I remember hearing a long time ago that stress isn't bad, unless we think it is bad. This actually makes quite a bit of sense to me, as I believe that in order to improve, we need stress, like lifting weights to build muscle. And if we don't expose ourselves to stress enough, we will atrophy. Avoiding stress is not a solution, because the more we do so, the weaker we become and the more stress we will experience and, because we are trying to avoid it, we are probably among the group who think it is bad for us.
Is it the same with work
I have noticed over the years how many people conflate a job and work, using them interchangeably without recognizing them as quite different things. When I talk about "work" a lot of people seem to think that it is something that has to be done, like a job for money. But, work is something that gets done to achieve a result. For instance, my father was a professional artist and would work on a painting for hundreds of hours in order to finish it, but was it a job?
Definitely not.
But I think people are becoming increasingly allergic to work, because they see it as a job. This might be due to the changing culture where so much of life has become transactional and many people will only do something, if they get something directly out of it. This includes interaction with other people too, where a person is only useful when they can provide a benefit, otherwise, they are thrown away.
I also think that there are other cultural aspects to this, where depending on how a person was raised will dictate their relationship with work. In this way, it is a bit like money, where a lot of people say "it isn't important" yet they know they need it and spend a lot of time thinking about it. They believe it is some kind of evil, yet they desire it. For me, money has increasingly become a tool, where it is like having a hammer - without nails, not much can be built. And, in order to build anything, work is needed.
Some people define themselves by their job, which is probably why so many people struggle after retirement, as they lose their sense of self, their identity. Supposedly, retirement age is the most disruptive in our life, as it is a major shift from our decades-long routines. However, perhaps that will change also, as many people aren't developing the same kinds of routines, constantly shifting from one thing to the next, many trying to limit how much work they do, by choosing jobs that don't stress them.
It is another feedback loop.
Similarly to not enough exposure to stresses, not enough exposure to work will make us prone to damage, less capable, more reliant on others to provide for us. And I think that there is a growing sense of entitlement, especially in the younger generations that they should be provided for, they should get all the benefits, even though they might not offer much value in return. It is like the people who come out of university expecting a management position, a high salary and all the perks, even though they are unproven in the field, not battle tested.
And many of them are failing on the battlefield, as they tend not to have the skills and work ethic applied in combination to do things well enough to warrant a high salary and the perks - yet they feel they deserve them. Even if deserving, the world doesn't care about fair.
Which is why there is often division in outcomes between the people who will do the bare minimum and those who will go the extra mile early in their careers. Those who tend to put in the hard yards in the right areas of their career, will get rewarded in the future. Whilst those who don't will get passed over time and time again for opportunities. The fact is, that most companies don't promote their worst people, even though that is a commonly held belief for those who are overlooked.
I think that people should look to develop their job so they can do it more easily, with more efficiency, for better results - but I don't think that people should limit their work. Work comes in many forms and when done in the right areas, will compound against itself to build a stronger, higher quality, more valuable process and outcomes. Yet, when people think that work is bad for them, they are going to miss out on the compounding effects, and miss out on the opportunities they might want.
Perhaps for some, finding ways to do as little work as possible is what they consider a good life. Maybe that is an appropriate purpose to cling to. I don't know. I just know that I believe that I will want to die working, whether that be tomorrow or in 50 years from now. I want to be able to spend my entire life learning things and doing work that I find valuable, even if it isn't the perfect job, task, or outcome. What I work at might change heavily over time however, because I think it must in order to be relevant, to be valuable.
As a parent, I want my daughter to have a good life and be happy. However, I don't think that happens through a poor work ethic. The ones I have witnessed at least, don't seem to enjoy their life, constantly trying to pull one over on others to provide. They are often like conmen, tricking people who have something they want to give it to them, because they aren't able or willing to do the work required to get it themselves. It is like the people who scam social security support - thinking they are winning at life.
But, perhaps that is a different topic for another work day.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]