Quiet quitting, Act you wage, Lazy Girl, Snail Girl, Bare minimum Mondays...
I will let you in on a secret - if you are young and your approach to work is a trend from social media that looks to minimize the effort needed at work -
Future you is probably fucked.
Maybe you aren't, I don't really know,
but I have a strong suspicion that a lot of people trying to shortcut their professional lives are going to come to regret it in the future, as they will have missed opportunity after opportunity to build the kinds of resources they need to have a "good life", which they dictate themselves. The kind of life where they get to enjoy some of the finer things, a little luxury, a holiday or two, a nice car, a nice meal with friends.
But that is okay.
Because, you are only young once, and whilst the majority of the young are minimizing their work effort, it gives space for those who are willing to maximize it, to make gains hand and fist over them.
Work culture has changed dramatically over the last decades, but so has the working ecosystem. Back in the day, it was possible to be a bit of a fuckup when young and then settle down later, finding stable work that pays a decent salary, get into a house, have a family and live an average life, with a few trimmings. This is not the case anymore however, so if a person has no skills or quality experience by the time they are thirty or so, they are likely going to struggle. And, if their work ethic is shite, they can't even power their way through.
Oh well?
I was reading an article the other day about how people who have just entered employment are burning out. The article cited that it was down to the pressures of young people having to be available in ways that "past generations" didn't have to be. Another secret?
Those past generations are still fucking working!
They are connected, they are available, they are doing the tasks, and they aren't "digital natives", they have had to change, old dogs needing to learn new tricks. And, they have successfully done so - without burning out at near the same rate. Not all have transitioned smoothly, but on average, it hasn't phased the majority, because it had to be done. Yet, younger generations have every bloody excuse as to why they can't fit in, expecting the world to provide the "right" conditions for them - conditions that mean they don't have to work very hard.
If you don't want to work very hard, get an easier job.
Of course, an easier job will generally come with a significantly lower pay, but if you think that easier work is in your best personal interest, you owe it to yourself. After all, money doesn't buy you happiness, does it? Flip burgers at a fast food chain, because there is very little responsibility that comes with that. Sweep up floors as a janitor, because you can work at your own pace.
There is nothing wrong with these jobs.
Yet, the expectation is that they aren't going to pay very much and that means that there are going to be lifestyle implications. Perhaps no over seas holidays. Perhaps unable to get into the housing market. Perhaps no hobbies that require a significant investment.
Ideally for me, I want to "be able" to work a minimum wage job, and still have all the good life trimmings that I desire. But, in order to do that, I have to have multiple streams of income that supplement a minimum wage. However, I don't plan on working a minimum wage job unless forced, because I would rather have a job that I feel holds some purpose for me. Ultimately though, that might not be a well-paying position, so in order to do more of what I like, I would have to do a bit of what I don't in order to get to where I am able to support myself.
As said, the work conditions are changing, but this means that we have to adapt to the conditions, or be left behind. I feel that a lot of people are making decisions that will affect their entire lives in their relative youth, without the experience of just how impacted they might be in the future. Since we don't predict how we are really going to feel down the track, I think a lot of people have overestimated how resilient they are to future financial adversity. This is actually quite interesting, considering that the same people are burning out in the first couple years of their "careers".
For people who are talking about mental health and taking care of themselves, the media at least seems to put all the emphasis in being okay in the moment, without acknowledging that health know also has to consider they are going to have to "be okay" for a lifetime.
The "saving grace" for some of these people is going to be that their grandparents and parents have done the work in the past and they will inherit from them. However, this is just kicking the can down the road, as without a work ethic and a desire for "self-care", they are likely going to have that money taken from them by the corporations who are conditioning them to give it to them. Most of the money that pours into the younger generations through inheritance in the coming two decades, is going to pass straight through and into the hands of the 0.1% again - people who are working to ensure their future, even if it comes at a cost to others.
There is nothing wrong with doing the bare minimum work, but it is good to understand that there are consequences to that approach. It is like a sportsperson who is not willing to practice and train to build the skills and strength needed to play the game well - they aren't a sportsperson. You can't live a life of the "rich and famous" without having the resources that enable it.
We want it all.
No one is going to give it to us.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
