Work a job you love and you will never work a day in your life. We’ve all heard this old adage, I personally think this statement couldn’t be more wrong. Well, maybe it just needs some refining. I understand the utopian theory behind the statement but there should be a caveat added to it to make it relevant, or maybe even an entire rephrasing. Lets try this phrase instead- If one performs a task with the intention of obtaining money then it is money that is the only objective. Instead, perform tasks (work, job, chores) because you want to and figure out how to make money another way. lets discuss…
A fair amount of people today work to obtain money to afford the lifestyle they want, need, or are accustom to (the idea of what shapes these lifestyles is an entirely different set of thoughts..) Bottom line is we need money to survive if you want to participate in today’s societal norms. I know there are outliers that are self sustainable and have figured out how operate outside of societal norms without (or with very little) money, but I am not talking about them. The objective of this commentary is not how one obtains money or what they do with it, but the fact that it is a necessary evil today.
Once obtaining money is the objective of any task, that task becomes a job, a job with the sole purpose of obtaining money; and that is never truly fulfilling. Some folks use a coping skill in which they convince themselves they are doing something they love, and the work they perform on a daily basis is challenging, rewarding and gratifying! This may be the case for some, I am not disputing that. When this coping skill is employed, in order for the job to remain a positive experience, the end user must experience those emotions at least 20% of the time. Think of the song by Lady Ga Ga ” million reasons” she talks about the majority of the time her boyfriend sucks, he’s given her a million reasons to leave him, but he just has to give her one reason to stay. Same thing (kind of) with a job that kinda sucks (btw they all do)… why does a job that sucks 75% of the time retain people and those people hold on to the minimal redeeming qualities as reasons to stay? Well, that job provides money in return for sucking out your soul. Money that is needed to pay for stuff. What stuff? mortgage/rent, food, medical needs, material things (stuff you want or need), vacations (which are needed because your everyday life sucks due to your job most likely). I know by now if you have read this far you are thinking, this does not accurately depict me (I mean you). You might have a job you love, you work in a field you’re passionate about, its super rewarding, you even get paid a shit load of money to do it. It doesn’t even feel like work because you’re so passionate about the work you do. This commentary might not be about you… or maybe it is and you just haven’t gotten the point yet….
So being you have this amazeballs job that provides you with this sense of fulfillment and challenges your intellectual mind daily, hourly, fuck it every minute!! This job also pays you stupid amounts of cash, so much that you work your balls off so hard (mental work, not physical) that you need serious R&R and vacations (lots of them). These vacations are necessary to reground yourself and repurpose on the things that really make life worth living, like family, friends, activities you love, sunsets, sunrises, nature, etc…hold up.. you love the job, but need time away to focus on the really important things in life? You find it hard to do both at the same time? why because this job you love so much is paying you to shut them out and focus on the work. secondly, what happens if you are replaced for some reason at this job or it goes away for some reason. You created this life (that you are accustom to) that requires a decent amount of MONEY to sustain. Think your really doing the work because you love it?
Still not you? another scenario- you have this fucktastic business, it pays you great, fulfills your needs, best part is you own it.. its your business!! you can work when you want, you employ people, you are responsible for others making a living!!! hold up, you’re responsible for other peoples reliance on money now. That’s a lot of responsibility….I am not saying that responsibility is bad, quite the opposite, I think people should run toward responsibility not away from it. The point I am making is that money is still the objective even if you own a business that you are passionate about. The difference is that now you are responsible for you’re employees and their familes too.. this of course only holds true if you actually have a soul and care about people. It’s funny how so many businesses make decisions about laying off, becoming efficient, downsizing, etc.. based on the bottom line (how much PROFIT/MONEY THEY MAKE!) , not taking into account the fact that people will ultimately lose their source of income. yay for me (business owner) sucks for you (jobless worker).
let me get back on track, I started veering off in another direction…
I will rephrase the purpose statement again and read it slowly. Perform a task with the intention of obtaining money and it is money that is the only objective. Perform tasks (work, job, chores) because you want to, figure out how to make money another way.
I don’t have an answer on how to do this… its merely an observation. not even sure if its accurate. But its how I feel about doing work. Please allow me to get personal for a moment.. I left a job where I worked for a very stable company. Was there for about 14 years and held various positions. The Job paid well, nice retirement plan (company match on IRA contributions) and decent amount of vacation time. It checked a lot of boxes when evaluating job favorability by todays standards. there was something missing though. None of my coworkers were happy, I wasn’t happy. the mission statement of the company put employee happiness and fulfillment at the center of the all its decisions! how can this be? as in most companies, that is not the case in reality. Putting people at the center of all decisions is not possible when the goal of any corporation is profit. its impossible, just cannot happen. In truth it would be fiscally irresponsible to manage a business that way! I am not condemning the company or corporate structure, I just made a decision one day to not be a part of it any more. so what did I do next? I went to work in a place I spend most of my time outside of working hours (and sometimes during working hours), at an ice rink!! I play a lot of hockey and I’m crazy passionate about the sport, culture and the people I have met through the game. I made my first decision to leave my last job (the good stable unfulfilling one) based on personal happiness, not monetary. I made my next decision, to go work at an ice rink based on personal happiness, not monetary gains as well. This was a lifestyle change. A big one. I cut my household income in HALF! I consider myself a logical thinker as well as a planner, so before I made this decision I understood that in order to make this work I would have to be ok with modifying my lifestyle (spending habits). I needed to be able to make spending decisions based on value to which it brought to my happiness not frivolous spending. I have modified my expectations and have found I’m ok with eliminating the things I have ultimately done without! The first observation I made when altering my spending habits is that money is a drug… a powerful one. we feel we need to make more money so we can buy things, buying these things help fill a void in our life. If your not happy, just buy something! it makes you feel better for a moment… this is a consumer culture. this culture is engrained in the fabric of our society. we are force fed it from birth! we are also told that we should be a part of it. Its normal, everyone is doing it! I’m gonna put a bow on this commentary right here. I’ll pause for a moment and let this sink in, actually I need to get ready to go to the rink on my day off, I’m playing hockey.. I actually playeveryday now. I also happen to get paid when I go to the rink, but that’s not why I go. I go to the rink because I love being around a place that brings me enjoyment. Also I get fulfillment through the job I do because I can elevate the quality of the rink itself through proper maintenance of the place. The maintenance of the facility is a tangible thing that translates into enjoyment not only for me and my friends, but for the many people that use the place year round. I do it because I enjoy it, they just happen to pay me…ill start to worry when I think to myself “I wish I got paid more…”