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It may well be for you, and many. You can be smug about it if you like, but someday you'll realize that you expend about half your life on "nothing."
It's not "nothing"; it's a way to pay for life's expenses. Because nothing in life is free. You can work, open a business, sell drugs, scam people, or steal. Most people choose to work.
Once upon a time I was guilty of of that as well. I've been following a very similar philosophy for the past several years, and I am far better off for it.
I find it sad how many people define themselves by their job, and how their identity is defined by it. Putting their heart and soul into a company who views him or her as nothing more than a resource to be disposed of once they become too old, too "expensive", or becomes the convenient target of the boss who woke up in a foul mood one day.
I don't live to work, I work to live.
I am NOT what I do for a living.
My identity comes from who I am and what I do OUTSIDE of the workplace.
Work is a means to an end, nothing more, nothing less.
The opposite extreme isn't the best either, though (this is about balance). There's nothing wrong with enjoying your job. A great goal is to make money doing something you honestly enjoy. "Working to live" is depressing.
That being said, as long as you work for someone else, work should at times be viewed as a business transaction, to the extent you have to be at a job you don't enjoy. Don't put too much emotion into your job, but on the other side of the coin, if a person goes through live not enjoying what they do 8 hours/day, five day/week for 40 years, that's somewhat depressing as well.
It's not "nothing"; it's a way to pay for life's expenses. Because nothing in life is free. You can work, open a business, sell drugs, scam people, or steal. Most people choose to work.
Which is a slightly different topic than where this started - "choosing to work" is not the same as "it's no defining part of me."
Pretty sad viewpoint, though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lekrii
The opposite extreme isn't the best either, though (this is about balance). There's nothing wrong with enjoying your job. A great goal is to make money doing something you honestly enjoy. "Working to live" is depressing.
Agreed on all four. Not everyone gets to do a job they enjoy, but compartmenting half your life into a grind for enough moola to buy the next hot pair of Air Jordans seems pretty grim.
Yes, this is true. However, it can be hard NOT to get emotionally involved as it's where you spend a large percentage of your waking hours and humans are social beings, so it's hurtful to be excluded, bullied, ostracized, passed over, witnessing favoritism, cliques, etc...
It's almost like you have to turn yourself into a robot and numb all emotions in order to deal with the workplace. Then you can just go in, do the work and collect the paycheck.
You basically summed up what I was going to say, so no need to repeat.
I think some people can turn it off a lot easier than others. Some people view work as the simple transaction explained in the OP. Others view it as a sense of purpose, paired with goals of progression into a higher societal status. After all, what you are paid affords you a more financially lucrative lifestyle. For the latter, those people tend to get more emotionally involved with their work/job/employer/etc.
The difference is akin to this scenario:
Scenario A: Are you a grocery bagger who's goal at work is to compete you tasks at work between your 8-hour shift, and then go home and not even think about work again?
Scenario B: Or are you a junior associate at a firm who has their eye on making it to senior management one day?
The person from Scenario B is more likely to be emotionally invested in their work environment that person from Scenario A.
Last edited by Sir Quotes A Lot; 01-07-2019 at 02:54 PM..
I do think you have to differentiate between a commodity, subsistence "job" and a career job. No one is going to get pumped over bagging groceries or flipping burgers, but no one should spend a career where they're walking dead until 5:00.
I do think you have to differentiate between a commodity, subsistence "job" and a career job. No one is going to get pumped over bagging groceries or flipping burgers, but no one should spend a career where they're walking dead until 5:00.
Yep. At the end of the day, I think it's what you want to make of it. There is not necessarily a right or wrong way. It's based on your preference and life goals.
Yep. At the end of the day, I think it's what you want to make of it. There is not necessarily a right or wrong way. It's based on your preference and life goals.
Well, I take it further: the entire drive to work has to be balanced against the base reasons for doing so, and against life options that too many are willing to discard for precisely the sour, negative reasons outlined by the OP.
Nearly all people can do better - but it's not a narrow matter of "being paid for something you love" vs "bring home some GD money so I can go skiing again."
If its not profitable to do what you do, then find some other occupation or a way to make it work.
Its not up to the employer to pay you a so called living wage: its up to you to earn the wage you desire. If that means leaving a low paying job or bettering your skills, then you must step up.
There are times I have left a job that just wasn't worth the time invested vs the compensation.
Time is the same regardless if you're rich and poor: They all have 24 hours in a day.
Your time is money, don't waste it.
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