Do you even like to work?
Not ironically, I do.
Strap it in friends. I’ve been noodling on a LOT of things swirling around career, and writing and financial security and that took me down a number of rabbit holes, several podcasts and of course more and more ‘stacks.
I’m commending you now for reading on.
First things first - I like to work. Seriously, not ironically. I like the sense of showing up somewhere and doing something well and interacting with people and hopefully brightening their day. I like solving problems. I like getting paid to do those things. I like the sense of accomplishment that comes after a day of work - even if I’m bone-tired from scooping ice-cream, herding cats, and mopping floors.
I’ve always liked working. I started working as a babysitter when I was 12 (and wow - I WAS TWELVE) and have worked everywhere from the public library, Roy Rogers, Associations, hotels, Consulting firms and senior living communities. In equal parts I loved and hated them all.
My identity is largely culled from the work I do in the world. Some may say (including me, I would say) that this sense of DOING things and over-achieving was born naturally by virtue of my adoptedness. While I don’t know any other way - I do know that I’ve always wanted to be BEST at whatever the thing was. That way I feel worthy. Maybe I worry that if I’m NOT doing more and being more and accomplishing more then the boss will figure out they’re not getting their money’s worth?
Work, itself, is a calling for me I guess.
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Recently someone told me they never ask what someone does for a living, rather they ask, “How do you survive capitalism?”
Which had me doubled over on myself wondering if I. AM. THE. PROBLEM. By and large I wonder at least once a week how I am the problem and what I can be doing to move into solution-mode.
Because I love working, and getting a paycheck (and saving as much as I can so I can keep living below means) I wonder, often, if I’m perpetuating a system that discriminates and continues to separate the haves from the have-nots. That puts me into freeze mode and I resist doing ANYTHING. (like writing and publishing a newsletter).
I want to have the money to make the choices that help others. I recognize that I do NOT have to buy all the things that are made by exploited workers in factories that are decimating the earth simply because some influencer intimates that I ought to - and, more importantly, having the money to make the decision to invest in people and practices that are doing better and lifting others up isn’t bad in and of itself. What I’ve learned from having (and not having) money is that when I have it, more than half the things I’ve seen others tout as necessities or what the cool kids must have - are not things I’m interested in. No more FOMO.
You are still here. Bless you. This is ultimately about you and what you do to earn your money and why you do that. Underneath it all, it’s about why you want the money in the first place. Stripping out the FOMO and the childhood messaging you received and getting to the heart of you and your goals and your dreams.
You may want to work for someone else just long enough to put away the money to work for yourself - and YAY. Let’s go there in these posts. Let me know how I can support you in that.
An ex-recruiter, I’ve learned a thing or two about how businesses work (and why) and how good people can find great jobs that fill them up.
Thanks for reading.
Can you do me a favor and like and share (if, of course, you like what you’ve read?) And if none of this makes sense and it’s not your cup of tea - feel free to let me know.
Hugs for now,
Peggie