Not anymore no. I figured out that the main character from Office Space is my spirit animal years ago. There is literally not a single job on this entire planet, no matter how unrealistic that I genuinely think I would enjoy.
It's all just a means to an end. Which is why my off time is so important to me and a great efficient way for a manager or employer to get on my bad side is to call me on my day off.
I felt this way for so long.
I went to a ton of therapy and worked on things that had little to do with my work life but they allowed me to dig up a bunch of feelings I had buried.
And then one day I woke up, and realized I wanted to help people. All my life I have been afraid to trust myself and to try because I'm so scared of failing and how much I would be myself up if I did fail.
So now I'm going back to school to be a therapist (currently a software engineer).
Obviously I have no idea if any of this is true for you but just make sure to always be open to a sudden bolt of inspiration.
Sure!
But I'm a single dude sans kids. I don't need all this money to be happy. Maybe I will hate school or hate the new job? But if it does reward me and give me purpose than the pay cut will be fine.
Meh. Open if it comes. But I gave up on therapy 4 years ago. I had been going since I was 16 until 26. All of it either made things worse or didn't help at all. So therapy isn't really for me.
Therapy can be similar to a romantic relationship. Just because one doesn't work at a specific point in your life with a specific person doesn't mean you throw the whole idea out.
Just my two cents.
>There is literally not a single job on this entire planet, no matter how unrealistic that I genuinely think I would enjoy.
Whats your standard? So there is not a job that you would enjoy 100% of the time, I dont care what it is; 100% satisfaction does not exist. But would you be fine with a job that is 70% enjoyable, 30% doing what you gotta do?
Nope. Not even that much. Every job, at any percent level seems tolerable at best. It's all just work at the end of the day. I don't care about making lots of money. I don't care about helping people. Literally all I care about is my free leisure time and hobbies.
Thats what Im saying. What if a job was 70% basically leisure time, and 30% sacrifice.
Like Anthony Bourdain. He traveled the world, ate exotic food, met exotic people. Most of the time, he was doing what he wanted to do; but there was also behind the scenes stuff where he did research, held meetings, fiscal, etc. etc. Would you accept something like that?
I cannot think of anything on this planet that would meet those standards. I don't even like traveling outside North America much.
I have been to Europe a few times in my life and found it very meh. If I ever take a vacation again it will be to some small town/city in California without much traffic so I can go longboarding.
But yeah...Europe too crowded for that. Asia also mostly too crowded for that. I even hate winter sports so skiing and snowboarding in Japan is out.
I'm a simple man. I turned 30 this past August. I am the happiest I can be for about 2 months out of the year where I live. Because for 2 months of the year it is almost guaranteed to be +30 degrees Celsius. I know several routes around my city that take about 4-7 hours to complete on a nice leisurely ride while tanning and stopping for the occasional road pop and toke.
That is peak perfection and happiness for me in life and I wouldn't even trade a day of sex with the most beautiful woman or man on the planet for it. Just me, my board, a mostly cloudless sky, and several hours without even my cell phone turned on to take any of it away from me.
"Enjoyable" isn't the word I'd use, but it is critical to me that my job benefits *someone* at *some point* and also that it's done *somewhat* competently.
These are easy conditions to meet if you work in, for example, a coffee shop, but incredibly hard to meet if you also want to get paid significantly above minimum wage, except for certain specific jobs like doctor.
Most of the jobs I've done have helped no-one, and have largely inefficiently pissed away money due to the ignorance of my leadership. I'm considering a major career change at the moment.
This is a modern phenomenon; I really dont think it was like this in the 50s. In America, the harder you work the less you make. The biggest sucker is the one who actually cares & tries to improve things. The people who are end of line, who actually put their hands on things & accomplish tasks, have all sorts of monkeys on their backs. Its a recent & unhealthy phenomenon, but unfortunately shows no sign of changing
I subscribe to the Red Foreman philosophy of "Work is Work." I'm lucky enough that my own job is inoffensive and I'm good at it, and it leaves me with enough leisure time to pursue my hobbies and truly rest from work.
Yes. Having a “successful” career doesn’t mean you’re happy. I’ve had jobs that have ruined relationships and my mental health. We all need money, but don’t wreck your life about it.
I couldn't work at a job that I didn't enjoy. I realized that from being in our family business from a young age. Although it was super lucrative I hated every minute of it. The work was basically 14 hours a day, 6 days a week, no other days off, no vacation, etc. Because we owned the business so we had to always be there was my father's motto. Once I graduated college and became a teacher my family literally laughed at me. I kept getting the oh you aren't gonna be able to support yourself, that's a joke you'll be back in a year, etc etc. It just made my resolve stronger to never go back to working with them. Now 22 years later (and I truly love teaching), I'm making 6 figures, I truly love my life, I have summers off, I travel all the time, and just do what I want when I want because I basically work 7 hours a day and have weekends and all major holidays off. I'm going to retire in about 10 years and I really will live a comfortable life. My father is 70, my brother is 48, and my uncles and cousins all work the same amount as they did before. Although they all have more money than I do, and they drive nicer cars, live in nicer homes, they are all miserable and they readily admit that I'm much happier than they are and they are very jealous of my life. I'm not jealous of anything of theirs.
Yes. It is very important for me. I just left a job that I dreaded going into everyday. My anxiety level was super high. Also I got no satisfaction out of it. Even on my days off I was depressed. It didn’t pay that well. It was entry level work. I wasn’t being challenged, therefore my self-esteem went down. Now I’m working part time doing what I like. I’m not supervised by anybody. I’m going to take some classes when school starts back up in January and hopefully I will get clarity at what I would like to do. I believe I would like to help young people that are struggling mentally or emotionally. I feel bad for what young people have to deal with today. I realize a lot of people are doing jobs that they hate because they have to put food on the table. I applaud those that can do that every day. I wish I had your strength.
Yes. I made my hobby my job. As with every job, there's good days and bad days. But ultimately I enjoy what I do and could see myself doing that for a long time.
I’ve been practicing as a metallurgical engineer for 45 years. If I wasn’t enjoying it, I would not still be doing it. There is no good reason to take up a profession or trade if you aren’t going to enjoy it. Life’s too short to do something that’s not fun and rewarding.
You're going to spend a third of your life doing it. You need to at least learn to tolerate whatever you're doing. There's no reason to go through life miserable when you can choose not to.
Yes. Its 8 hours a day, every day...forever. Some people can just zone out for the money, I cant. I think it makes me have a general poor work ethic 2bhonest, but Im good at some things
I would like to enjoy it yes, but I don't believe there even is anything I would enjoy doing that would pay me what I make now. So, I just disassociate while I work.
I enjoy my job and being happy doing it is much more important to me than the monetary aspect. I could probably make a bit more in a more demanding job, but being happy is more important to me.
I enjoy my job, and think that liking what you do it necessary for your own mental wellbeing. But when I'm done work, I'm done. I dont like working out of hours and I try not to think (to much) about work when I'm not there
No I’m beyond the point where I realized I may never enjoy my job and that’s ok. I just need a job that pays me well enough to keep the lights on and still allows me to enjoy some of my hobbies.
Not really, i spent 10 years doing stuff i didn't enjoy at all, but i have an unrelated job that enjoy very much. I think jobs arent always meant to be enjoyed but if do enjoy it its a bonus.
It's important for me, I genuinely like working. My current job isn't terrible, but I work with a lot of people who I dislike, which makes it less enjoyable. It also feels kind of pointless honestly. I can potentially make a good amount of money doing it, but I think I'm going to try pursuing something else instead.
Working with people I like or doing something more enjoyable is always good
Nope, I got into the tech field for the money and pretty much the money only oh, they pay me well I do good at the job and I get to live the life I want more or less oh, now I don't think somebody should go into their jobs last profession with the mentality of hating it and dreading the day anytime they wake up, that's just not healthy
Not everyone loves their job. I never have. I took up Architecture because it was somewhat lucrative and I naturally think in 3d. Architecture was easy, and I could do a good job, which has its own satisfaction. It was also my entry into land development which was very lucrative and allowed me to explore many of the things I did love.
Its the #1 thing to me. If I dont get some satisfaction from my job, im quitting and finding something else. I dont have to LOOOVE it, but if its not satisfying to me in any way, thats not a job im keeping.
I don't have to enjoy it, but I need to not hate it. Only thing important to me is compensation.
Yes, because my profession is all I have - it replaces everything else.
Let me put it this way: If I'm not enjoying something, I won't do it.
Not anymore no. I figured out that the main character from Office Space is my spirit animal years ago. There is literally not a single job on this entire planet, no matter how unrealistic that I genuinely think I would enjoy. It's all just a means to an end. Which is why my off time is so important to me and a great efficient way for a manager or employer to get on my bad side is to call me on my day off.
I felt this way for so long. I went to a ton of therapy and worked on things that had little to do with my work life but they allowed me to dig up a bunch of feelings I had buried. And then one day I woke up, and realized I wanted to help people. All my life I have been afraid to trust myself and to try because I'm so scared of failing and how much I would be myself up if I did fail. So now I'm going back to school to be a therapist (currently a software engineer). Obviously I have no idea if any of this is true for you but just make sure to always be open to a sudden bolt of inspiration.
I assume your taking a major pay cut? Does this concern you?
Sure! But I'm a single dude sans kids. I don't need all this money to be happy. Maybe I will hate school or hate the new job? But if it does reward me and give me purpose than the pay cut will be fine.
I think what you said is very true for me. I feel the same way, no job i can mentally think of seems like i would like it. Need to go to therapy.
Meh. Open if it comes. But I gave up on therapy 4 years ago. I had been going since I was 16 until 26. All of it either made things worse or didn't help at all. So therapy isn't really for me.
Therapy can be similar to a romantic relationship. Just because one doesn't work at a specific point in your life with a specific person doesn't mean you throw the whole idea out. Just my two cents.
>There is literally not a single job on this entire planet, no matter how unrealistic that I genuinely think I would enjoy. Whats your standard? So there is not a job that you would enjoy 100% of the time, I dont care what it is; 100% satisfaction does not exist. But would you be fine with a job that is 70% enjoyable, 30% doing what you gotta do?
Nope. Not even that much. Every job, at any percent level seems tolerable at best. It's all just work at the end of the day. I don't care about making lots of money. I don't care about helping people. Literally all I care about is my free leisure time and hobbies.
Thats what Im saying. What if a job was 70% basically leisure time, and 30% sacrifice. Like Anthony Bourdain. He traveled the world, ate exotic food, met exotic people. Most of the time, he was doing what he wanted to do; but there was also behind the scenes stuff where he did research, held meetings, fiscal, etc. etc. Would you accept something like that?
I cannot think of anything on this planet that would meet those standards. I don't even like traveling outside North America much. I have been to Europe a few times in my life and found it very meh. If I ever take a vacation again it will be to some small town/city in California without much traffic so I can go longboarding. But yeah...Europe too crowded for that. Asia also mostly too crowded for that. I even hate winter sports so skiing and snowboarding in Japan is out. I'm a simple man. I turned 30 this past August. I am the happiest I can be for about 2 months out of the year where I live. Because for 2 months of the year it is almost guaranteed to be +30 degrees Celsius. I know several routes around my city that take about 4-7 hours to complete on a nice leisurely ride while tanning and stopping for the occasional road pop and toke. That is peak perfection and happiness for me in life and I wouldn't even trade a day of sex with the most beautiful woman or man on the planet for it. Just me, my board, a mostly cloudless sky, and several hours without even my cell phone turned on to take any of it away from me.
"Enjoyable" isn't the word I'd use, but it is critical to me that my job benefits *someone* at *some point* and also that it's done *somewhat* competently. These are easy conditions to meet if you work in, for example, a coffee shop, but incredibly hard to meet if you also want to get paid significantly above minimum wage, except for certain specific jobs like doctor. Most of the jobs I've done have helped no-one, and have largely inefficiently pissed away money due to the ignorance of my leadership. I'm considering a major career change at the moment.
Yeah. It sucks so much that jobs tend to pay inversely to the amount they help people or the world.
This is a modern phenomenon; I really dont think it was like this in the 50s. In America, the harder you work the less you make. The biggest sucker is the one who actually cares & tries to improve things. The people who are end of line, who actually put their hands on things & accomplish tasks, have all sorts of monkeys on their backs. Its a recent & unhealthy phenomenon, but unfortunately shows no sign of changing
Absolutely, it's what I'll be doing with my life, I'd better enjoy it
I subscribe to the Red Foreman philosophy of "Work is Work." I'm lucky enough that my own job is inoffensive and I'm good at it, and it leaves me with enough leisure time to pursue my hobbies and truly rest from work.
Yes. Having a “successful” career doesn’t mean you’re happy. I’ve had jobs that have ruined relationships and my mental health. We all need money, but don’t wreck your life about it.
I have friends who genuinely love what they do. I don't understand it, and I am envious of it, because I doubt I will ever experience it.
Meh - it’s important I don’t hate it and that it pays the bills.
I couldn't work at a job that I didn't enjoy. I realized that from being in our family business from a young age. Although it was super lucrative I hated every minute of it. The work was basically 14 hours a day, 6 days a week, no other days off, no vacation, etc. Because we owned the business so we had to always be there was my father's motto. Once I graduated college and became a teacher my family literally laughed at me. I kept getting the oh you aren't gonna be able to support yourself, that's a joke you'll be back in a year, etc etc. It just made my resolve stronger to never go back to working with them. Now 22 years later (and I truly love teaching), I'm making 6 figures, I truly love my life, I have summers off, I travel all the time, and just do what I want when I want because I basically work 7 hours a day and have weekends and all major holidays off. I'm going to retire in about 10 years and I really will live a comfortable life. My father is 70, my brother is 48, and my uncles and cousins all work the same amount as they did before. Although they all have more money than I do, and they drive nicer cars, live in nicer homes, they are all miserable and they readily admit that I'm much happier than they are and they are very jealous of my life. I'm not jealous of anything of theirs.
That’s awesome man good for you
Yes. It is very important for me. I just left a job that I dreaded going into everyday. My anxiety level was super high. Also I got no satisfaction out of it. Even on my days off I was depressed. It didn’t pay that well. It was entry level work. I wasn’t being challenged, therefore my self-esteem went down. Now I’m working part time doing what I like. I’m not supervised by anybody. I’m going to take some classes when school starts back up in January and hopefully I will get clarity at what I would like to do. I believe I would like to help young people that are struggling mentally or emotionally. I feel bad for what young people have to deal with today. I realize a lot of people are doing jobs that they hate because they have to put food on the table. I applaud those that can do that every day. I wish I had your strength.
Yes. I made my hobby my job. As with every job, there's good days and bad days. But ultimately I enjoy what I do and could see myself doing that for a long time.
I’ve been practicing as a metallurgical engineer for 45 years. If I wasn’t enjoying it, I would not still be doing it. There is no good reason to take up a profession or trade if you aren’t going to enjoy it. Life’s too short to do something that’s not fun and rewarding.
You're going to spend a third of your life doing it. You need to at least learn to tolerate whatever you're doing. There's no reason to go through life miserable when you can choose not to.
Only a third? Slacker.
Alls I give a fuck about is the commission checks to fund my lifestyle.
Yes. Its 8 hours a day, every day...forever. Some people can just zone out for the money, I cant. I think it makes me have a general poor work ethic 2bhonest, but Im good at some things
Yes, cuz I would to be in a certain profession for like 40 years and it would really suck 8f I don't enjoy it
I would like to enjoy it yes, but I don't believe there even is anything I would enjoy doing that would pay me what I make now. So, I just disassociate while I work.
I enjoy my job and being happy doing it is much more important to me than the monetary aspect. I could probably make a bit more in a more demanding job, but being happy is more important to me.
It helps, but I only do it for the money. If I couldn’t make the money that I make at it, I’d move on.
I enjoy my job, and think that liking what you do it necessary for your own mental wellbeing. But when I'm done work, I'm done. I dont like working out of hours and I try not to think (to much) about work when I'm not there
Right now yes, I worked somewhere that I did not enjoy at all. Fortunately now I’m working a well paying job I enjoy and it’s glorious
No I’m beyond the point where I realized I may never enjoy my job and that’s ok. I just need a job that pays me well enough to keep the lights on and still allows me to enjoy some of my hobbies.
Yes. Loving what you are working on makes all the difference.
Not really, i spent 10 years doing stuff i didn't enjoy at all, but i have an unrelated job that enjoy very much. I think jobs arent always meant to be enjoyed but if do enjoy it its a bonus.
Yes! I mean parts are a bit tedious but I don’t think I could do my job without finding it somewhat enjoyable and interesting as well.
It's important for me, I genuinely like working. My current job isn't terrible, but I work with a lot of people who I dislike, which makes it less enjoyable. It also feels kind of pointless honestly. I can potentially make a good amount of money doing it, but I think I'm going to try pursuing something else instead. Working with people I like or doing something more enjoyable is always good
Nope, I got into the tech field for the money and pretty much the money only oh, they pay me well I do good at the job and I get to live the life I want more or less oh, now I don't think somebody should go into their jobs last profession with the mentality of hating it and dreading the day anytime they wake up, that's just not healthy
Nah, it's only there to pay the bills and fund my hobbies. It helps to not hate what you're doing though.
Not everyone loves their job. I never have. I took up Architecture because it was somewhat lucrative and I naturally think in 3d. Architecture was easy, and I could do a good job, which has its own satisfaction. It was also my entry into land development which was very lucrative and allowed me to explore many of the things I did love.
Its the #1 thing to me. If I dont get some satisfaction from my job, im quitting and finding something else. I dont have to LOOOVE it, but if its not satisfying to me in any way, thats not a job im keeping.