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?
for what it's worth, I make very little for what I do, i.e. I could be making a lot more, but at the same time I really enjoy it, but then I also do monday-friday 9-5 no overtime, no weekends, and really easy going management and colleagues, conversely my last job paid around 25% more but I frequently say 60-90 hour weeks and everyone was miserable and stressed out all the time...
Matt UK said:
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.
If he's not happy with that, he won't be happy with anything. I suspect there are quite a lot of people who would like to be in his position right now.Stupidlikeafox said:
Matt UK said:
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.
If he's not happy with that, he won't be happy with anything. I suspect there are quite a lot of people who would like to be in his position right now.There is more to life than money - health and happiness are two which spring instantly to mind.
SystemParanoia said:
work is just that.. work.
not to be enjoyed, thats wht your pay is for, to allow you to enjoy your off time.
yeah, he can quit and become an aussie surfer bum, but he will no longer have the money to maaintain all the other things he enjoys.
Money > Fun job
Feck me, you spend most of your life working, if you don't enjoy what you do its going to be a long ol life. Sometimes its not what you do that can affect your enjoyment of work, but the environment. Can you change that?not to be enjoyed, thats wht your pay is for, to allow you to enjoy your off time.
yeah, he can quit and become an aussie surfer bum, but he will no longer have the money to maaintain all the other things he enjoys.
Money > Fun job
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
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
I was in exactly the same position myself. I had a salary that was multiples of the "national-average" but I HATED what I did. Similarly, my life-style expanded to fill the pay-packet meaning whilst I earnt a lot, I spent a lot. I decided that this wasn't for me and bought a pub. Unfortunately, and typically for me, rather than plan and save and be calm and measured about it, I just jumped in with both feet.
Now. It's the best thing I've ever done, IMO. I love it. However, because of the afforementioned lack of planning, my old life-style and it's encumbent debts caught up with me. I'm therefore back working in the type of job I used to do in order to "get myself out of the mess". The major difference is, though, that I'm doing it with an end in sight. Once my debts are clear and I have built up some savings I intend to return to my pub full-time. This makes doing a job I detest (because I get bored very easily) that, along with commuting, takes up 60 per week, easier. The fact that I won't be doing this for the rest of my life (touch-wood) really helps.
So - I guess I'm saying, just because he earns good money he doesn't have to feel guilty about it doing nothing for him. fk what anyone else may think. It's only going to be because of themselves that they aren't in his position. He's perfectly right to want to "jump ship" and do something different. Tell him to have a read of "Rich Dad, Poor Dad". Whilst it's shmaltzy American presentation is a bit sickening, the basic message was really quite powerful to me. In short, don't climb the ladder, own the ladder. Even if it's only a 3-step one from a petrol station (to torture the analogy).
I said this on another thread on a similar topic but, sometimes, you just have to roll the dice.
But do try and get yourself in a position where you have a financial cusion. If he's on good money, this shouldn't take too long if he adjusts his current lifestyle "downwards".
Now. It's the best thing I've ever done, IMO. I love it. However, because of the afforementioned lack of planning, my old life-style and it's encumbent debts caught up with me. I'm therefore back working in the type of job I used to do in order to "get myself out of the mess". The major difference is, though, that I'm doing it with an end in sight. Once my debts are clear and I have built up some savings I intend to return to my pub full-time. This makes doing a job I detest (because I get bored very easily) that, along with commuting, takes up 60 per week, easier. The fact that I won't be doing this for the rest of my life (touch-wood) really helps.
So - I guess I'm saying, just because he earns good money he doesn't have to feel guilty about it doing nothing for him. f
k what anyone else may think. It's only going to be because of themselves that they aren't in his position. He's perfectly right to want to "jump ship" and do something different. Tell him to have a read of "Rich Dad, Poor Dad". Whilst it's shmaltzy American presentation is a bit sickening, the basic message was really quite powerful to me. In short, don't climb the ladder, own the ladder. Even if it's only a 3-step one from a petrol station (to torture the analogy).I said this on another thread on a similar topic but, sometimes, you just have to roll the dice.
But do try and get yourself in a position where you have a financial cusion. If he's on good money, this shouldn't take too long if he adjusts his current lifestyle "downwards".
SystemParanoia said:
work is just that.. work.
not to be enjoyed, thats wht your pay is for, to allow you to enjoy your off time.
yeah, he can quit and become an aussie surfer bum, but he will no longer have the money to maintain all the other things he enjoys.
Money > Fun job
My thoughts entirely. Work isn't supposed to be fun, otherwise it would be called "fun", not "work". I enjoy my job a lot, but it has taken a decade of not really enjoying work to get to that place and even then, if I could maintain my quality of life running a pub or a garage I would jump at the chance. In reality that's going to need a lottery win not to be enjoyed, thats wht your pay is for, to allow you to enjoy your off time.
yeah, he can quit and become an aussie surfer bum, but he will no longer have the money to maintain all the other things he enjoys.
Money > Fun job
Landlord said:
miniman said:
if I could maintain my quality of life running a pub or a garage
Serious question: What do you term to be "your quality of life"?And we only have a reasonably normal middle-management income.
V8mate said:
Landlord said:
miniman said:
if I could maintain my quality of life running a pub or a garage
Serious question: What do you term to be "your quality of life"?And we only have a reasonably normal middle-management income.
For me, it doesn't. I've been there and done that inflated-wage-wise however I've been there done that nothing-coming-in-to-speak-off-but-surviving. The freedom and job satisfaction from the latter easily outweighed that of the former. It's just my poor planning that has meant the ability to do the latter permanently is going to take a few more months to happen.
It's difficult. For the most part I love my job and feel that I make a difference most of the time, but it's not without hassles and odd working hours/restrictions on private life. I rarely have any sort of lunch break, and never know whether I'll finish on time, or 8 hours late.
My OH doesn't enjoy work at all, but works 9-6 Mon-Fri and very rarely stays on late, or has to work at the weekend.
It's all horses for courses really. She does her job because it's relatively "easy", if boring, and pays enough to enjoy life. I do mine because I love it.
However, given that she earns double what I do, it could be a little difficult when we come to start a family- I might have to become a house husband!
My OH doesn't enjoy work at all, but works 9-6 Mon-Fri and very rarely stays on late, or has to work at the weekend.
It's all horses for courses really. She does her job because it's relatively "easy", if boring, and pays enough to enjoy life. I do mine because I love it.
However, given that she earns double what I do, it could be a little difficult when we come to start a family- I might have to become a house husband!
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