DO YOU LOVE YOUR JOB?

January 2nd, 2025 made it exactly 3 months since I resumed my current job as a business development and relationship management officer in the pension industry in Nigeria. Just another fancy title for saying that I'm a marketer whose responsibility is the onboarding of new and existing pensionable clients to the company under which I am employed.

"What's that like?" One might ask.

"What is involved in carrying out your work duties?" This i think is a better way to rephrase the question though.

It seems like time has been moving in slow motion, and I find myself feeling surprised at how the past few months could seem to me like a year had gone by already.

To answer the question, the first thing involved in the carrying out of my work duties is primarily a hale and hearty state of mind. Devoid of sentimental biases and emotions.

It involves traveling to new and previously unexplored locations in search of prospects and clients.

It involves public speaking.

It involves dealing with deadlines and target objectives.

It involves listening attentively to what the team members, clients and prospects say.

It involves having an infinite stock of patience, because some of the people I've met while out in the field are just downright unhappy, and the crazy thing is that they will try consciously or unconsciously, to influence you with their negative energy. Reminds me of the popular saying that; "misery loves company."

It involves attending a virtual conference call with team leaders and team members of the department where I'm assigned. Every Friday of the week, at precisely 8:30 am GMT. This call can last as long as three hours on the average, and there was that one time when it lasted till about 12:57 pm GMT. Sometimes, being present at this meeting is the most depressing aspect of the job. I get the pleasure, if it can be called that, of being an audience at one of the most grilling weekly performance review I've ever experienced. The team leader interviews every member of the team one after the other about their performance report for the week, chastising those who performed badly and commending those whose performance were on par with or even exceeded their expected targets. Some weeks I get celebrated while other weeks I'm being reproached. Bottom line, the call ends with a clear and simple message. "Efforts does not count. It's results that matter." Everyone is urged to do better the coming week and on Friday the next week at precisely 8:30 am GMT, the routine is again repeated.

"Do you love your job?" One might ask still.

I've asked myself this question several times over the course of the past few months and honestly, I have come to accept that I don't know the answer to this question.

I've always felt that being an entrepreneur is the best career option for me, and like most entrepreneurs trying to start a business on their own in Nigeria, finding the adequate capital required to kick things off is next to almost impossible.

This didn't stop me though from registering my business in the year 2022, with the corporate affairs commission of Nigeria. Giving my business ideas and inspirations an identity and authorized certification that recognizes and endorses my business operations within the geographical boundaries that represents the territories of my beloved country Nigeria.

I dream dreams of being successful in my business operations and have always over the years nursed lovingly, the ideas and inspirations that led me to the creation of my business enterprise. Soon to be empire. I am quite committed to seeing these dreams realized in my lifetime and I am consistently investing what little revenue I can sometimes barely spare, in the development of the ideas and inspirations responsible for birthing my business ambitions. The resulting creativity that ensues, brings me the desperately craved validation that in turn keeps me reassured that I am on the right track. The very motivation I need to keep me focused and consistent.

I remember how it got to a point where it became obviously evident that the revenue which I was generating from carrying out my business operations at the scale which I could afford to, would not be able to sustain the successful growth of the business, much more be enough to generate adequate profits to cater for my own personal needs. At that point, getting a job that could pay the bills and maybe leave a little something for investing in the growth of the business became the clear course of action. Of course the kind of jobs that would conveniently pay for the bills it costs for me to be alive and then leave a little something for me to invest with were not just lying about waiting for me to snatch them up. So I had to go through my fair share of moments of unemployment. Worse even was underemployment. Before I landed this present job through the help of my elder sister who had previously had contact working in the pension industry.

My job currently seems to be capable of meeting the requirements of catering for the bills it costs for me to be alive and then leaving something little for investing in my business operations.

Does that count as a reason to make me love the job?

I've kind of gotten used to the flow of the series of events surrounding the day to day life and work expectations demanded by the nature of the job, but there are times when I get totally tired of it. In these times I'm reminded of my dreams of establishing a successful business. Becoming the entrepreneur I envisioned. The CEO of my very own business company. Duplicating my success and building my business network through expansion, by creating branch offices in business viable locations across the country.

I am expected to be at my job on or before the time at 8:00 am GMT. It is roughly a 30 minutes walk from where I live.

I forgot to mention that at the start of the job, I was required to relocate from the city I previously resided in before getting the job, as I was being posted and expected to resume work in a city I had never before visited and had barely even heard of. Which I did without having any provisions being made available for the necessary migration mandated by my employment offer. In other words, my first weeks living in the new city and working at my job was simply put, hellish. And would have been impossible had it not been for the successful application of some loans which I've spent the better part of the revenue I have earned from working, trying to repay. The other part of the money I have earned so far has been spent on paying the bills it costs for me to be alive.

Surprisingly, I have had little somethings left over after all the spending had been done, to invest in the development of my business ideas and inspirations.

I even find that sometimes I enjoy the challenges posed by the very nature of the job and sometimes I get so engrossed in it that I think of nothing else for hours even.

Again I ask myself, "Do you love your job?"

Still, the answer remains that I do not know.