OFI 850: You Don’t Hate Work, You Just Hate Your Job

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When I first started this show I spent a fair amount of time talking about the mindsets that either keep us trapped in misery or lead us to the life that we are dreaming about.  I have got away from that a little bit.  As my journey has progressed, I have let the show progress right along with it.

This morning I caught a clip of the Dave Ramsey Show on Youtube that reminded me that I should go back and talk about these things a bit.  On the clip there was a 26 year old woman that called in and said that she wanted to be retired by the time she was 40 and “never work again”.  I had the same thought as Dave, but it took him a little longer to get there because he was trying to get the caller there as well.  My thought was, “you don’t hate work, you hate your job”.  So, let’s talk about that today.

The Wrong Fit

A particular job, just like clothing, either fits or it doesn’t.  And if you are stuck in the wrong fit, you will be miserable.  Think of buying a pair of pants that is one size too small.  If you put those on the morning and head out to work or to do chores you will be thrown off because it doesn’t feel right.  You will feel like you are gaining weight and start to be self-conscious about how you look.  It will be a constant distraction that will ruin your whole day, and just as soon as you are able, you will pull them off and put on something more comfortable.

This analogy of the pants is just like a day or week at work when you have the wrong job.  You ability to provide your very best at work will be thrown off by the distraction of being in the wrong job.  You will become self-conscious about your performance because you will know that it is not your best.  And just as soon as you are done with your shift or it is the weekend you will do the polar opposite of work to just feel comfortable again.

This does not mean that we should never work in a job that is not the correct fit.  Some of us will do that because we are not yet qualified to obtain the correct job.  Others of us are working are way into the correct job.  And some of our life situations have changed or we have personally changed, and what once was the right job, no longer fits.  This was my situation when I started my first business.

If you are not being purposeful about making sure that your job fulfills your talents and abilities then you might mistake a job you hate for hating work.  But the two things are not the same.  Just like a police officer can become jaded, thinking everyone in the world is threat or a bad person because that is all he ever sees, you can start to see all work as horrible.

Working Vs. Recreating

The caller on the Dave Ramsey Show seemed to be convinced that all work was horrible, and that there was no middle ground.  She believed that the only way to be happy in your daily life was to not be working.  So, she was looking for tips and tricks on how to invest her money so she only had to endure work until the age of 40.  She was already this jaded, and she was only 26!

All of us have gone on a vacation at one time or another and come home transformed, only to be slapped in the face by the reality of returning to a job that does not appeal to us.  We spend a week at the coast enjoying the beauty of the ocean and imagining the lifestyle of the locals who are never stressed and walk on the beach every day.  We are so happy during our vacation that we want to make everyday of our life feel that way.  And we are so miserable at our job, that we don’t see a way to ever make that happen until we never have to work again.

There are a few problems with this outlook.  First, for most of us we are not going to reach the day that we “never have to work” again until we are much older and less able to repeat the activities that we dream about consuming our days with while we are on vacation.  Second, full time recreation is not as easy as it sounds and can be just as soul sucking as a bad job.  Last, if we get so focused on the life we imagine the locals from our vacation having, we can be blinded to the life that is possible for us right in our home towns.

Full-time recreation is not as easy as it sounds.  One way or another it is going to be expensive.  You are either going to be buying gear, moving to an expensive recreation destination or paying fees like season passes for skiing or golfing to keep you recreating.  And, you can only do so much of this until it starts to feel like work or boredom sets in.  I know people who hated their jobs and were still convinced that work was horrible when they were finally able to retire.  They carried this attitude into retirement so that they still think that there is no job that could ever be rewarding.  And I see them spend the bulk of their time in front of the television, getting very little out of life other than what is told to them on the news rather than even considering the possibility of some form of work that would fulfill them.

I am not sure that people are really meant to do no work.  I do believe there is an age at which point all or almost all work stops.  But if you do this too early in life, I think it will advance your aging.

Recreation and leisure serves you, but working allows you to serve somebody else or a higher calling.  It fulfills you in a way that sports, camping, travel or relaxing never can.  This is not to say that you need to continue doing work that breaks down your body, or that you need to stay in a job that you hate for the purpose of working.

When you are on vacation, and you are imagining the life that the locals have you should take a pause and realize that you could have that life right now.  When people come to your town on vacation, you could be the local that they think has it made, and they would be right!

You might think the locals at that beach town have it made because you picture them waking up every day and doing not what they actually do, but what you wish you did every day.  But you are simply projecting your wish to stay in this beach town and feel like you are on vacation every day onto them.  What you are not seeing is that the beach and ocean are not what you really want.  What you really want is to wake up every day and do what you want.  You don’t want to be controlled any longer.

This life of waking up every day and doing what you want to do is possible.  Taking back control is possible.  However, the fact that you still need an income leaves you with just one option, and that is to find or create work that you want to do.  You take the control back by looking at work not as means to a paycheck, but as a means to fulfillment.  You have to identify a job or a business that fulfills you either through how you serve other people, your natural calling or the lifestyle that it allows you to live.  And you have to be willing to sacrifice for this and even to move away for this.

Improve Your Job Today

The moment you make the decision to commit to finding or creating the work that is going to set you free your current job becomes a lot more tolerable and even more enjoyable.  Once you have a goal that you are working towards your job will transform from a soul sucking thing that you have to do to the vessel that is going to carry you to your dream life.  When every day at your current job is one day closer to achieving a better life, every day feels like an accomplishment.  You will be amazed at how your happiness will increase almost immediately.

So, don’t hate work.  Even if you were financially capable of never working again, nothing can fulfill you like good work.  And, if you hate your job, transform it by setting a clear goal to improve your life and then going for it.  Make every day at that miserable job serve you in your quest for you new life!

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