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Why Do We Do It?

- David Stidston

By David StidstonPublished 3 years ago 7 min read
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"Nothing is work unless you'd rather be doing something else." - George Halas

What job do you want to do when you grow up? How often were we asked that question throughout our childhood? From a young age, we were brought up and educated to believe that once you left you left secondary school, you would then progress to university, and then once you earned a degree, you would find a job. Life was always painted out to be perfect, mapped out beautifully that we would find the job of our dreams, we would buy our own house, we would get married, we would have a family, and we would live happily ever after. A few years into adulthood, we soon realize that life is nothing at all like how our parents and teachers hinted it would be. It's bad enough that we suffer through relationship break ups, and we seriously struggle to make a life for ourselves financially, in our early adulthood, but the worst part to it all is, the job we have is far from enjoyable and satisfying, as we were educated to believe it would be. So here we are, finding ourselves trudging off to this crappy job that we hate, five days of the week, with only the weekend left to enjoy. Then, as the years pass by, we do find that partner we end up marrying, before starting a family with them, and all of a sudden, the weekends we once enjoyed going out with our friends, becomes about sitting at home changing dirty nappies, listening to temper tantrums, and attending children's birthday parties. Don't get me wrong, raising a family is one of the greatest blessings in life, and spending time with them forms some of the most wonderful memories, but it's a far cry from the freedom we once had in our late teens, and early twenties, going out clubbing with our friends, and leaving the worries of the world behind us, to drown in the alcohol. It's certainly a change in lifestyle, but it's not the weekend that's our issue, as we still enjoy that time with our family, it's our life during the week that sucks!

In entering into adulthood, we find that first job, and we ride with it, because we still find enough satisfaction and enjoyment on the weekend to keep us happy, plus we remain shielded from much of life's financial stress, by still living at home with our parents. Once the commitment starts though, where we become exposed to paying our own bills, paying rent or mortgage repayments, having the full responsibility of maintaining a clean and tidy house, and having to be accountable, providing for and looking after our family, life starts to lose the gloss it once had. Life becomes all about honoring commitments, with very little time for ourselves. We don't mind the family aspect of commitment, and we completely understand the financial side to life, and how there will always be bills and expenses, but what we start getting frustrated about, is our job. It's not that wonderful, satisfying, and fulfilling aspect of life we had been expecting, so we initially put it down to the fact it must be that particular job that is void of the enjoyment we had hoped for. So what do we do? We job hop. We move on to a different job, and for a few months, we view the decision to have changed jobs as being worthwhile, and the reason being is that we are satisfying our minds in doing new and different tasks. We are learning, whilst increasing our knowledge and skills, and that has a rewarding factor to it. After a while though, this new job also becomes mundane, unfulfilling, and unenjoyable, so yet again, we job hop. The other factor in this job hopping cycle, is we never feel rewarded with an income worthwhile for the work we do, and with living expenses constantly rising, we start become overwhelmed with financial stress also. We end up reaching a point where we start believing that there is no such thing as an enjoyable job, or not at least one that we are qualified to do, so we end up just settling for a job that we hate. Here we are now, stressed, overworked, denied of the lifestyle we desire, and downright unhappy. It's now a pattern where we are destined to spend a great percentage of 45 years of our life, doing something we don't even enjoy.

It's a question that has to be asked, why do we do it? Why do we settle for a job we hate? Why do we concede that work just isn't supposed to be enjoyable? There are three main factors in the answers to these questions. Firstly, it goes back to what we were educated to believe. There are no other options of work, than a job. We were never educated about entrepreneurship, nor encouraged to build a business revolved around something we enjoy. Off the back of this education, society has formed the belief that you must have a job. If you don't have a job, you are frowned upon, or judged as being lazy. Anyone who has ever owned a business before, knows it takes considerable time to build and grow a business, and the early years sees very little reward. It's off the back of this, society views this as failure, and clear indication that businesses do not work, highlighting the need for a job. The truth is, entrepreneurship is extremely rewarding, and although it takes years of hard work and commitment, if you maintain the focus, continue trialing new actions, believe in yourself, and remain resilient, you will succeed. When you are doing something you love, and you apply yourself wholeheartedly to it, then success and satisfaction are possible. The second factor is we are too attached to our paycheck. We feel that leaving our job for a new opportunity places our source of income at risk, especially if it is starting a business. We allow fear to prevent us from taking the risk of finding work that we truly enjoy, leaving us trapped doing a job we don't enjoy, and unhappy in life.

The third factor is that we lack will power, we lack motivation, and we are downright lazy. We simply don't want to invest the time into researching some different work options, or plan how we can create an income generating model. It's just easier turning up to a job each day, despite how much we hate it, and have our paycheck waiting for us at the end of the week. It's what we know, and even despite our hatred towards it, it provides us with comfort. We have complete fear and doubt in applying ourselves to such an opportunity, that we won't have adequate capabilities, skills, or knowledge, to succeed, and that we will only end up failing. The truth is, we completely underestimate ourselves, and the potential within us, of what we can really achieve. Why do we do it? If we are unhappy with our job, and/or the work we do, then we should be defiant in settling for it. This is our life, and this is our happiness, lifestyle, health, family, and well-being on the line here. We need to get off our backside and invest time into finding work that inspires us, that motivates us to get out of bed in the morning, and that provides us satisfaction to the point it doesn't even feel like work at all. How can we serve others, and create something beneficial for them, that's in line with something we are passionate about. How can we turn our passion into a profession? That's a question we need to ask ourselves, but then act upon the ideas we come up with. Don't settle for a job you hate any longer! The time for change, and the pursuit of your passion starts today!

#Thursday #ThursdayMotivation #motivation #quote #work #job #IHateMyJob #business #entrepreneurship #passion #profession #satisfaction #happiness #enjoyment #fulfillment #potential #lifestyle #opportunity #commitment #finances #stress #unhappy #inspiration #WillPower #success #education #responsibility #WindOfChangeNow

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About the Creator

David Stidston

My name is David Stidston, and I live in the beautiful city of Hobart, in Tasmania, Australia. My aim is to inspire and motivate as many people as possible, to pursue their goals, and create a future blessed with happiness and fulfillment.

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