184: Why Choosing Your Work Feels So Hard

2026
Written By Kathy Oneto

Overview

We’re often given simple models for navigating work: follow your passion, find your purpose, do what you love. But the truth is, the world of work was never that simple to begin with. 

In this episode, I take a closer look at why navigating work can feel so hard, and importantly, why feeling that way doesn’t mean we’re doing it wrong. Drawing on recent conversations and my ongoing research about the history of work and economics, I explore the complexity of the systems we work within, the many things work means in our lives, and the trade-offs we inevitably have to make.

I also look at the limits of career models and the weight of having more choices than ever before. Rather than searching for one perfect path, I invite you to think about your work in the context of your life right now and to embrace your agency and authorship in making choices that fit.

The world of work will keep changing. We may not control the systems we operate within, but we do have agency in how we engage with them.

Listen below or on your favorite podcast player.

184: Why Choosing Your Work Feels So Hard
The Sustainable Ambition Podcast with Kathy Oneto

Listen to the full episode to hear:

  • Why work has always been difficult and has always meant more than one thing in our lives

  • How career models like “follow your passion,” Ikigai, and “job, career, or calling” can be useful without being the whole answer

  • How to think about the tensions and trade-offs inherent in our working lives

  • My approach to attuning to yourself, adapting your work to your life, and aligning your work

  • How to embrace your agency and consciously author your working life

Resources Mentioned

Thanks for Listening!

  • Send me ideas for what you’d like to hear on the podcast, or a question that might be read and answered here on the show! Email me at podcast@SustainableAmbition.com

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Kathy Oneto
Next

183: Adam Russell on Building Better Humans in the Age of AI