I read a lot of philosophy and psychology.
I am not a big fan of Freud. Jung is more on point.
And yet, Freud made one deceptively simple observation that continues to hold up remarkably well:
The two most important pillars of a person’s life are love and work.
At Career Counseling Connecticut, we would add an important caveat: Freud failed to adequately address meaning. But even with that omission, his insight provides a powerful framework for understanding why so many successful, intelligent, and capable adults feel quietly dissatisfied in their careers.
Why Career Dissatisfaction Is Rarely “Just About the Job”
Most people who come to us for career counseling in Connecticut do not present with superficial problems. They are not lazy, confused, or unrealistic. On the contrary, many are accomplished professionals—teachers, engineers, attorneys, healthcare workers, managers—who have followed a responsible path and “done everything right.”
Yet something feels off.
Freud’s formulation helps clarify why. If work occupies one of the two central pillars of adult life, then dissatisfaction at work is not a minor inconvenience. It is an existential problem. When work lacks alignment, autonomy, or purpose, it quietly erodes well-being—no matter how stable or respectable the role may appear from the outside.
This is why career dissatisfaction often shows up indirectly:
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Low-grade anxiety on Sunday evenings
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Chronic fatigue that rest does not fix
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Irritability or emotional flatness
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A sense of being “trapped” despite objective success
These are not signs of weakness. They are signals that one of the major structural supports of life is misaligned.
Where Freud Fell Short—and Where Career Counseling Must Go Further
Freud understood the importance of work, but he did not adequately address why work matters beyond economic survival or psychological structure. This is where modern career counseling must go further.
Human beings are not merely motivated by pleasure, security, or status. We are meaning-seeking creatures. Work is not simply a way to earn money—it is one of the primary ways adults:
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Express competence
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Experience contribution
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Develop identity
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Feel useful and needed
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Translate values into action
When work lacks meaning, people often compensate unconsciously—through overworking, numbing distractions, or resigning themselves to quiet dissatisfaction.
At Career Counseling Connecticut, we view career development not as job placement, but as life architecture.
Our Philosophy: Happy Work Is Not Accidental
Finding fulfilling work is not a matter of luck or personality tests alone. It requires structured self-examination, realistic experimentation, and honest assessment of constraints.
Our work with clients across Connecticut consistently focuses on four core questions:
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What kind of problems do you want to solve?
(Not what job titles sound impressive.) -
How much autonomy, structure, and social interaction do you truly need?
(Not what you think you should want.) -
What trade-offs are you willing to make—and which ones are non-negotiable?
(Every career involves compromise; unhappy ones involve the wrong compromises.) -
What would meaningful progress look like in the next 6–18 months?
(Career change is almost always staged, not abrupt.)
This approach reflects a reality Freud intuited but did not articulate: work must support both psychological stability and existential coherence.
Love, Work, and the Modern Career Crisis
Freud’s pairing of love and work remains instructive today—especially in an era where work increasingly crowds out everything else. Many professionals in Connecticut come to us feeling successful yet disconnected: from their families, from their values, or from themselves.
When work is misaligned, it often spills over into relationships. When relationships are strained, work becomes either an escape or an additional burden. The two pillars are not independent; they reinforce—or undermine—each other.
This is why effective career counseling cannot be reduced to résumés, networking tactics, or salary negotiations alone. Those tools matter, but they are secondary. The primary task is alignment.
A Final Thought
Freud was wrong about many things. He underestimated human transcendence and overlooked the central role of meaning. But he was right about this:
If work is broken, life is unstable.
At Career Counseling Connecticut, our goal is not simply to help clients find “better jobs.” It is to help them construct work lives that support dignity, engagement, and long-term well-being—so that one of life’s two great pillars is no longer a source of quiet suffering, but a foundation for a life well lived.
If you are successful on paper but dissatisfied in practice, you are not alone—and you are not imagining things. You may simply be paying attention to a signal worth taking seriously.