Our Jobs are Important
As much as I hate to admit, our jobs are important. I’d like to preface by noting that I believe our true purpose is to frolic and be with nature, collecting nuts and berries and dancing around, loving one another endlessly. That’s what I’d like my full time job to be. However, it is glaringly obvious that this is a fantasy for most of us, rather than reality. The reality of our situation is that in order to be “normal”, functioning members of society, we must participate in a matrix-like lifestyle. Going to work, feeding and clothing ourselves, building families, or not, and essentially living in some variation of that comfort.
Even those who veer from the status quo still maintain a role as slaves to the system. I’ve given this much thought, especially after reading a book called “The Man who Quit Money”, about a person who lives freely in the desert by choice, drug free might I add, accepts no money, and exchanges no money (Sundeen, Mark. 2012). A notable and unique way of life; and yet even a man without money leans on systems of public infrastructure. Therefore, even he cannot truly escape the system.
I’d like to delineate the difference in meaning of the word “job” versus the word “work”, though I do think they go hand in hand. A job is something you must do, work is the output you give. The job may not hold inherent value to you, but the work you put out does.
Your work is a stamp of you.
I used to find my work less important when I didn’t like my job, and I’m sure this is true of many of us. It’s very difficult to find motivation for producing excellent work when the job holds little value to us at baseline.
So, what’s the point?
I’ll start by sharing my own story. I used to work for a company which thrived on numbers alone. I was in technical recruiting, or headhunting, which operates similarly to sales but with a caveat.
Unlike sales, which is selling the product /service to a target market, recruiting is selling a potential future to the target market of real human beings. I don’t want to say this makes the stakes higher, but certainly more personal. An element of a candidate’s future lies with you as a recruiter. The company I worked for often operated in a way where the more a candidate was paid per hour, the less the recruiter would take home in commission. Essentially this incentivizes recruiters to lowball candidates in creating additional gains for themselves.
Not all recruiting agencies operate in this way, but many do.
In that job I felt trapped and sickly. The people I worked with were kind and supportive, but there was a staleness which lingered and I believe this to be due to the nature of the business itself. My outcomes were steady, but the dignity I had toward the work itself proved inconsistent.
This didn’t only have impact on my work life, but also bled into my personal life. I was the least fit I’d been in years, my skin was at its worst, (I struggled with acne my whole life) my relationship was unhealthy, and I knew there was more for me. I don’t believe my dusty job created the entire scenario, but it did play a role.
Fast forward to now. I’ve been at my current company for 2.5 years. When I first was hired, the team preached culture and work autonomy. I never tend to take employers seriously when they say this, jaded as it may be, but after meeting with the hiring manager I had a strong gut feeling of their good intentions. I took the job, knowing full well my salary may not grant as much upward financial movement as a commission-based position.
So what is the difference? Environment.
I now have a boss who appreciates me, a supportive team, autonomy in projects, freedom of travel, and most importantly, work for a mission which holds value to me. In turn, my thinking is smarter, output higher, and collaboration stronger. I can honestly say that the work I do aids my personal growth. I feel physically and mentally strong, and find myself showing up better for the people in my life.
I wasn’t really stuck.
When I was struggling during that dark time a few years back, a friend said to me, “What is comfortable now is not safe, what is safe will not necessarily feel comfortable”. This was in the context of an unsafe relationship, but I believe it holds true of anything. Our comfort may be our current state, but that familiarity and comfort zone is not inherently safe. What is truly safest for us may come with a little bit of unknown; a touch of risk.
I know this seems paradoxical, but honestly what isn’t?
Our jobs are important. They make up a third of our lives, and it would be nearly impossible to completely compartmentalize a job that we hate. Because of this bleak condition, it becomes increasingly important to get the job you want, do the work to get there, and make the impact.
Our work is even more significant than our job because it defines how many of us view ourselves. Quality work drives positive self esteem. If you’d like to debate, test it out and write back. I’d love to discuss. (I mean this in a non-threatening kind of way)
The world needs you and your work, in whatever form that takes. If you’re already living it, encourage others, and if you’re not there yet, it seems about time to do yourself justice.
Our time on this planet is too short to waste. In the meantime, if you find a way to forage nuts and berries, frolic, and love as a full-time job, please call me because I’d like to join in on that.
Thank you so much for reading. My hope is to leave you with food for thought, and at best, a hint of inspiration to keep moving forward. Humans operate as a big puzzle, and each piece is much needed.