircraft concepts at one of the best aircraft companies in the world, I get a lot of different reactions from people when they see or hear about what I do:

"They pay you how much to do this?" 

"I wish I could do this everyday. How did you end up here?"

or, the one that I laugh the most at: 

"Does it get tiring not having to do any real work?"

I get it, it sounds great. But after designing aircraft day in day out for a couple years now, I can tell you it's not a cake walk. And scarily, it's actually not as rewarding as I thought it would be. My bosses keep me on a very short leash to the point that I feel like I can't think for myself, work is almost always last minute demands, and the scope of the projects are constantly in flux to the point that I feel like I'm chasing one of those motorized rabbits in a greyhound race.

The biggest problem though, by a country mile, is the lack of fulfillment I feel. Rather than create cutting edge designs that really change things, I've discovered I'm just the next generation of an aircraft designer making incremental improvements.

Colin, why are you whining like a child to me about this? Because I want you to understand that some dream jobs aren't all they're made out to be. Something that seems AMAZING can actually be the complete opposite of what you actually want to do. And when that happens, the worst possible thing you can do with your life is to keep doing it.

What I'm doing, and what I want you to do is stop dreaming about your dream job. Start thinking about it. Not "someday", but tonight. Go on LinkedIn and Facebook. Find people that have the occupation that you're shooting for, and research how they're doing. Is that what you really want? Ask Quora or Reddit: "What's it like doing X?" You'll either find out that it's great and you'll be motivated to get moving, or you'll find out that your dream job is actually not that great. Either way, time to get moving!