Fun Jobs Project

From artists to airline pilots, interns to entrepreneurs, and swim coaches to deep sea fisherwomen, meet ordinary people who have all done something extraordinary – they found meaning and happiness in their work. Discover how and be inspired to find your own work happiness.

Nina the Makeup Artist and more

How well does your job fit you? We give high importance in meaningful work research to the concept of authenticity. There are literally thousands of self-development books dedicated to being authentic, and the inspirational quotes are all over social media encouraging us to be our true selves at work. It normally goes like this:  1.

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Ben the Performer

How would you describe your relationship with work? Do you feel like one of those couples in new infatuations where it’s all love heart emojis, public displays of affection, and big sloppy kisses? Or do you feel like you’re simply going through the motions to pay the bills? Many of us have been told subtly

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Otto’s First Job

Why do you work? That’s a question I often use to open my workshop and keynotes. It’s a question we so rarely stop to deeply think about. Over the years I’ve heard nearly all of the answers but here are the most common. Money! To have a reason to get out of the house! To

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A weekend in the Vienna State Opera

I don’t know about you but I REALLY struggle with repetitive tasks. I quit the gym mid-workout (3 sets of 12 reps of bicep curls or something equally boring – no muscles are worth it!), I quit piano lessons when I was kid (scales for a WHOLE hour on a sunny day), and spectacularly quit

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Nick the Extra

Name: Nick From: Ukraine Living: Vienna for 1 year  Role in the opera: Extra.  Current Opera Character: Soldier in Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro” Why do people go to the Opera? Some go simply for the music, others love the acting, many love the costumes and the sense of drama. For every opera lover there

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What are your three words for this week?

Bratwurst, urbanism, sunrise… What are your three words for this week? Recently I watched the 90s movie “Before Sunrise” for the first time. Wow! It’s AWESOME! It’s about two people who meet on a train and spend a day wandering around Vienna. It’s romantic. It’s beautiful. I absolutely loved it.  (Spoiler alert) in the movie

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What will you bring home with you from work today? 

A funny story of laughs with your coworkers? A sense of satisfaction for achieving something? Perhaps even joy from working on something you love?  When I was working towards a burnout, I was regularly bringing home stress, anxiety, worry, snappiness, disconnection, and problems that kept me awake at night.  As I slid fully into burnout,

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Newsflash: I mess up all the time. 

As a recovering perfectionist it’s  not easy to admit that. Just writing those words causes a physical reaction. This was one significant factor that led to burnout.  Working as an extra in the Vienna State Opera has given me the opportunity to challenge this and other work traits. It’s turned into “the fun jobs project”.

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What do you do to de-stress?

Even the most fun jobs can be stressful. Sure, my job as an Extra is not as stressful as Management Consulting, Brain Surgery, or being a front line Emergency Doctor, but there is pressure to get productions “perfect” before premiere, and there is pressure to perform. I’ve noticed that it affects people in different ways. 

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