Why Do We Work?

Let's start by putting things in perspective.

"In our lifetimes, each one of us will spend the majority of the time we have on Earth doing one of two things: sleeping (26 years) and working (13 years)."

13 years of your life will be spent working. That's at least, on average, 20 percent of your lifetime.

"Time is very slow for those who wait. Very fast for those who are scared.Very long for those who are lament. Very short for those who celebrate. But for those who love, time is eternal"—William Shakespeare.

Work is important, for so many reasons, one of them is because within the work structure you can develop yourself, unless you are very disciplined and have a great target in mind, it's hard to develop yourself as good as within the work environment.

That being said, in my last engineering job, I got stuck in a good paying job for over two years, and I almost had zero development. Yes it's a contribution system, and the employer contributed as much as I did in my zero development.

Corporate world:

When I got my Green card, I considered quitting my engineering job for real. It was not an easy decision, because it's a high paying job and I was working remotely and not working very hard. I was in a sweet spot.

I got laid off in June 2018, and it was not an easy change. I was not working nine to five, and I couldn't go back to an office, though I had a few opportunities that could potentially pay me 1.5x higher than my previous salary.

I started to focus on my financial situation and tried to guesstimate how long I could survive without any income. How about not working at all?

Or how about investing in the stock market and looking into other ways to make money and use my savings wisely?

Then in December, I took off on a self-discovery journey, went to Lithuania to lock myself up, read, watch videos, chill, bounce ideas off people and contemplate.

I was trying to understand two things: A) Money dependencies and how I can break away from that , B) Unconventional jobs with inconsistent income, and how I can make that work long term.

After a lot of time spent in thinking, and enriching my knowledge, I think I pinpointed some of my problems with corporate work. That was my first step.

My problem with corporate are, not limited:

• The need to work 40 hours at least and the limitation on vacation. These two byproducts of corporate world could lead to an unhealthy lifestyle and a lot of stress. You sell your time and freedom.
• The unnecessary pressure/ stress that can be created by other people (manager, customer, co-workers) and how it can affect you. <Stress related>
• The appreciation and the reward: Regardless of how hard you work, there are rules and limits to where you can go.
• You are just a number in the HR directory, business is business and that's the American way of doing business.

Corporate has so many benefits, not limited to: income stability/ security, environment to grow, and paid vacation.

Why do we work?

“One is reminded, at a level deeper than all words, how making a living and making a life sometimes point in opposite directions.” —Pico Iyer

Work is when you do things that you don't like to get paid, do you agree?

It's sad that you can't have both, make a life and making a living might not interfere. Unless, you are lucky enough to create that lifestyle yourself.

So why do we work? I captured some of my friends' answers, when I asked them:

• It gives one person some sort of accomplishment, satisfaction, productivity and fulfillment in a way that she feels adding value to the society we live in,
• To pay the bills and do the fun stuff you want, to earn money, build a safety net and contribute to society.
• Self actualization.
• To be well rounded, thirst for experience.
• I love my job; I love helping people, and making a difference in their lives.
• To add value to my life.
• Visa/passport related reasons.

Next question: I asked, what if you had enough money for you and your family, would you still work?

Most people say I want to work to accomplish something, but if you are financially secure, you wouldn't work, you would do something productive still but with a higher purpose.

So I decided I want to fast forward my life, and be in that position where I work on the things I like and enjoy.

I am doing the same with traveling. I asked over 400 people about their wildest dreams, and a lot said: travel the world and live/ immerse yourself in other cultures. I have been traveling (64 countries) and wanting to live in other places with that mindset, I don't need to wait 'til I retire to do so. How about I reverse the equation? Same with work. Not that easy though!

Can you be financially independent?

Money is created by society, there are a few ways you can deal with money.

1. Unplug yourself from society and the system and you can very little dependent to almost independent of money, so live in the wilderness sort of lifestyle. The fun factor here could be low, and there is a lot of work going into sustaining yourself.
2. Be part of society fully; work, earn money, have fun and have a comfortable life.
3. Work, save, retire early. A model that some people are adopting now. But it requires some sacrifices, and you need a partner to make it work better. Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE).
4. Work on an idea, establish a business, sell your business and live off your fortune. You will invest a few years of your life in developing a business, and hopefully it will pay off.

My current goal now is to find something in between; the balance, work some, travel some... make enough to have fun but not be fully dependent on money. Can you live for a day or two without money?

Passive income is a key to solve the equation, e-commerce, real estate, side hustles turning them into a business, Fulfillment by Amazon, write a book and so on.

How can you be financially independent?

"Owning less is great, wanting less is even better."

Three main things, I am sure there is more than that.

1. Save a lot to be able to sustain longer
2. Want less, and spend less
3. Rely on people. People can replace money. You see it in the simplest form of hitchhiking, couch surfing, etc.

"Every time you take one path, you must live with the memory of your other: Of a life left unchosen. Decide as seems best... each way will have its bitter with its sweet."

I discovered some tools that helped me in my thought process.

1) The 5/25 rule

Write down your top 25 things you want to achieve/do/have, then choose top five. Then eliminate the rest out of your life. So you can focus on what matters.

We live in an era, where we are distracted by a lot of things. Everyone wants to learn the guitar, learn another language, volunteer, create an app, open your own business, travel and have kids.

You can't have it all!

My spin on the 5/25 is to keep it per six months to a year time frame.

2) Strengths finder (A book)

A great way to focus on your strengths and try to improve your skills.

Usually we try to enhance our weaknesses.

List your strengths and spend some time on that exercise.

3) Personality tests (Enneagram and Myres-Briggs), but focusing on what your career should be.

4) A "what's important and what do you value in your life" exercise:

I value my freedom more than anything right now. I value my health and having less stress and more time to myself, and time to workout and chill is high on my priority list.

5) What story you tell yourself?

A very important idea, what you tell yourself can affect your mindset, even health and anxiety. Not what you tell your friends, what you think of yourself and how you see yourself. Make sure it's a positive story.

6) Reduce the gap between reality and what your mind projects/sees

It's like practicing meditation. It's a very hard practice. You can't trick your mind. But the idea here is to try to see things the way they are, not with your emotions and biases.

7) Think about your perfect scenario:

My perfect scenario includes: working 20 to 30 hours per week —travel for long periods of time—being active and doing activities, such as kayaking, snowboarding, climbing—living in a tiny house/cabin.

Fears and questions:

Can you not work from 9 to 5 PM, live an unconventional lifestyle and guarantee the next:

• How much do you need in your bank to retire early? $500k? $1M combined?
• How would you be able to raise kids and have a family?
• How would you sustain yourself and plan for the future? How much in your emergency funds with inconsistent income?
• Having fun without being concerned about money?
• How about finding a partner who appreciates that lifestyle too and build a family around that? Maybe with no kids?
• What would my mom think about this? And my culture?
• What about pensions? And health care?
• What about when you are 70, you will be able to afford having a house? Or will you be in a nursing home?
• What career growth you will get, if you don't have stability?

Deep down, I am afraid I would regret my decision now; when I am 50 years old and most people around me have nice houses, and live a comfortable life because they worked hard and I played hard instead. And thus, I could be very disappointed with my ending.

What am I doing now?

I came to the conclusion that I need to give myself some time around a year, to try the non nine to five and then decide what's next.

I need to do things in a different way to see a change.

I still need money and I will be dependent on it, unless I live outside of society. I am not ready to live in the wilderness yet.

I want to work for the right reasons and do what supports my values and what's important for me.

Hence, I want to work to get better and be the best version I can be.

I am also brainstorming passive income ideas or checking ways to create a sustainable living with less money dependency.

You stay in a job, if you can have two out of three:

1. having fun
2. Learning something
3. Making money

I would love to hear your thoughts!