RE: Maybe Working for your Dreams isn’t the Answer
I was in a high pay high stress job, but in the end I had no option but to leave for my health. I ended up hating every day, and being exhausted all the time.
You are right about being sensible with how you spend, I could have easily blown my salary on stupid shit; but I knew that job wasnt going to last so I got myself financially secure as I could.
That's given me some breathing space to figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life, and to be honest, I want to be lazy.
Let me put lazy in context. I don't want to be spending 3 hours a day commuting. I don't want to have to get up at 4AM to jump on a conference call with Asia. I don't want to be in a meeting at 10PM on a Friday with the Americas. I dont want to exceed expectations every year just to be rated as having acceptable performance. I dont want to give all my energy.
I do just want to trade my time for money, in at x time, out at y time. I'm ok with performing the job to a reasonable standard, no more.
Success isn't winning or having the most money or being top dog. Success is being happy.
Thanks for the great comment. I agree, success is very personal and involves happiness. One definition that I like of it paints success as having a goal and working toward it.
I can’t imagine having the type of job that it sounds like you had. But it sounds like you were fortunate enough to make a high wage in exchange for your time and effort and wise enough not to mismanage your money and so now you are in a position to choose to exchange your time for a smaller wage and less stress.
I work six days a week and often part-time two nights a week, but according to your comment, I would categorize myself as lazy (I don’t consider that bad). My longest commute is fifteen minutes. My full-time job schedule is 8:15 to 4:00, which gives me plenty of family time. And the responsibilities are not stressful in any way. To be honest, I’m pretty happy with the job(s) that I have.
I, personally, want to get ahead a little more than I am and wouldn’t mind doing something that was a little more stimulating. My children are still young, though, so I have to base a lot of my decisions on giving them stability (at least I think I do).
This piece is trying to explore the divide that some people straddle between doing what they really love to do and either just getting by, or failing to make it (as a business, as an artist, etc), and the alternative that is often portrayed as the only one: working a job one doesn’t like to make the money to pay the bills.
Im being a bit harsh with the lazy description, but it reminds me not to slip back into old habits. You arent lazy; having kids, a full time job and a part time job is no joke, just learn from my lesson and make sure you dont over commit.
I took no offense to it. I was just rolling with your perspective and thinking that I’ve got something pretty good going. For now anyway. My main job offers absolutely no room for growth. There are no promotions and no raises. I can always continue my part-time work and other activities like Steemit though, and make my own bonuses in that way. I’m just trying to protect myself from being too comfortable and not having enough of a financial cushion for the future (should I suddenly lose my job for some reason, or some other catastrophe). Opposites are interesting, aren’t they?