What is it all for?
Friday, October 22, 2004
Why do you get up in the morning and go to work? I had a discussion around this topic today. Do you do it because it is the path you chose and now you are stuck having to work to earn an income to support you lifestyle? Do you do it so your kids can have a better life than you had growing up? Do you do it because you really love doing what you do and the money is secondary to all that? I would really like to know.
Seriously, it seems like the majority of people who responded during the discussion said that of course it was about the money. Why else would I get up and bust my a$$ everyday.
Dang, that hurts. If you can't find enjoyment in your work, you need to find something else. Or at least work toward a bigger goal. I may follow up this post later with some of my personal thoughts on the issue. My thoughts on the matter are quite extensive so I would like to collect and organize them before posting.
Leave you thoughts in the comments section. I would like to know who you are. If you dont feel like signing up for blogger just to leave comments, then leave them anonymously and just put your name and site info at the bottom.
posted by: ndicenso @ 4:28 PM 9 Comments | Post a Comment
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i do it for the paper.
i do it because i have a mortgage that if i don't pay for i'll have problems in the future
i do it because i'm materialistic as hell and my job supports that habit.
-lang
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The job I use to have I made a lot more money at, now I make "just" enough to get by and sometimes a little extra. The difference between this job and the other (besides the green) is it has a future and involves helping people and ironically I get much more respect and gratitude from the public then I ever have before. To be completely honest, I do question why I strive for a career, is it for money or b/c it will make me happy to do what I've always dreamed of doing or will making money give me more power to do greater things? I guess the real question is, " Is it the money that makes us happy?" I like nice things and I've always been lucky to have nice things so I don't know what's it's like to not have anything, however, I've found that it's more rewarding to me to set a goal for myself and actually reach it than to have that nice pair of shoes that I can put on and take off, but my victory will never go out of style.
- RMS (sorry if comment is too long)
When I have stuff to code, I enjoy my job immensely.
When I get to do work that other people won't do because 'its busy work', I hate my job.
When I have to go through 'the process' which involves executing through 3 or 4 apps to troubleshoot some stupid random logic/server error that only exists because some idiots don't know how to implement business logic correctly, I hate my job.
It all depends on what I have to get up and go to work to do. I love the line of work I'm in, but I also hate being new/young and unable to make any real contributions to a business other than doing what someone else tells me to do.
-luke
I go to work so that I can gain the knowledge neccessary to work for myself. It's nice to have utopian ideas about enjoying what you do, but in reality, you usually have to do some crap first. Like sledding. You have to trudge up the hill before you can enjoy the icy wind in your face as you careen down a snowy embankment. Ultimately, that downhill ride I'm looking forward to is spending as much time with the people I love as possible, cause as important as money is, relationships are the only things that matter.
- chris
I work so that I have something that is mine and mine alone. I share my friends, my family, my money, my time, my everything with my husband. While I adore him and (I hope) that he adores me...I need something that belongs to only me. I feel fulfilled by my work in a way that is inexplicable. I am a teacher so there is no monetary incentive. I have the opportunity to change people's lives for the better not because I am related to them, but because we all voluntarily come into a classroom together everyday. Work gives me a confidence and clarity that I know I cannot find anywhere else. -Candice
Dream Job - what is it? My current job has been a dream, at times. But it changes, and evolves. Instead of "who moved my cheese," it should be "who moved my ladder?" I mean, four months ago, I was giddy about my job. I would get up in the morning raring to get to work. I would awake with ideas on how to solve the problems from the previous day. What a joy. Getting paid and having that much fun. But now, it is just a paycheck again. No challenge. Little, if any, use of my brain. I almost think I could do this while sleeping. Bottom line for me, it's not about the money, it's about the satisfaction of doing something you love, and making things better. However, the money is a nice byproduct.
To me work is only a means to an end - it provides for my family. I hate it that we live in a society/culture/time in history when it's par for the course to spend a third of your time earning the means to provide. It's nuts to me. I think I was meant to live in hunter/gatherer times! Don't misunderstand, I'm not saying I think we should be free of responsibility - I just think the way those responsibilities are structured is all wrong. I hate it that Dave gets a net total of 2.5 hours a day with Meridian because he's busy "providing for her". It's a total sacrifice he's making, and I appreciate it. But philosophically, ...he's providing for her materially and in my heart I know that that is far less important than the thing being sacrificed: the time. We could live on less, but somehow once you get started living a lifestyle, there you are. Change is hard. Aesop moral: Much wants more.
And I don't enjoying your work and hating that system can't co-exist. Dave LOVES his work. But he'd love it a whole lot more if he didn't have to "get up in the morning and go to work", if there was a better way to balance work and family, if he were working towards furthering his OWN creative ideas. Sure, work from home, work for yourself, etc. Those models are out there, but they each have their own complications, and aren't so easy to come by.
You made these three statements: "Why do you get up in the morning and go to work?", "it seems like the majority of people who responded during the discussion said that of course it was about the money.", "If you can't find enjoyment in your work, you need to find something else."
I think your answer doesn't address the question. Plenty of people find enjoyment in their jobs without that being the reason they go to work in the morning. Seriously, if you DIDN'T enjoy your job, would you still get up and go every morning? Of course you would because you have responsibilities, because you have to provide, because you need the money. People who are independently wealthy work for enjoyment; the rest of us work for money and hope like hell to be able to do so in a way we enjoy.
Summary: work pays the bills, provides for your lifestyle, and if you orchestrate it well provides anjoyments and achievement, but in the end is secondary to life.
Dawn
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