Is a job just a job?

[lrose]

It seems like I hear both sides of this argument in about equal portions:

You should spend your time and energy focusing on something that is personally fulfilling and meaningful to you - find your life's purpose and coordinate your career to achieve that purpose.

or...

A job is just a job. Very few people are completely happy and satisfied in their careers. It's mostly a way to pay the bills and pay for the things you enjoy in life.

Any thoughts on this? Is it wishful thinking to want to have personally fulfilling work to do? Or is the answer to make any career situation fulfilling by finding meaning and achievement in ANY work?

Thanks for your thoughts!

[Steve Pavlina]

"Just a" is for describing a roll of dental floss, not a career.

Suppose you work 40 hours a week x 50 weeks a year x 45 years. That's 90,000 hours total.

I don't know about you, but I certainly wouldn't want to devote 90,000 hours of my life to anything that started with the words, "just a." For that amount of time, it had better elicit a "Wow!" at the very least.

[Epistis]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

"Just a" is for describing a roll of dental floss, not a career.

Suppose you work 40 hours a week x 50 weeks a year x 45 years. That's 90,000 hours total.

I don't know about you, but I certainly wouldn't want to devote 90,000 hours of my life to anything that started with the words, "just a." For that amount of time, it had better elicit a "Wow!" at the very least.

Excellent, Steve! Wordsmith extraordinaire!

[wilsonng]

Heres my take:

As an employer, I had always thought, and this myth has always been peddled, that a company should focus on making the employee happy, then he will work hard and be productive.

This is a persistent myth, and I think it is NOT true. After years of working with people convinces me that what the company should primarily focus on is to make the employee useful and productive. When he is productive, and feels he is doing something worthwhile, and contributing to his team or company, he will be fulfilled AND happy.

A happy employee is just well, happy. But just because you make him happy, don't expect that he will be productive!

No, in a sense, looking for happiness in a job is not going to work. and you are right, few people are completely happy with their job. I think they are looking for the wrong things. What you should look for in a job should be
be seful, productive and contribute. I believe in all of us, there is an innate sense of self worth that finds fulfillment in being able to give.

[Baltar]

Originally Posted by lrose

Any thoughts on this? Is it wishful thinking to want to have personally fulfilling work to do? Or is the answer to make any career situation fulfilling by finding meaning and achievement in ANY work?

Steve pretty much summed up my take on the whole issue. Why even consider settling for anything short of "wow"? You're going to die eventually anyway, so why not make the most of your life while you're here? In 100 years when you're dead, it's not going to matter if you chose to settle for mediocrity or went for the "wow" in life. But it does matter right now.

The reason you hear different opinions about the issue is because people speak from their values. You have to understand what your values are in order to understand what's right for you. In reality there is no right or wrong choice, just different values. Some people's top values include stability and security, and they're likely to tell you that it's necessary to give up things like passion and freedom in exchange for safety. Those whose top values include passion, freedom and courage are likely to take risks to be able to do the "wow" things in life.

Let me give you an example. At one time I had a friend who I went to college with. We had very similar values when we were in college, but toward the end I started changing. During his last semester in college he got an internship at the UPS IT department. When he graduated, they hired him fulltime. I on the other hand couldn't find a job for about six months after college. I went through many interviews, and then at one point I got hired for a low paying position.

During the mandatory training I was invited to an interview at another company, which offered me a job that paid almost twice as much, so I took it. Right before I started this job I went to another interview, for a job I really wanted. When I got an offer there (which again had an increase in salary) I left the second job I started in that month and finally got what I wanted -- C++ Software Engineer position. Right out of college, without any previous programming job experience (I had plenty of personal experience though, and they could see this).

I left that job less than half a year after starting it, because I realized that ultimately a job isn't for me. But the reason I'm telling you this story is that my friend who was working at UPS remained in the IT department for like two years before he finally got transferred to do programming work. At any time he had a chance to find another job that he would've actually liked, but instead he opted to go with the safety (or perceived safety) that he already had. I on the other hand ended up hopping from job to job without knowing what would happen, but eventually getting to where he wanted to be years ahead of him. As far as I know he's still working at the same exact place right now.

[munish]

It’s like the scene in The Three Stooges where Moe tells Curly to get a job, and Curly backs away, saying, “No, please… not that! Anything but that!”

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/200...ver-get-a-job/

[lrose]

"The reason you hear different opinions about the issue is because people speak from their values. You have to understand what your values are in order to understand what's right for you. In reality there is no right or wrong choice, just different values. Some people's top values include stability and security, and they're likely to tell you that it's necessary to give up things like passion and freedom in exchange for safety. Those whose top values include passion, freedom and courage are likely to take risks to be able to do the "wow" things in life."


Baltar, this makes sense to me and is a good way of clarifying why different people have different views on the subject. Thanks -- I think in this area, like many others, I need to step back and re-examine my values/priorties/personal direction, etc.

-Leah

[marktb]

I would love to know my purpose. They say "do what you love and the money will follow", but the problem is I really dont know what I love. they only thing I really, really like is beer and helping people. I truly enjoy talking to people and helping them with relationship problems, fitness and health issues, and emotional disturbances.

I've been on a quest for a number of years trying to overcome my stuttering but haven't had much luck. I would love to overcome it, then help people overcome their own personal demons.

Mark Baldwin

[Andrew Brunelle]

If you enjoy your job and it fulfills you, then stay. If not, if you're there just because it gives you a paycheck every month, then don't stay. If you feel like you could be contributing more to the world than what you are doing right now, leave the job. BUt if the job allows you to become who you really are, I don't see a problem in staying. Most people aren't happy at their jobs, though.

People feel especially unhappy if they aren't in control, like the people in charge dictate every move they make. It takes away their individuality. It's like you are now a cog in a machine, only working when the machine is on. I am planning on becoming someone who doesn't need a 9-5 like job, someone who can be creative in his own way, someone who can work when he feels like it. BUt some people like structure. To each his own.

[Lucas]

Originally Posted by marktb

I would love to know my purpose. They say "do what you love and the money will follow", but the problem is I really dont know what I love. they only thing I really, really like is beer and helping people. I truly enjoy talking to people and helping them with relationship problems, fitness and health issues, and emotional disturbances.

Help people pick beer?

[JimOfferman]

I think that Andrew made quite an important point there, saying that staying with "just a job" is alright when it allows you to become who you really are. This is how I feel about my current job: it's a fun job, but more importantly, it enables me to invest resources into what I really love to do (make music).

[renie408]

I hate to say this, but I don't think EVERYBODY can be a rugged individualist entrepeneur. Somebody has to bag the groceries and pick up the trash. I think I agree with the comments about those who value more security and also with maybe doing something that doesn't set your heart on fire until you find something that does. I also think that attitude is everything. I have friends who are unhappy in their jobs. But then, they are unhappy in their relationships and in life in general. They are blaming the job. But that's not it. I think this because I have one friend who has changed jobs three times in the last nine years. Each time, she started off thinking that THIS was what she needed to be happier. Each time, she eventually decided that the job sucked and was making her miserable and moved on to something else. Now she has decided it is the men in her life that are the problem and is starting to rotate through a series of miserable relationships. The constant here is HER. What probably needs to happen is for her to stop looking externally for something to fulfill her and to start looking internally. I think that Steve most likely was a happy, fulfilled, forward thinking guy BEFORE he became self-employed. Now he is a happy, fulfilled, forward thinking self-employed guy. If someone is a happy, fulfilled, forward thinking person, they can be a happy, fulfilled forward thinking bag boy or garbage man. The point is to work on the INTERIOR life. In that process, a person might discover a burning desire to become a painter/journalist/food critic and may decide to do these things for added fulfillment. Or, they might find themselves completely content to securely push a pencil eight hours a day because they come to a warm and loving home every night and enjoy a rich life outside of work.

[renie408]

Originally Posted by Lucas

Help people pick beer?

I was thinking bartender. (They make good money, too!)

[Brutha]

Somebody has to bag the groceries and pick up the trash.

That may be the case at the moment, but the techniquel advancement will allow us to let robots do those jobs in 20 years or so.

[renie408]

That assumes that the local Food Lion can buy a grocery bagging robot and service it for less than it can pay a human being. And it also assumes that the public will be accepting of grocery bagging robots within 20 years.

[Erki]

What the heck is grocery bagging?

[Erin Pavlina]

Originally Posted by Erki

What the heck is grocery bagging?

Where people shop for food here is called a grocery store. There's someone in charge of putting your groceries into bags so you can carry them out more easily.

[marktb]

According to Eric Pepin of Higherbalance.com, there are white cells and red cells walking this planet. The white cells job is to awaken the red cells and the rest of the world to "IT". Obviously, Steve and Erin and everyone associcated with this site are white cells or we wouldn't be here.

Mark Baldwin

[Hugh Hollowell]

It was not that many years ago that almost everyone did, in fact, work for themselves. There is no reason why, with today's ever narrowing barriers to entry, it can not happen again.

As to working a job so you can do something you enjoy, like music... you do realize that there are musicians that get paid, right? There is no reason for settling when you can live the life you wish you had.

This is NOT a dress rehearsal. This is the main event, the big show. Life is too short for me to be an extra in someone else's movie.

[Baltar]

Originally Posted by Hugh Hollowell

It was not that many years ago that almost everyone did, in fact, work for themselves. There is no reason why, with today's ever narrowing barriers to entry, it can not happen again.

Very true! It's amazing how we have forgotten this so quickly. Before the Industrial Revolution, people typically went into farming or became a tradesman of some kind, or perhaps a merchant. Factories only became a reality in the early 19th century.

Originally Posted by Hugh Hollowell

As to working a job so you can do something you enjoy, like music... you do realize that there are musicians that get paid, right? There is no reason for settling when you can live the life you wish you had.

Another good point. Even if you never make it big with your own music, you can still work as a session musician. It's pretty much analogous to being a freelance graphic artist. You can probably do it part time while concentrating on making a living with your own music.

[Love]

Originally Posted by marktb

I would love to know my purpose. They say "do what you love and the money will follow", but the problem is I really dont know what I love. they only thing I really, really like is beer and helping people. I truly enjoy talking to people and helping them with relationship problems, fitness and health issues, and emotional disturbances.

Mark Baldwin

Maybe a bartender? Or bar owner?