Surely many remember how, as children, they organized games in accordance with the scenario of a particular professional activity. They played “to the store”, “to the hospital”, “to school”, and also explored less traditional forms of labor self-determination. It is no secret that in this way children try themselves in various professional roles, or rather, interact with ideas about them. The common point in all such games was the spontaneity with which the game began and sometimes ended quickly. In adult life, such inconstancy, to put it mildly, is not welcome. When choosing a profession/specialty/occupation, a person, as a rule, expects that this “romance” will be long-lasting and beautiful. However, among the requests with which people turn to a psychologist, dissatisfaction with their professional choice is a fairly common problem. It usually hides a number of other, more specific negative aspects. “How can I understand that I’m doing what I love?” – the question is not original, but extremely interesting for research. And, before answering it, it would be good to clarify what it actually means to do what you love. I’m sure everyone will answer it in their own way, but some commonality in the answers can still be predicted. A favorite activity/job involves stable and long-term enjoyment from the process and results of your work. In this context, everything seems quite unambiguous: if there is pleasure, I am in my place, doing what I love, if there is no pleasure, it is “not mine.” However, with this approach it is easy to fall into a trap. And that's why. It is no coincidence that I gave an example of how children play in the profession. If you imagine such a game as a linear process, you can identify the key stages. First, the child is faced with the real embodiment of this or that image of the profession in reality: when he comes with his parents to the clinic, buys groceries in the store, sits at a school desk, or watches a fire truck fly to a call. One is attracted not only by the content of the activity, but also by its external attributes - a white coat and a stethoscope, a cash register and money, chalk and a board... There is a desire to imitate, which is accompanied by a feeling of pleasure from the anticipation of the game process. Then the attributes are selected, the playing space is organized, and the game scenario is thought through. But the game itself causes boredom in the child after a short time, which is quite natural, because the final goal has been achieved - the professional role has been mastered in accordance with the existing idea about it. If a child encounters new details in playing this role in reality, he may want to play it again, but the ending will be the same - boredom, fatigue, switching to another type of activity. In adult life, this sometimes happens. A person goes through all stages of professional development, relying on his ideas about a particular activity, which include images of himself and others in a particular profession. But reality, as usual, makes its own adjustments. If the discrepancies between the idea of ​​an activity and the activity itself are significant, a crisis cannot be avoided. At this moment, a feeling may arise: “this is not mine,” “I’m doing something I don’t like,” “I’m not in the right place.” In addition, adult reality is distinguished from children's play by such a phenomenon as routine, the forced monotony of certain types of activities. The conviction that routine is not the norm inevitably leads to a decrease in motivation and the desire to escape. Finally, the most important component of the professional self-realization of an adult is recognition of his contribution and merits by others. The presence of feedback in the form of reviews, thanks, showing respect and showing interest in a person’s experience - all this naturally causes that same feeling of satisfaction that can easily be expressed in the phrase: “I’m doing what I love.” Of course, material reward and “closure of plans” are important, but.