Work - enjoyment vs financial compensation
Discussion
Talking to a mate yesterday and it seems he is pretty 'disillusioned' with his job. He says that he no longer has any drive for it and would quit tomorrow if he could. Driving into work can actually make him feel despressed. And it's a stressful job often involving late nights and some weekends.
Thing is, he earns pretty good money. The sort of earnings a vast majority of the country would dearly love to take home each month and it comes with all the other perks that working for a big firm offers. He has a nice house in the suburbs, a young family at home and cash in the bank each month - so that whilst not 'rich', they seem to have a good standard of living, no debt issues and ingeneral no real money troubles. Outwardly, he is considered a 'success story' by some, but their lifestyle has been built around his courrent earnings and he now feels 'trapped'. Could he transfer his skills to something else? Dare say he could, but unlikely he could earn his current wage in the short term. In his own words he's 'worked hard to climb the ladder only to get near the top and realise it's the wrong ladder'
I think there are two ends of the spectrum on this one:
On one hand:
A man with a family does what he has to do - plenty woked in coalmines their whole lives to feed their loved ones and working in coalmines couldn't have been pleasant.
If you don't like your well-paid job, then so what. It's well paid. Do it 9-5 and then enjoy your life the rest of the time. Work to live, don't live to work.
The grass is always greener. Plenty would kill for your job, so have a word in your own ear and just get on with it.
On the other hand:
Life is too short to hate what you do. Some people cannot seperate out their lives so simplistically and hence an unhappy work life can lead to an unhappy homelife. And that is not good as it impacts loved ones.
Find out what will make you happy and fulfilled and work towards doing that. Even if it means lowering your lifestyle. Your family would prefer a happy you in a smaller house.
Being happy is the most important thing in the world.
The answer for most probably lies somewhere in the middle of the tow extremes. My only advise was to try and get back in touch with what it was he liked about his career in the first place and attempt to rekindle his passion for his job.
Anyway, what say you?
Anyone else been in a similar situation?
Thing is, he earns pretty good money. The sort of earnings a vast majority of the country would dearly love to take home each month and it comes with all the other perks that working for a big firm offers. He has a nice house in the suburbs, a young family at home and cash in the bank each month - so that whilst not 'rich', they seem to have a good standard of living, no debt issues and ingeneral no real money troubles. Outwardly, he is considered a 'success story' by some, but their lifestyle has been built around his courrent earnings and he now feels 'trapped'. Could he transfer his skills to something else? Dare say he could, but unlikely he could earn his current wage in the short term. In his own words he's 'worked hard to climb the ladder only to get near the top and realise it's the wrong ladder'
I think there are two ends of the spectrum on this one:
On one hand:
A man with a family does what he has to do - plenty woked in coalmines their whole lives to feed their loved ones and working in coalmines couldn't have been pleasant.
If you don't like your well-paid job, then so what. It's well paid. Do it 9-5 and then enjoy your life the rest of the time. Work to live, don't live to work.
The grass is always greener. Plenty would kill for your job, so have a word in your own ear and just get on with it.
On the other hand:
Life is too short to hate what you do. Some people cannot seperate out their lives so simplistically and hence an unhappy work life can lead to an unhappy homelife. And that is not good as it impacts loved ones.
Find out what will make you happy and fulfilled and work towards doing that. Even if it means lowering your lifestyle. Your family would prefer a happy you in a smaller house.
Being happy is the most important thing in the world.
The answer for most probably lies somewhere in the middle of the tow extremes. My only advise was to try and get back in touch with what it was he liked about his career in the first place and attempt to rekindle his passion for his job.
Anyway, what say you?
Anyone else been in a similar situation?
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