Work - enjoyment vs financial compensation
Discussion
WorAl said:
mchammer89 said:
Marty Funkhouser said:
I handed my notice in on my 14 year old 9-5 desk job last Friday. In August I'm off travelling for a month (cant afford any longer) before starting a law conversion course in September. I have no idea if it will work out but I do know that I hate every minute of my current job and I would kick myself every day if I didnt try something different.
Good luck!I agree for both sides of this argument.
I have a part-time job which pays for 2 hours work what my day job pays in 2 days almost!
But if i was getting paid ridiculous money to do something that was boring i'd do it.
Why? For the cash, as if i'm earning top money i won't have to do it for as long as i would a job i enjoy for the same financial benefits.
I have a part-time job which pays for 2 hours work what my day job pays in 2 days almost!
But if i was getting paid ridiculous money to do something that was boring i'd do it.
Why? For the cash, as if i'm earning top money i won't have to do it for as long as i would a job i enjoy for the same financial benefits.
WorAl said:
DangerousMike said:
WorAl said:
only joking V8.I have thought long and hard about the business thing though and at least I'll be able to do what I want to do, I need to be in control, I'm not good at being led.
DangerousMike said:
i work as a research scientist in a university, I'm pretty young so early in my career, but am looking to become an academic with my own research group.
the pay is s
t.
I love what I do though - where else could I investigate interesting scientific stuff and get paid to do it? If I worked in industry all of my research would have to be directed towards a defined end product - anything, no matter how interesting, not related to that would be discarded. Even better, once you are an academic you have a fairly free hand in what you choose to do, how you run your group, etc.
I often cna't wait to get to work to check some data or see the results of experiments that I have run overnight. I often think about my research away from work, infact my best ideas normally come when I am walking/getting to/from work, or especially in the shower. I don't consider going to work to be work
mmmmm once you have to sit through and do some of the crap you'll change your tune the pay is s
t.I love what I do though - where else could I investigate interesting scientific stuff and get paid to do it? If I worked in industry all of my research would have to be directed towards a defined end product - anything, no matter how interesting, not related to that would be discarded. Even better, once you are an academic you have a fairly free hand in what you choose to do, how you run your group, etc.
I often cna't wait to get to work to check some data or see the results of experiments that I have run overnight. I often think about my research away from work, infact my best ideas normally come when I am walking/getting to/from work, or especially in the shower. I don't consider going to work to be work
academe is mad - you get recruited for being great in the lab then as a full time academic your job morphs into sitting at a desk and it takes enormous will and effort to avoid being totally desk bound.... how I regret saying the things I did as a PhD and post doc about my bosses then... now I know.
I get paid a relative pittance for someone working in London, but I'm pretty much the only person out of my group of friends who loves their job. They all earn much more than me (variously doing legal/share dealing/software engineering things) but I get to harp on about how much I like my job. It could only be better if I got to do it somewhere other than London, got paid more, or got to do it on a motorbike.
Matt UK said:
Life is too short to hate what you do.
Just that.Life is not something to achieve but a mystery to unravel. Nothing that you can achieve outside of yourself can ever provide the internal oneness, harmony and balance that developing a relationship with yourself can create.
Never put money and wealth at the centre of your life. It will poison and rot everything around, including you.
Edited by jackal on Tuesday 4th May 23:16
jackal said:
Matt UK said:
Life is too short to hate what you do.
Just that.Most of my working life has been an absolute privelidge. The things i've done and seen and been a part of, the way i've earnt money .. well often i've had to pinch myself and remind myself that this is work.
Never chase the money or place money at the centre of your world. It will eventually poison everything around it and financial wealth is something quite hollow, empty and meaningless once you reach it. The problem is most people really have to find that out for themselves.
The other thing is, wealth is self-perpetuating. The more you have the more you want and you'll never be happy. Far better to step off the merry go round completely and its amazing how little you do actually need when you clear out all the crud in your life.
Or put another way: Life is not something to achieve but a mystery to unravel.
Edited by jackal on Tuesday 4th May 23:14
How much more comfortable would be the mysteries of life unravelled than from the rear seat of the chauffered Phantom as opposed to the roughshod back of a grumpy camel.
Surely the 'trick' in life is to get paid a lot for what you have passion for
physprof said:
mmmmm once you have to sit through and do some of the crap you'll change your tune
academe is mad - you get recruited for being great in the lab then as a full time academic your job morphs into sitting at a desk and it takes enormous will and effort to avoid being totally desk bound.... how I regret saying the things I did as a PhD and post doc about my bosses then... now I know.
I am actually quite up for that bit - much prefer looking at results to doing experiments academe is mad - you get recruited for being great in the lab then as a full time academic your job morphs into sitting at a desk and it takes enormous will and effort to avoid being totally desk bound.... how I regret saying the things I did as a PhD and post doc about my bosses then... now I know.
what i wrote originally does sound a bit naive but don't worry, going into it with my eyes open.
jackal said:
Life is not something to achieve but a mystery to unravel. Nothing that you can achieve outside of yourself can ever provide the internal oneness, harmony and balance that developing a relationship with yourself can create.
Never put money and wealth at the centre of your life. It will poison and rot everything around, including you.
Never put money and wealth at the centre of your life. It will poison and rot everything around, including you.
drivin_me_nuts said:
It is entirely possible to have your cake and eat it; to have enough money that you stop even thinking about it and enjoy your life for what it is.
I agree it is possible, but it takes discipline and wisdom. Wealth is a tool of freedom, but the pursuit of wealth is the way to slavery.drivin_me_nuts said:
I'm not convinced at all that you have to step off the merry-go-round as you put it to be happy.
I didn't really mention happiness. Happiness is the being in the moment to moment relation to the self. That's all it is and it includes all the pain as well as the joy. It's not a position or a place that you arrive at or attain and it's certainly nothing to do with money or anything tangible outside of the self.jackal said:
I didn't really mention happiness. Happiness is the being in the moment to moment relation to the self. That's all it is and it includes all the pain as well as the joy. It's not a position or a place that you arrive at or attain and it's certainly nothing to do with money or anything tangible outside of the self.
jackal said:
Never put money and wealth at the centre of your life. It will poison and rot everything around, including you.
[/footnote]
Very profound.[/footnote]
I think a lot of people find that when they do what they love they become more economically wealthy as well as spiritually wealthy. Probably because when you really enjoy what you do, doing more work is enjoyable and broadly speaking more work = more money.
Manks
DangerousMike said:
WorAl said:
DangerousMike said:
WorAl said:
only joking V8.I have thought long and hard about the business thing though and at least I'll be able to do what I want to do, I need to be in control, I'm not good at being led.
Pat H said:
DangerousMike said:
WorAl said:
DangerousMike said:
WorAl said:
only joking V8.I have thought long and hard about the business thing though and at least I'll be able to do what I want to do, I need to be in control, I'm not good at being led.
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