HELLO & thanks for stopping by this here comment section! I felt compelled to clarify that not having a "career" is not the same as not having a job -- I completely understand that the vast majority of people do not have the freedom or ability to survive without work under capitalism. It is precisely *because* we have to spend so much time working that I advocate for a shift in the way we conceptualize of our identities, self-worth, validation away from labor.
"survive without work under capitalism" -- what system are you thinking of? There is no system that doesn't require work of someone (mostly everyone) for survival. So which one d'ya like? I really REALLY hope you say communism.
Post modernist philosophy, by which so many Millennials adhere to, is incapable of independent thinking. But when you get older you start to really, REALLY not care what others think. You're having an awakening.
There is this great book on the topic from a German author called The Capital . It even has a chapter where he talks about the feeling you have, it's called alienation :p Jokes aside, great video. Thanks for the content. Cheers!
And for that you have billions of thirldworlders working themselves to death for for some firstworlders to ve "freed" from moving paper 8 hours 5 days in week
I want my life’s work to look like this - growing a garden - writing stories - painting - learning ceramics - learning how to cook & bake better - volunteering to help different causes - spending most of my time with family and friends
Are you in the U.S? Will you have healthcare insurance? How will you pay rent? Can you hand on heart say that your dream lifestyle will not involve taking a single cent or asset from someone that worked hard to get it?
@Rich New those are the things that keep me up at night. I don't need a dream job, but I need money to pay for rent, food, all the different types of insurances, plus other things... I want to garden and fill my life with things I love. But those things costs money, and living and breathing costs money. I feel stuck
@@Rich.Newell she said WANT. If society didn’t uphold government and currency and there was no reason to labor yourself to death, this is what she would WANT.
I lost my job because of illness. This is when I realized how dangerous it is if we base all our self-worth on our productivity. We are worthy as human beings as we are, our worth is not based on our productivity. I had to learn that the hard way.
Thank you so much for your comment. I have been utterly depressed after losing my career due to my Multiple Sclerosis taking a turn for the worse. Im devastated. I hope you are ok dear, I'm trying to find my worth without work.
I lost mine as a result of disability but that's tough to prove. In retrospect, I spent most of my life working but I learned that life isn't all about "the grind" it never really got me anywhere
I can't afford to lose my job and keep alot of things to myself , I'm sure my job would get rid of me if I was ever pregnant. It's almost cruel that your no longer worth keeping around if you have any disability, my husband was denied jobs for his as well
My father worked hard from 16 till his early 30's fell off a roof at work into tar and burned most his lower body . He's had cancer twice , and a whole bunch of other health problems because of that accident. He hasn't been able to work since and all the money he had saved up to buy a house for my mother and the kids was put towards treating his health. People put in all they have at jobs that will replace them in a blink of an eye and not even care about what happens to you.
I often feel inadequate for being so "unambitious" when it comes to careers, but I have to remind myself that you can be ambitious in your relationships, your non-monetized skills, your whatever!!
Yes also by the current scenario life is unfair and unjust and unemployment is a major problem , most people don't like their jobs, terrible bosses, no passion, low salaries, nasty coworkers , nothing is worth it
I spent decades doing a job I absolutely hated because it "paid well". Don't do that, just don't. Now I'm old and sick, my wife's passed away and I spend a lot of time just thinking about the beautiful creative things I was capable of, the things I could have done, my talents and aptitudes. I thought I was successful. I was wrong. I'm not saying this to be pitied. I'm saying it to serve as a warning beacon. I'm saying it to act as an existential lighthouse. This shore is littered with shipwrecks. Steer clear. Find other ways.
Wow, beacon received. You've helped me make a decision I've been desperately struggling with and I can't even begin to thank you. Time to plot another course. Again, thank you
Thank you so much for this I worked a job that payed well too but I was so depressed and my creativity died so I kind of died and started abusing drugs I was really going to kill myself since I already felt dead but then I finally got fired from that place and it was a blessing because now I do what I am passionate about and am not dreading my life anymore. I told myself if I go back to working those kind of jobs I would def off myself because if my creativity dies I die. Hearing your story gives me more inspiration to keep pushing.
Very true even if u dedicate all your time and hard effort to your work, you (the worker) will be replaceable by someone else in no time. Spending time with your family and friends is quality time. But sometimes it is so hard to plan and make time for your loved ones, since your time is being dedicated to your work and studying in order to have your job/dreamjob.
That's why you don't put your life at risk for your job if you don't have to. They'll just send your family a plant with a card to your funeral and keep on moving.
A career is not who a person is and I think people are just getting sick of working so hard for little to no gain sometimes. It gets frustrating and all I want to do is enjoy my life for a change.
I first thought of my aunt. She has a very modest life (some would say lower-middle class). I honestly don’t even know what she does for a job nowadays. I admire her because when we go on hikes together she makes me laugh and think new thoughts. I admire her because she’s very spontaneous and loves adventure. I admire her because her house is filled to the brim with plants and it looks like a jungle. I admire her not because of her job, but because of her dynamic personality and her fun hobbies.
The idea of a 40 year career made me so depressed after I finished school, only when I realized I can do whatever I want I don’t have to conform to a system I felt free.
@@e11eme the op doesnt mean he doednt have to work he saying it was crazy to think he has to do one single career and just work tirelessly for 40 years but he doesnt . He can quiet whebever he would like and do different job and try new things . You get out of life what you put into it . Be a slave to a system and stay in your comfort zone or dare to make bold choices and deal with them .
@@e11eme I do work! I‘m a self employed illustrator I always knew art is my true passion in life and finally pursued it. I love being self employed because the thought of working for someone else annoys me deeply since my career is my passion. I also now realized (I‘m 22) that I don’t have to be stuck in something I can always change, life in general always changes. I should’ve worded it better tbh, I felt like I had to do something I didn’t like and felt forced to do it just like school felt to me. That this was just how it is and that it just gets worse. That freedom you get when you turn into an adult can be overwhelming until you realize it’s all you ever wanted. Many people go with the mindset that life has to be miserable most times aka hating mondays cause of work they hate. I love every aspect of my life, finally a Monday doesn’t suck anymore.
@@e11eme maybe I can try giving you some advice. First you need to think about what you truly want in life what is your passion? And don’t overthink that it can be the most simple thing and its usually your passion since childhood. I always got the impression from my environment that art is a career for people who don’t wanna earn money that I should get a „real“ career. But that is total bs. You can make money from basically anything doesn’t matter what. Look at marie kondo for example, that woman just loved organization and made a whole career out of it. Don’t let other people limit your thinking of what you can achieve in life. If you have your passion you need to make a plan how to get there aka make money from it and here is yt and google your best friend I learned everything to be a self employed illustrator on here. And of course I had my years of working in retail and marketing at a 9-5 this took time and effort to achieve but it is absolutely possible. And also a very important aspect, maybe your passion isn’t a career. For some people their family is their passion, having kids and caring for them. Or living self substantially or whatever. You won’t feel like you don’t have time anymore because work „steals“ it all. Hope I could help 🌸
I went through these thoughts and quit a corporate job when I was 38...I went from six figures to zero. I tried and had limited success creating income streams for myself while trying to find more balance in my life. At 43, I was 80,000 in debt and miserable. I returned to corporate America that year and made a vow to be thankful for the income and also know that it's just a job. I take all vacation...I don't strive for promotions and I work understanding that "they" don't give two craps about me. I do not spend hours ruminating on my work, I just do it and shut it down at the end of the day. Now, at 50, I'm out of debt and more realistic about how I approach work. It my case it was more about balance. I hated being broke and I don't want to live in a van, although I love that people are doing that. Good luck to you whichever way you go.
I appreciate you sharing your experience! I think we are in similar situations. I don't want to completely quit working, I just don't want my job to dominate me. This is not a popular attitude and I feel alone at times, surrounded by many ambitious crabs in a pot.
I think this is what I need to do. I’m late to life due to my circumstances and I’ve finally got a career but I need to work on allowing it to not dominate me. I feel like everything hangs on this job and I want everyone to like me and look at me as an asset. I stayed home today because I got a bad stomach that kept me up all night. I had to tell myself that I should stay home and get better and that my health is the most important, but moments come when I feel like I’m a disappointed which requires me to remind myself that I’m more important and to be okay if they stop liking me.
It’s important to know your baseline standard of living and what you need to do to maintain that and no more. Yours may be higher than some peoples’, and that’s fine. Good for you that you figured out that balance.
Thank you for actually putting monetary figures in your story, they are always left out of conversations like this, as if it's not a problem, and leaving your job to frolic about the world is just a matter of balls.
'' Jobs aren't designed for you to love them '', that, hit me real hard. I've never looked at it that way before. I've always said to myself that I wanted a job which I love, that would make me happy. But I've come to the realization that I just want a job that doesn't make me almost cry, get mad, or be depressed when I wake up in the morning. I already get those feelings when I have to go to school, and I'm sick of them.
28 years old. It won't change unless you do something significant now. Wishing you the very, very best. Chase your dreams, please do. If you fail it's not a problem you'll love you had the balls to try. That may be the only consolation though, life is suffering. and more so when you think the way you've demonstrated (I do too, not attacking you). To simplify it all, assess your expectations and map out what would give you the most peace. If you do this honestly you'll realise that there are certain things you'll have to sacrifice or at least run the very real risk of not having (high status, marriage, kids, career) but ultimately you may (and only may) reach that point of peace and happiness, a worthy risk I'd say. Therapist and a little prayer won't hurt either ;). Lots of love - good luck
If the job has a meaning to you and gives you a sense of purpose, then you will end up loving it. ALL places of work have their challenges but some are tolerable and as an adult you will have the ability to navigate through them and decide when it's time to move on from that job that is bringing you misery!! As humans we can be weak at times and it is OK, that is the reality. Accept it and give your body the right to feel whatever you are feeling at that moment and make prayers so that He might give you strength to go through this. Try and minimize your consumption of social media, don't compare your life to others and definitely find something you enjoy outside of school(knitting, drawing, food making, self development courses, skating, exercise, writing.. etc.) This way you will map out your interests and discover your stronger sides. Volunteering also helps a lot to frame you view of the world and it might make things clearer.
@@gmma125_5 Beautiful comment. In my religion there is the concept of making the effort and leaving to rest to GOD. If things are meant for you, no one will take them away from you. So when you fail, it means this was not meant for you to have at this moment in life(you might get them a later point) and maybe there is a lesson to be learned here for the future. You give your self time and then you try again. I hope the OP reads your comment
@gmma125_ @zinab2blessa Thank you very much for taking some time out of your day to write those comments!♥ I REALLY appreciate them and will definitely take them into consideration/ apply them. I've already started, as you guys said, to map out what I enjoy doing the most, and got some ideas for the future. Especially because I've only got a couple of months left before graduating (PS: I didn't rush the ideas, it took me some time before I finally found out what I really liked). Now, if things don't work out, I won't beat myself over them, as you guys said, maybe it wasn't meant for me and at least, I had the balls to pursue what was, at the time, important for me. Of course, I know that not all things in life will be great, there will be some challenges however I'm still going to try my best and pursue what I love doing and if it wasn't meant to be, then it wasn't. Again, thank you very much, I wish you a beautiful day/evening! ♥
Move off grid and become self reliant. Then you'll never need to worry about a career, job, money, bills, taxes etc. Then you have all the time in the world to enjoy life and not be a slave to the corrupted system.
I gave up on being an artist at the age of 18 because everyone told me that I would starve if I majored in art. So, I chose something more practical. I regretted that decision every day since. Luckily, at age 50, I have started to draw and paint again. It is like rediscovering the real person that I am. It’s never too late, folks.
I did the opposite and it’s a financial struggle. Grass isn’t always greener on the other side. You can have hobbies but still be practical at the same time. In school they told me I could be a doctor or lawyer if I wanted because of my grades..but I was rebellious and stubborn. Pursued art, and I’m doing ok, but nowhere near what I could be making if I applied myself in a more practical manner.
Well all my family and friends didn't waste an opportunity to tell me my art was not gonna make me money to leave it and focus on back breaking work. Now im a tattoo artist and make money amd they bitch about how soft my hands are and how i dont have to wake up hella early like them so now im "lazy" .. lol so just do what u wanna do your worst enemy is not your family or people who tell u that you can't do something your wors enemy is yourself . If u doubt yourself u never gonna reach that dream. Keep on fighting dreamers of the world
My daughter was an art major. She's an engineer now cause she liked to eat and live in a house. Don't be an art major, kids. That's a hobby, not a way to provide for yourself. No one can teach you art anyway. It comes from within.
I almost quit being an attorney despite it being the career I always wanted. Once I left the office I was working in and starting working for myself, I fell in love with it again. Sometimes it’s the toxic environments that we work that makes us hate our work.
THIS THIS THIS THIS!!! People really need to understand this before them completely give up on their dreams. I am in my 30s pursuing a new career and my goal is to get my independent license eventually so I can work for myself.
I’d argue the toxic environments are exactly because of the system which increasingly asks more of us, and makes us more competitive through scarcity, which forces people to become toxic to come out on top. It always starts from the root.
Not everyone has “good” choices/options when it comes to work. Nor can anyone expect to live a carefree, child-like life of “I’ll just do what I want” for the rest of our lives. At some point, we are pushed out of the nest and must fend for ourselves. I admire people who do what they need to do to can take care of their family (or themselves) without becoming a burden on others, still keep their optimism and creative spark alive, and don’t complain about living the consequences of the decisions they have made. I could have done better in this regard myself, but that was my bad, not my employer’s. The fact is, it is just easier to follow the crowd than to follow your heart - especially when you are young because you simply do not know better. It is the challenges in life that allow you the opportunity to “know better”. Learn, adjust, and try again.
@@annab.5052 I make my own options. I know life is hard, and it pushes us around, but people are capable of far more than they think. I wasted years of my life seeking approval from authority, only to be cursed and beaten down. This is why I do what I want, and I don't care what other people have to say- unless of course, they are indicating that I am harming them in some way.
I actually admire people more who do things they don’t want to but may need to . Life isn’t always about selfish wants. Balance requires you to not always put yourself first.
@@RealnameKevin Anyone who thinks they do things for other people fist are lying to themselves. Just admit and accept that you care about yourself first, then you will have a lot more time and energy to give to others.
My husband was diagnosed with cancer 5 years ago. We had been saving and saving to buy a sailboat to live on so we could cruise the world. We had to use our savings to live off of as I had had a stroke a few months before his diagnosis (we were 36 and 24 at the time). When he went into remission we sold our house and moved into a truck camper. All 88 sq ft of freedom. While out roadtripping we stumbled upon a beautiful sailboat. A few months later, she was out home. It's been 3 years of tiny living and 2 years on the boat (upgrade to 100 sq ft). We wouldn't change it for anything. It's a real privilege to have this life and be out living our dreams at 40.
It really is disturbing how they primed our brains from such a young age to associate "what we want to BE" with a job/career. Super, super young children, almost as soon as they learn to talk and engage with the world, are being primed to associate their future identity with a job choice. It's scary how commonly that question was asked to me as a child, to all of us. Your identity is not the same thing as earning money - those are entirely different things. One is who you are, the other is just something you do to make money, completely unrelated. Sometimes they overlap for people, but it shouldn't be the default or the expectation. I remember being very stressed when I was high school aged, and when I was trying out community college. There was so much pressure to choose a path that would fulfill me, what was I interested in. At 18 years old they expected me to know. Thankfully I left college before accepting any loans, because I realized I had no idea what I was getting into. I've separated earning money from my passions, and now everything is a lot more clear for me and I'm planning out my life in a way that makes sense to me.
@@coyoter9691 It is crazy that everybody should know what they want to do as their job at the age of 18 and build the identity of themselves around that... People change as they age and what one wants at 18 might not be what they want when they are 38 😅 If we and our identities are aqual to our work wouldn't we be considered dead when we retire? 😂 Sadly though sometimes it seems to be so...
There are alternatives to selling your labor--they involve exceptional talent. Got any? Or do you just want other people who ARE selling their labor to pay your way?
when i was little people asked me "what i wanted to be when i grew up". i literally thought it was absurd that anyone would think i could actually dream of working
I buried my mom, dad, brother, uncle and grandad from the age of 9-13. I'm 42 now and my passion is to help kids going through now what I went through in my childhood and help them through their grieving in a good and healthy way. I'm in the process of starting a vtuber channel and sharing my life experiences and tips I've learned myself and from other people. For kids who's going through the grieving process, they feel alone and I'm going to be there to help them.
@@KaitlinGaspar One website to look up is mourning hope. It's a childhood grief counseling service. They have a camp every summer to help process grieving in a positive way. Healthygamergg has a discord where they can talk about it too, if that helps.
When I was a kid I dreamed about being a designer, and now I am one. However, when you work at your dream job, that job becomes your life, because your passion is your job. I found that making your hobby a job is a double edge sword, because at one hand you enjoy what you do, but at the other hand you no longer have that hobby to decompress...
Hi I’m a graphic designer, and what you say is really true. But I’ve also found that I love designing when its for me, and when I can do it freely. But I’m almost done with my master year, and I’m scared that I don’t love it enough to take on all the stress that goes with it. When I have to design work for school it becomes like an obligation and I start to dislike it. So I’m scared that I’m ruining my love for designing by making it my job.
@@elie8680 I think you are ruining it because I use to love learning Spanish so I took that as one of my subjects at high school/secondary school and I hate it now. I wanna get back to learning it but I think I'll have to learn another language first so that I can have that passion to go back into Spanish again. I wanna learn French so I'll start with that then introduce Spanish back.
This is exactly why I want to make my passions/hobbies my side hustle and not my main hustle. That way I can create on my own terms and not out of obligation. My main job is to be of service to others but I don’t want to be treated like a work horse cause I can’t service others if my own needs aren’t prioritized.
I used to have mental breakdowns at 14 because I didn't have a dream career and didn't know how I was gonna support myself growing up. Now I'm 20 and I'm pretty much lost.
Can relate. I was so depressed when I was 15 and started learning economics... And felt like there was only meaningless gloom awaiting me. But let me tell you I'm 29 now and happy :) because I'm working a job now that j don't hate. Don't know how it'll go in the future but that was my hope, to be able to feel comfortable and not worry about being able to afford basic necessities or things to enjoy. It's possible to end up with a decent job without a dream career too!
@@Lebronwski One of the points of the video is that many of us grow and thrive when we experience variety and have flexibility when it comes to our career. Some people enjoy doing exactly the same thing all their lives but that's not the most common and for most people it's not healthy or desirable.
omg yes! I "fell" into my career after getting divorced and becoming a single mom. I needed a job to pay my bills and raise my family. Sadly it has never fulfilled me. I've stayed in field for 20 years now, but have changed jobs and moved a few times. I've been at my current job for 7 years now and I look around wondering how anyone loves being in the same spot so long. I sure don't but I need to pay my bills and have healthcare. We aren't simply here to just work and die.
@@dianewebb1855 agree with you totally the system that has been set up is broken. I think younger people are just becoming more aware about it at a younger age now and its happening faster now.
I quit my corporate job at a tech company for exactly this reason. Everyone thinks I’m crazy for not having a new job lined up, but I know I need space in order to figure out who I am and what I want. I used to be such a workaholic that it gave me cancer, which I am grateful for, since it helped me see my true priorities. When you confront death in your twenties, you start thinking, “am I okay with this being my legacy?” That’s when I realized living to work was not living and my soul needed more than that.
@@Hannah-nh5qjFor many years I worked 12+ hour days in a toxic work environment. During that time I developed an extremely rare cancer with no known cause, no genetic or other medical explanation other than perhaps stress/trauma from (among other things) my work. Gabor Mate has some interesting things to say about stress and illness. Perhaps it was just bad luck, but in that case I still put off getting a lump checked because I was trying so hard to be productive instead.
my mom was a stay at home mom, my stepdad worked oilfield. he’s a good man, worked hard to support kids that weren’t his as well as his own. but that meant i grew up never really knowing the man that provided for me. it was like money just kind of appeared. we never needed anything. but we also would go weeks without seeing him. i’m 28 now and we pretty much dont have much of a relationship because of this. he also had some kind of epiphany and suddenly quit the oilfield and does random projects for fun in their garage. everyone thought he’d lost his mind. in my opinion he finally found it.
@@seaportsthename I've got a somewhat similar story, but both parents worked. My relationship with my parents and siblings now is completely different from when I was a kid. I couldn't be more thankful for what we have now. Unfortunately, I now live 500+ miles away and across the US/Canada border, but I wonder if that plays a part in how much I miss them. I'm 31 btw. I think you could slowly start building a relationship with him! It's not too late. :)
This resonates with me. I was told my whole life to get a job already. But I did it my way. I was able to get my Bachelor's degree, get married, have 3 kids, be a stay at home mom for 12 years, work part time while homeschooling, cloth diaper, have a garden, take my kids to all the cool places in NYC (where we live), and now I'm back in college pursuing something new. I'm happy.
Honestly that sounds lovely! I'm 22 and some of my peers from highschool are graduating this year, while I am starting (yet again, because of mental health reasons). We are told that if you don't have your life solved by your mid twenties you're doing something wrong (Forbes 30 under 30 thank you not), and capital gains are only acceptable measure for success. I'm glad you're doing what makes you happy! Testimonies like yours make me feel hopeful 💕
@@Paul_Wetor I am married 28 years to a man with a job and for the last 15 years I also have been working. We never had a lot of money. We sacrificed material things for awesome experiences with the kids and with each other. I'm still living my dream life. And you?
Never married, now retired. Solitude works for me, but I appreciate what parents do. (There is a park lagoon near me where kids are often looking for frogs with their parents. Some even have nets and boots. I mentally applaud them for participating in their child's interest.)
Whenever people say things implying that work is the only way to have a fulfilling life/ be productive, I always think, "What about stay at home parents?" I think it is wonderful to be a stay at home parent and that it is equally (or more!) important to any other job!
I just got a new job at a vet hospital, and my mom sat me down and was talking to me about how I can make it into a career. She said surely it’s not your “dream job” and I told her my dream job is to stay home and take care of my family and home. She was saying all of these things about going back to school and I haven’t even had my first day yet. The pay is very good, and my husband makes quite a bit more so we are actually doing really well even without my new income. We’ve really been realizing how money and status obsessed our parents are. They’re always trying to get us to spend money and go out, and we are very frugal by nature. We value time together and minimal living over killing ourselves to work two careers.
Staying home is not a crime. Raising little ones is the most fulfilling thing you can do because young people are so lost today because their parents had to work and was not there for them. I think your new job sounds wonderful. In my generation, mothers stayed home and were housewives and mothers. I was better for it. then when I got up to about sixth grade, she got a job at my school. She worked another 30 years and was fulfilled. If you are able to do that, do it. You can alway go back to work later. The job at the vet sounds great.
I am a 60 year old and I was a homemaker at a time when it was not popular in the 1990s and early 2000s. Still volunteer, drive an old car, live in a modest house, go to rummage sales, and I love my life choice living a simple life and enjoy our grown sons and my husband of 36 years. And young lady I totally support YOUR CHOICE.
I'm going to print this out and put it on my wall cause gods, I need this! Also, I wish I could show this to my workaholic parents, but they'd downright reject it.
If I didn't have to work I would: -work on healing my PTSD -learn how to write music -read, read, read -go on hikes and nature adventures -cook and grow food -spend time with my loved ones
@@poppyseed7639 I don't believe they intended it in a nasty way? If you're doing stuff that should make you happy and it's not making you happy, then getting help about it would probably be a good idea. Help should never be a bad thing.
“Jobs aren’t designed for you to love them… the point is to give you income so you can participate in society”. Great point. It’s also when you act out of society’s “norms” that you’re ridiculed, because we’re all taught the same lie about productivity, getting a good job, etc., so it does the companies and the poor people who’ve followed them for years no benefit to break the mold. Misery loves company. And the companies need us to buy into it to keep the machine going. Thanks for posting.
I know someone who was so moved by a story about missed opportunities, that he literally dropped out of his bachelor's degree and worked on a fishing boat for 2 years. He now has his PhD and is working on a pretty cool physics project, but also is the most happy go lucky and laid back person I know. I feel like he discovered the truth about balancing work and happiness.
How did you take care of the essentials while working on the boat. Did he live with mom? Did his gf pay his bills? How did he buy the parts for the boat?
I'm a social worker and I feel like my identity is strongly linked to my career. I've realized in therapy that I'm not so much focused on finding happiness but more seeking meaning and purpose. Social work gives me meaning by uplifting others. I'm working on boundaries so I don't get burnt out!
Dear Elizabeth, yours is not a career but a calling. My your labor continue to bring healing to the broken hearted and my you find peace (meaning) in doing so.
Dear Elizabeth, I’ve resonated with every word you said.The fear of being judged and misunderstood doesn’t allow me to say this out loud to anyone in my life. Thank you for sharing. Much power to you.
I definitely resonate with this, Elizabeth. I practice chinese medicine and, like you, it's more about seeking meaning and purpose in helping relieve the suffering of others. I'm definitely getting burned out, though. I've had my own business for just over 10 years and I wish professions like ours could take a 6-12 month sabbatical every 10 years or so!
I think that one aspect that not enough people talk about is the fact that in the modern world, if you want to have and support a family with kids it is VERY difficult to avoid selling your soul to a corporation. It's one thing when you're choosing between a career and a bigger house or a nicer car. It's quite another when you're choosing between a career and an education for or medical care for your children.
The day will come when birth rates are so low, every country will need to incentivize having children. It's already happening in some countries. Although, that doesn't mean the world would be better off for it when some people just shouldn't be parents.
This is why my country (Denmark) was named the happiest country in the world: With free education (actually, you get paid for taking one) and free healthcare, people don't have to choose between family and work to the same degree that they do in the US. We have so much freedom here, I hope the citizens of the US will realise that taxing the rich isn't a step backwards when it comes to the freedom of the common people
In most rich countries (and a bunch of poorer ones) you don't have to choose, because education and medical care are free or very cheap. That's why voting for the right people is important.
"Work is what you can get paid to do because nobody wants to do it." Alan Watts I'm 30 years old with a well paying, established job in manufacturing, and while many people think my job is so great and this is where I should want to be, I've learned that the perspective, especially in America, of the "value of hard work" is horribly misguided. Notice, the people who tell you to work hard and hard work is good for you and that should be your goal, they either have other people doing the hard work for them, or they've worked their life away, and look how broken down they are. Don't work your life away.
"Hard work" is brute-forcing it. Most successful people like Elon Musk wouldn't say "Work hard", but "Make a lot of mistakes". When he slept in his Tesla factory's office during production, it wasn't because he was "working hard", it was because his guidance and supervision was needed almost 24/7. Sure, he "worked hard", but what he actually did was have no trust in hiring people who could share this supervision burden. So in a sense, "working hard" is just "working stupid", when you could make this work a lot easier and efficient with a little bit of "hard work".
This mentality is a direct, historical result of the people here refusing to teach, honor, and acknowledge the complex history of american chattle slavery. What naysayers also fail to realize is not wanting to work doesn't just come from a place of privilege. Their viewpoint is steeped in capitalist realism, lack of nuance, and plain misinformation. There's no need for us to work as hard as we do when we have everything we could ever need and then some at our fingertips in this country. Other countries do not have this same luxury as a result of another vast web of forces hellbent on keeping them in abject poverty, but they also deserve to work much less than they do as well. This stance isn't just for decently well-off white people who don't wanna work and I wish more people could be upfront about that.
Ive felt this way my entire life. The word “career” actually gives me a pit in my stomach and makes me cringe. Ive never understood why people want a “career.” Life is about relationships, health, wellbeing, and personal growth in my opinion. Id rather live simply than slave away my time at a company.
Yeah, people doing jobs that we literally cannot live without (doctors, nurses, engineers) are just empty shills for companies... I get what you’re saying, but people need to work so people like you can sit on your phone (designed and manufactured by engineers, programmers, marketers) and complain about having to go to a job
@@Becky0494 I’m not saying rewarding jobs that truly make a difference are empty. But climbing some corporate latter for status is not the path for me. Many (not all) corporate jobs have very little positive impact on society. And meanwhile, motherhood has been degraded while women are told they need to “have it all” to justify their worth and are encouraged to pursue a stressful career while someone else raises their kids. Motherhood is a job that “we literally cannot live without” yet society does not act like its worthwhile. Also, I am a marketer (purposefully part time and I live frugally to afford the pay cut) and I promise you it is not a job that has any meaning or higher value. Id give up my phone in a heart beat.
Venus Project, Zeitgeist Movement, Peter Joseph, Jacque Fresco, Free World Charter, and the 14 hour TROMsite documentary helped me know that what I was feeling all along was correct. Funny how people cheer for a system that brings war profiteers, prisons for profit, and a system that creates a multitude of crappy and unhealthy products just so we can have jobs. Some people would volunteer to help in our hospitals, become doctors, help the elderly for the joy of helping others. Not everyone would sit around and play video games. Automation and AI will one day render most jobs useless and resources on a finite planet cannot allow the system to continue. Watch Paradise or Oblivion on TH-cam.
@@mikaela9799 they are all based on a better way of organized society for the better of all humans, the environment, and treating the world and its resources as a whole. Look on TH-cam for "Paradise or Oblivion" for a overview. You can then google search for the others. There are also tons of youtube videos of Jacque Fresco on different topics. All of those I listed believe that a monetary system or even a society based on trade will always result in poverty, war, violence, etc.
Y’all ever notice that it’s impossible to hang out with anyone outside of work bc our schedules are always so different therefore ensuring isolation even more
Because there's like, a balance. Working all day every day is not healthy and not fulfilling for most people. But there's a reason so many people fall into despair after retirement, because generativity, or feeling like you're being productive or contributing, is really important. It doesn't have to be in the form of a career, a lot of people like volunteering or other passion projects, but like, just wanting to have unlimited money and goof off all day genuinely isn't fulfilling.
@@JemimaDoesASMR I think it’s all about perspective. Some people might love goofing off and living a carefree life if that exists. But I know what you mean. Being a part of something bigger than you is fulfilling
In her defense, we're not yet at a world where we can afford to not work, unfortunately; I feel like your ex might've been worried that she'd have to devote her life to earning and taking care of somebody who won't provide anything in return for the rest of her life. And that sucks, yk, that that's the alternative to not working, but I feel like we shouldnt look down on her for feeling alarmed when this is still the world we live in
YES!!!!!! WHY aren’t we allowed to “job hop” to EXPLORE and LEARN and be a WELL-ROUNDED, OPEN-MINDED PERSON?!?!?!?! I never got that!!!!!!! If you want to only do one thing then HECK YES!!!!!!!! GO YOU!!!!!! But why is EVERYONE EXPECTED to do this instead of truly enjoying the world and life they live?!
Well, the down side of doing this is that you'll always be at entry level. You will not achieve the expert level reward of honing your skill. That's the downside of being a generalist. The downside of being an expert is having limited choice of employers and/or being highly susceptible to industry ups and downs.
I don't think you're not allowed to. But for the businesses hiring you probably look unreliable? Most businesses don't want to invest into an employee that will leave and they will have to replace later. I think that's as simple as it gets
I spent my 20's and 30's working very hard to get everything I wanted. I missed the first 6 years of my daughter because I left when it was still dark and came home long after her bedtime. I have a house, two cars, swimming pool, daughter in private school, the whole thing. Then, during the lockdown, for the first time I was forced to actually sit in my garden. I was looking out over the pool, having a coffee and listening to the birds signing, and realized I don't get any joy from it. All my possessions are chains, I don't own it, it owns me. When I swim with my kid, I only see the dirt on the bottom that still needs to be cleaned, when I sit in the garden, I only see the grass that needs to be cut, walking though the house I only see the paint that needs to be redone, the new crack that needs to be filled etc. So I quit my job, started my own thing and I am moving to Europe with my family to travel and see all the things we always wanted to see. My daughter will be home schooled and hope that I can teach her to NEVER, EVER, get caught up in the brainwashed dreams we are sold by society.
This is so beautiful. I love that you're taking your daughter away from the atmosphere of propaganda. When in school you get fed with nothing but the "only way to success" narrative which is very close minded and employee orientated
Yes, we are told that if we buy this external thing that we will fix internal problems. The make us think we need these things to be "successful" or happy. We work to survive, and the corperations (or whoever) we work for love it when we hustle and base our self worth in how productive (in this context) we are. But we need to see that the system needs to change, inequalities need to be challenged, so our lives aren't just about working for some cooperation, and we can't just ignore it. We need to collectively bring change to liberate every worker from being wage slaves.
as someone working as a nurse, the identity issue hits HARD. throughout school and at the beginning of my first job, I lived and breathed nursing. it was a huge source of pride and purpose for me, and this mindset was aggressively cultivated in school and at my job. I think healthcare, especially in the age of the pandemic, there's an insidious culture of guilt when you don't devote yourself completely to your job. don't you care about your patients? didn't you become a nurse to help people? I sure did! but not at the expense of my own enjoyment, well-being, and self-worth. at the end of the day, my job is just my job. I love what I do, but it is not who I am and it's SO liberating to finally feel this way after years of being told otherwise.
I love and value that you’re a nurse! I also agree that is not the only thing that defines who you are but throughout the pandemic there are so many people who are grateful for you!
THIS. Other nurses have given me so much hell for saying "a nurse isn't all that I am, there's a lot more to me" because it's universally believed that once you graduate nursing school, THAT is your core identity. SUPER unhealthy.
I’m a student nurse and there’s so much pressure to live and breathe your job then just sleep and do nothing at home. I want to complete my nursing course I really love it. But I’m not sure wether I’ll do it for the rest of my life as as an autistic person it’s v hard for anxiety especially when some nurses and everything but I’d love to do another job along w bank nursing (so choosing my shifts whenever and doing another alongside , like my own business)
My problem is I am unable to focus on life when I have a job. A job requires about 95% of my mental focus and strength to keep going, which just leaves me mentally exhausted for the other 5% that involves the basic personal care of eating, hygiene and sleeping. The happiest and most content I have ever been is when I have been out of work. It seems to be either or for me, job and no life or a life but no job.
It sounds like your work is burning you out. I used to spend whole weekends just netflixing. Part time job with a side gig when i have the energy seems to work best for me.
@@rosepemberton5262 Yes, but I've had many different jobs and they all require 100% mental focus to get through. I couldn't afford to live on a part time job, cost of living is too high.
You're simply overworking. Trust me, the moment you have let's say a month of free time, you realize how little you've actually done that you "wanted" to accomplish while daydreaming. Honestly, we need to work. It balances us out. The most stuff I ever did in my job and free time was when I had a part-time job. I had enough energy for worklife and normal life. I learned to play more of the guitar than I did in an entire summer of just sitting on my ass unemployed just as an example. Too much free time is makes you as lethargic as too much work. Also, cost of living high? I guess you life in a big city?
This video was so validating! I’m currently 22 and it feels like my peers have it all figured out. But, I’m realizing it’s not that I don’t have it “figured out”, I just don’t have any desire to devote all of those years of my life to a company that doesn’t care about me. Thank you for this
No one ever has it figured out, even the elderly. You're in a race by yourself. Don't focus on what others are doing, strive to be the best version of you. ✌🏾❤
At 22 I was a software engineer. From the outside, it might have looked like I had it "figured out", but really I was depressed and confused. I think that most people haven't figured out a damn thing.
This is such a common feeling in your 20s, but honestly, for most people their 20s is the time they feel least in control. I think you come out of your teens and feel like you need to demonstrate that you're no longer a kid and that you can function as an adult, but I remember asking my mum in my late teens when I would feel like an adult. She replied, 'I still don't'. We're all just play acting. I'm 47 and I still don't have it figured out. Always learning and enjoying the process. 💕
I'd like to add: We all were told to go to college in high school and then at the age of 17 told to pick that career or else you wouldn't be somebody. And then what? Hope we don't wake up 20years later hoping we didn't just waste our life?
If I didn't have to work, I would: - exercise regularly and get my myself back to healthy weight - learn to cook meals that are tasty, healthy and nutritious - grow a vegetable garden - keep a pet animal (or two) - draw whatever I want and accept more art commissions - explore outdoors and maybe travel overseas with my partner - maintain a cozy home Edit: To clarify, these are some things i would like to do to occupy my time when I no longer have financial/job insecurity. I get that these things can be done on the side. But as of now, I spend most of my time focused on my job/earning money. To be honest, I rarely ever feel well-rested so I don't pile on more things which might be irresponsible of me to do.
trust me whenever im not working im just lazing around on my phone or in my bed. working drives majority of us. I do however get spikes of motivation to that stuff. I feel we should we working less (especially japan poor them) and have more of a balance in our lives rather than eliminating one thing thinking it'll better everything.
If you didn't work, you wouldn't do any of those things. You'd laze around, do a bunch of half finished projects, and then be bored and listless. I mean think about the times in your life when you did have a lot of downtime? Vacation, lost a job, etc,. The vast majority of us mostly just dicked around. We didn't become productive people. Productive people who truly have the drive to pursue their goals (whether it's health or passions) are going to do them, regardless of whether they work a 9 to 5. People use the existence of their jobs as an excuse not do shit. If you really wanted to exercise. You would do it. If you really wanted to learn how to cook and eat healthier meals, you would do it. If you really wanted to draw more or have another pet, YOU WOULD DO IT.
People have mentioned they experience lethargy when they have had a period of free time. I think this inevitable because deep down inside you want to have a break from the American style work week. if you have enough time off you get bored and you genuinely want to be productive in some way - that could include cooking and gardening. I think most people who have been in the workforce for more than a decade could use a three to six month vacation. When you do become productive you have to actually make plans have a schedule and even "make" yourself work sometimes You won't always feel like working in the garden.
I needed this video. I have been an ICU nurse for almost three years. I have sacrificed weekends, I work nights, I have sacrificed holidays, been forced to pick up extra work days... I have been abused by patients, experienced lateral abuse in the workforce... But I kept telling myself: I need to be a nurse. I worked hard for this, I chose to sacrifice my life for others. Now, I am in a job that is a top pediatric hospital my “dream job” that forces me to work every other weekend, forced me on an extra weekend in June, working holidays, have to find my own coverage for weekend PTO, forced to pick up Sundays.... I finally realize that this isn’t the life for me. It’s scary because I don’t have debt anymore and bought a house but I would rather take the risk, change careers, and live a life for me that I can actually impact others. 💜 I haven’t been able to focus on the areas I love, the creativity I lack now. I work to sleep, to eat, to repeat...
Nurse here as well...l knoooow exactly how u feel!! I recommend u switch to a per diem or a home health.....we are pushed to work at these "fancy" hospitals and strive for mangerial positions etc.. and like it doesn't matter at the end.....it is so not worth it!! Don't feel bad or guilty...it is just a job. Your life outside of it matters
I hope you and all the nurses know you are making a HUGE impact even on days you don’t feel like you are. You’re appreciated so much! However I also understand if you feel it’s not something that makes you feel fulfilled at the end of the day. I hope you can reach your dreams and find something you love, or find a deeper meaning within what you already do so you can keep going. We love you nurses!
I'm about to finish nursing I'm an assistant nurse rn and thank you! I feel like the nature of nursing makes it even harder to admit you're not enjoying it because as nurses we're expected to be selfless and put patients before ourselves. I've finally decided I dont want to do hospital nursing when I'm done because the stress is already too much.
I work as a software engineer. I could care less about the work, it’s just a paycheck to me but I have a startup on the side which I get enjoyment out of and I’m proud of making that effort/work part of my identity because it’s mine. Even when it’s hard/exhausting. I never understood when people are so passionate about other peoples companies. I couldn’t care less.
I think people find themselves working so hard because they can't afford to retire (live the life they want) if they don't. I don't think it has much to do with the company they work for.
I literally cannot see myself working at a 9-5 job for the rest of my life and being happy. Life is too short to waste it doing things for someone else who doesn't care about my well being.
it is not your boss's job to care for your wellbeing however, you are right, if you do not want to do "things for someone else" you need to start working for yourself. the trick is to be able to do this and not starve!
Yeah, no. Because after doing your hygiene, eating, and striving for 8 hours of sleep, you have no time to live. You’re living for the weekends where likely you’re spending those days cleaning, and running errands or whatnot. And that’s IF you have a stable 9-5. Don’t even get me started on the other side that works these low paying jobs with no benefits that see no issue in scheduling you for an opening shift right after a closing shift. Like wtf? I’ve been pushed to lie and say I have a kid just to get a decent schedule with respect to my wellbeing.
@@DrWhom It should be. Because if I'm giving you my time and energy - most precious thing, I expect more than some paper. I expect fairness at the least.
I think most people are broken from going to school all day everyday. I was homeschooled and will find a way out. I will never get a full time job; never!
@@monkey6207 Same. I was also homeschooled and only did a couple years of online school that destroyed my mental health. We can find a way out of this. A job is not our purpose... We are bigger than this shit.
Also I'm not a Boomer, I just know the difference between sitting on your ass in front of a screen all day and actually being more active in a real, human, face to face work environment.
@@motherwolf1529 No, many employers weren’t paying their employees enough to live and their greed caught up with them. Let’s call a thing a thing. Stop defending this pathetic system.
I work on an oncology floor and it legitimately breaks my heart to see my patients laying in bed seeking treatment for their late stage cancers still working on their corporate laptops. Also I love the parts of goodbye, again that you shared.
Why do they do that, do you think? Do they need the money for their cancer treatment, so they can't afford to stop working even when they're sick? Or do they do it because they're actually that bothered about the career ladder even when they're literally dying?
@@SwitchSilver so people in America with terminal diseases have to keep working till they die or recover completely? That seems like a psychotic system. Why don't they just take out private insurance?
this whole video lit me the fuck up. I feel so seen, so heard, and excited to start to dream in a way that will produce a life that is well-lived versus well worked.
Wowwww reading this comment made me light up too just from the power behind the words in it!! I hope you’ve been dreaming up a life well-lived in the past 5 months 💕
What’s sad is that I think more people would come to this same conclusion if they had the time and emotional energy to do more introspection. But when I get home from work, my mind is so empty and I’m so exhausted, the last thing I want to do is reevaluate my life choices and find out I’m wasting my life so my boss can enjoy theirs.
It's easy to see one's boss as the evil corporate overlord, when he could well be just as dead inside, except with a higher salary at the cost of even more work and responsibilities. Having a subordinate doesn't mean your fixed salary magically turns into stocks.
@@thembones9268 no I understand, I’m using “boss” as short hand for upper level management. My direct managers are both sweethearts who I don’t fault at all. They have zero control over my pay and benefits since I’m a contract employee. The people who control my work site aren’t allowing permanent employees to be hired, so they’re not even allowed to bring me on permanently at the moment. They’re more who I’m talking about.
I was fortunate to have these realizations in my early 20s, and I'm glad to see that the generation behind me is having them as well. It would be great if we can keep this up and start pushing this message to kids earlier in life.
I feel like my generation is burning out and has put self-respect out the window for money and validation. It's terrible that the mindset for a fresh highschool graduate, is to hurry up and get a career and a fancy office job that they don't want for money. I hate that I even fall to that pressure (from my dad specifically). When family, and society put that pressure on you to "conform" to the work till you drop lifestyle;it's tiring. It takes away your desire to be yourself and to do things with passion. I know work has it's own sphere,but I believe that whatever your job is, at least get one that you want to do and that isn't attached to your self worth or validation. Work is not your life.
work does not define you but if you don't work you don't eat. find a job you like. if we all stop working and only do what makes us feel good, the country will implode. in fact, it's already happening.
Yeah. Could be worse too if you do seek after money, attention, status/fame/pleasure and validation like selling yourself on OnlyFans, Camgirl, or to be a Porn “star”, in place of more fulfilling hobbies, career, family, children, travel, community volunteering, marriage etc.
This is such a powerful conversation. I’m a boomer (but still feel like a millennial :) - Every generation had pressure to go to work, make money - the difference was - it was formerly to pay bills, raise a family, not make millions and hit it big on TH-cam. Millennials grew up with this kind of pressure since childhood - diff from the other generations AND the immense debt they are saddled with after college is also new. This is just too hard a way to start life and is definitely having an impact on mental health. However, what is the way to live your life, then? What is important? How do you live and thrive without money? If you don’t get a typical corporate job, what do you do? Live in your parents’ house til you’re 30 or older? I agree - there must be more to life than getting ahead. But nothing feels better than when you have money in the bank to see the world, go where you want, eat where you want etc. So it’s a big dilemma....
I have mental illnesses and, in my case, they have been disabling. I dropped out of high school my senior year and for the longest time my obsession was getting back "on track." Get my GED, get into a four year university, figure out what my (marketable) passion was, and have a career. This is how I thought my life would go for as long as I could remember and I was desperate to make it happen because I had so much of my self-worth tied up in it. I forced myself through two semesters of college and had an absolute breakdown. I forced myself to get a part time job...and had an absolute breakdown. I was devastated. For now, at least, neither school nor working a traditional job are options for me but I am unbelievably lucky in that I have parents that support me. I recently turned 30 and that looming birthday brought all my lingering feelings of failure and self-doubt to the surface. But your video makes me wonder. What if I wasn't ill? What if I had followed "the plan"? Gotten a degree and a career? I was so focused on achieving these goals I never stopped to think about if they would make me happy. I honestly doubt it. It's entirely possible that, even if I didn't have the mental illnesses I do now. that forcing myself down that track would have caused a whole different host of mental health problems. Thanks for the video. It's given me lots to think about.
ok yes, ever since i was a kid and everyone was talking about their dream job and i never had one. i was always jealous of Barbie bc she worked like every job, she didn't have a career just worked whatever job she wanted but never let it be her life, her life was being fabulous!! i especially hate jobs that require you to take your work home... no no no! it's not my life. that's another reason i don't want a career but i am scared of graduating college next year bc i realized i have to figure something out lmao
I feel this comment SO MUCH. I wanted to do everything, like Barbie, and be fabulous. :) Still do. It makes post-grad stuff really stressful, though. 😅 I'm in the same boat as you.
I feel you sis, I'm in 11th grade. Doing school to go to uni when I already know what to do. Barbie is my inspiration 100% I want to be an etiquette consultant and open a charm school eventually because I notice that manners and healthy social etiquette in this day and age is dwindling. In all honesty why can't I go to university in my late 20s early 30s. After 12 years in school I really want to pursue life travel, work in the tourism industry, become a home maker, wife and mother. Then study, because I already know what I want to study, I love learning, I just can't stomach the idea of doing continuous school. Food for thought
That's a great point! Especially when you try to compare to classmates who always knew what they wanted to be. We change so much from high school to university, it a way it doesn't make sense to hold the same career for a lifetime.
This is shedding new light on why I liked barbie so much as a kid hahahha Im graduating next year with a degree in science and French, but I think instead of trying to climb up the career ladder, I’ll go back to school and get a masters of teaching. Being a teacher will of course be challenging but at least it has a purpose and allows you to be a huge part of your community and help people.
What breaks my heart is that my dad is in the hospital, he is waiting for tests to come back that will tell him if he will be living much longer or not. Guess what? All he does is work from his hospital bed. He hasn't called his siblings or children to tell us how much he loves us. His whole life is his job. It's so extremely sad.
@@duncanbug Thanks. It really is sad. I called him and he talked about how busy he is trying to work from his hospital bed and rushed me off the phone.😭 His life is the exact opposite of the one I want to live.
That’s really sad, I’m sorry. Maybe you can take the time to tel him how much you love him. I don’t know if this is the case for him, but sometimes people work to distract themselves from their feelings. You could always try taking the first step and see how he responds. I hope he’s okay
I left my job at Apple this past Friday. It was a decision informed by desperation and fear of dying of exhaustion. I'm 43 and totally burnt out. I just want to spend time with family and enjoy my home. But I need to find another job if I want to pay my bills. I hate this cycle. I'm a feminist and I feel like not being hardcore about work and achievement makes me a failure as a modern woman, especially since I'm not a mother. This video was incredibly reassuring and needed. THANK YOU.
I used to feel like a loser for not having big career aspirations but thankfully I was able to get over that. My job is not my passion and it’s nothing fancy but my bills are paid, the hours and benefits are good and I’m not expected to work overtime. It’s enough for me.
It's great to hear you prioritizing your health. I used to work as a lab manager and it was super stressful, but nothing prepared me for getting hit by a car as a pedestrian... Let me tell you, it took 8 years of rehab to be able to walk, talk and find some meaning in my life again. I learned so much from almost dying, having all my abilities being taken away to realize my life is worth more. Try to find the type of work that gives you fulfillment as well as money, cause life is too short and can be taken away in an instant. Trust me it can be done. You are a wonderful human who can do anything!
That’s not feminism that makes you feel like a loser for not being hardcore about work. That’s capitalism telling you your use-value as a human being is be productive and competitive for rich people’s benefit. Take some time to degprogram. Good luck on your next phase!
I think one of the aspects of feminism is having the choice to do what's right for you. You don't have to have a high profile career and conquer the corporate world if you don't feel called to do so. Your achievements can include enjoying your home life with your family.
It's ok if you become a stay at home mom or wife or stay home and njoy your passions like music cooking art or travelling, life isn't all about working for someone else and getting paid and making money
I want my life work to be: -constantly learning about the beautiful world and universe around me -practicing spirituality -healing myself and helping others to heal as well -doing art for the sake of art -playing my intruments whenever i want to listen to music -writing whenever i want to read something -growing my own food and cooking it whenever i am hungry -going outside when i feel like it
I just realized that I haven’t had a break for longer than a week either from school or work since the summer after my freshman year in high school. I went to school and worked every summer, then I went away to college...and came home and worked every summer...then I graduated college and the day before graduation I was offered a corporate job, which I started at 1 week later. Fast forward to today...I’m 40 years old and still at that corporate job. They’ve given me raises, promotions, bigger offices...but I long for a life in the arts. I want to sell my crafts at craft markets...I want to explore healthy cooking...I want to plant a vegetable garden...I want to be a travel blogger...and I want to have coffee with my mom in the middle of the afternoon on a Tuesday and pick my nephews up from school 3 days a week. I have so many things I’d rather do that I can’t even list them all here. My passion for art and writing and music and photography has been on hold for over 20 years. I want to spend more time with my parents and my nephews and my husband and my siblings and my 90-year-old grandpa. I don’t want to give employee evaluations, manage task inboxes, and attend team building huddles every single morning anymore. I’d love a 3 month break...and maybe even a permanent break from my corporate job. A break to clear my mind, find out who I am. I want to feel free.
Wow u stayed in tht job for 40 yrs 😲😲😲 even my grandparents and parents have had a similar life story and tbh i cant imagine doing tht 😭😭😭 it looks so depressing for me maybe cuz i already feel like school college is some kinda jail its like u graduste from highschool AKA AIL go to another jail called college and work is JAIL part 3 and the marriage 😢😢 but ig this is wht life is 😥
I would encourage you to do all the activities you described. I used to enjoy picking my 8 year old nephew up from school every Wednesday and taking him to karate 😊🥰Not sure if you have experienced death and loss yet, however, it will make you reconsider and reflect your life and what's truly important. My mom died unexpectedly and my best friend died about a year later. I questioned my existence and what really mattered. My best advice is to create a strategy and go for it. It may be part-time work or a short sabbatical. I know it's cliche but it's true that life is not infinite. At 46 years old, I have been fortunate to take small breaks from corporate work and have been rejuvenated during the downtime I created. Good luck! Don't question yourself and claim the life you want.
I was in the same boat last year, and luckily had enough saved up that I was able to take the time off that I needed, and though it's been a few months now, I still don't know the job that I want to get back into, but my mental health is SO much better than it was when I was working 60+ hours a week in NYC and not spending time thinking about the things I truly wanted. What I do know, after this time, is what's important to me, what makes me happy vs what upsets me, what I want to handle vs what is not worth my energy, and energy in general... I have it for the people who mean the most to me again. Fuck that rat race. Best of luck with your dreams; they're valid and WORTH your energy if you say they are. We don't live long enough to simply be the cogs in other peoples wheels.
@@verbosibee Thank you so much! Just knowing your mental health improved is really amazing. And you’re right, just being able to clear your mind enough to know what you enjoy and what upsets you and decipher between the two is huge. Thank you again.
It is very nice to ask yourself a question: "When I lay dying somewhere - will I remember the countless hours of stacking up boxes or filling forms?" Maybe I will just remember that one time when I was soaking wet and eating a burger - after losing my shoes somewhere and having a laugh? We are just some older kids. Don't let the kid die in you.
No, but i’ll remember making my parents proud, providing for my family, having money to pursue my dreams, feeling fulfilled for being strong enough to do something that I find difficult, for the hobbies it allows me to follow, for the growth in character and the lessons it teaches me, for the people I meet...
Why not be a doctor? Why not use your career to help people? Why does it have to be filling forms and stacking boxes. It doesn’t have to be. That’s just a bottlenecked stereotype of “work”. The lady’s first mistake was doing business when she clearly likes art and preaching her philosophy (which I encourage because I like the discussion).
It's incredible how many angry, defensive comments are under the lists people made when answering what they'd like to do if they didn't need to work. Please, ask yourself why seeing hobbies and gentle desires makes you so hostile.
@@fbaallied personally, I'm not from a first world country, but I don't want to spend my whole life slaving away to a company for pennies, they'll never share profit with us workers, so yuh. Fuck capitalism, finally we opened our eyes to the misery they pay us for our specialized labour.
My mom has been doing laundry for a nursing home for 25 years. When people ask her how she has stayed that long she says, "I leave my brains at the door when I come in, and pick them up when i leave."
This is kind of why i liked manual labor jobs even though I'm a journalist now. You just put in your time and don't have job stress. A cognitive job consumes your thoughts all the time.
The "haves" are controlling the "have-nots." I'm 60. Seen it all. Just yesterday it seems I was 20 years old in college. Life goes by faster than you ever think it will at age 20. Find a way to separate from the treadmill.
The "haves" have always controlled the "have-nots" The question is do you want to live in a society where being a "have not" means you're living in absolute squalor, like in every fucking communist regime ever tried, or do you want to live in a society where being a "have not" means you have a smartphone that you lazily browse while laying in bed in your air conditioned/heated room and whine about how bad capitalism is?
Yeah, I am 21 and since last year, I am already mentality preparing myself for my 40s. Im thinking what I want to be doing and how to get there. Fuck my 20s, I could care less. Its waning, no point in trying to catch it.
@@zeffery101 I’m glad to hear it. When you are in your 40s, you’ll be happy you prepared for your 40s. Along the way to your 60s, begin to think about your retirement years and what you want to be doing then so you can prepare and have an enjoyable, full life during those years also. But make sure to enjoy and appreciate your youth as well. There’s a lot of time spent being old, but you’re only young for a short time. Blessings. 🙏
@@Merknilash Haves and have nots is not just about communism versus capitalism. A bad life is a bad life, regardless of where one lives. But there is always hope to change one’s life for the better. Changing one’s life starts from within the human spirit and heart.
The fact that my ENTIRE family (my mom, my brother, and my sister) quit their jobs this year/last year to follow their dreams and take a risk speaks volumes!!! YOLO!!!
I spent thirty years of my life going up the corporate ladder. I reached the top. Now I think that it was a very stupid way to spend my life. I lived at work, and did not have a chance to do anything else. As I was going more and more up the ladder, it was expected of me to spend more of life at work and never to speak or consider that I had a life outside of work. As a woman, I worked in a men's world where I was the true minority. After giving my life to corporations, I regret doing that. I should have lived. I am not saying that you should not work, but young people need to find a better way to live than giving their lives to companies. I do not frown upon the new way of thinking of the younger trying to enjoy more of life. Your challenge today is to find a way to make money, but enjoy life at the same time.
Thank you! I'm learning to be a software engineer and my school's all about that "be a girl boss!" thing, hiring speakers to make us aspire to that kinda life. Me? I just want as much free time as possible, even if I have to live modestly.
It's honestly so comforting seeing everyone agreeing with this and going through similar things. It's so engrained into our brains after we finish school that if we don't have a career we'll be losers and hate life. I hope everyone purues their passions and interests 🙂
During my 20s, I was so worried about not having a "normal career" or being successful and saying "I do THIS THING for a living". I no longer care much about that. If I did find something that I just genuinely love and it turned into a career, that would be awesome. But I'm not going to worry about it anymore. I have a job that isn't fancy. But I've made some friends there and in general, I get by working there. That's all that matters. I'm also not interested in consumerism anymore. I'm only 32 and recently had some medical issues. Life is too short to not try to enjoy it the best you can. For me, being stressed by work/job duties isn't enjoyable. Some people really need that in their life though, and that's fine.
We need leisure, sleep and good health. Ironically these things make us more productive workers but make us look lazy. Most of us experience constant stress, worry, and busy-ness. A great many of us experience anxiety, depression. So, our bodies need rest, our minds need rest. And yet, we are so terrified of falling behind, not measuring up, not fitting in, or discovering that we’re unworthy or unlovable, that we fill every single moment of every single day with SOMETHING. Which leads us to numbness, dissociating, disconnecting, exhaustion, and burnout. You are not lazy. You deserve to rest. You deserve to slow down. You deserve nourish yourself: to sleep, to eat, to play, to have fun, to feel good. You never have to earn those things because those things are what it means to be human.
My life’s work is to *know people.* I want to interview people, learn languages, travel and visit museums, read more National Geographic and nonfiction anthropology books. Luckily my career does scratch this a little bit.
"Careers" went out with our parent's generation. Along with most unions. Now it's "employment at will", which means you can get fired at any time for any reason. Employers suck and have no loyalty to their employees, so why should employees feel any different? 🤷♂️
When I was young (I'm 58), first started working, the whole atmosphere was different. There was a mutual respect and a genuine working relationship between employers and employees. Today - more machines have taken work away from humans, and boss humans demoralize and objectify servile humans. There's a lot more I could say, but - I work for myself now, and I have never felt so free!
@@911preety This. I work for myself too and while I got into it because I wanted freedom and control over my life, a huge part of why I do it now is because I want to help others on their path to achieving the same. It's heartbreaking to watch people suffer in jobs and environments where they aren't valued and their jobs aren't safe.
Unions are trash and corrupt anyways What went out the window was leaders, people with values and virtue. All that plagues people's mind's nowadays is greed, fear (scarcity vs abundance), wanting more power, control and materialism. That's the problem
@@xXRubella666Xx Exactly! I have been through a lot of jobs in my life, and stability and respect are out the window. I truly appreciate not having to punch a timeclock or take orders from anyone!
@@911preety the fact that employers were never loyal to their employees are so sick. Plus when they feel "betrayed" and enforce discipline and all that shit I hate employment I hate people who were heirs of the parents who actually worked hard to build the businesses and yet actually still treated employees as equals. I hate entitled pricks
It is SO comforting to hear someone else who feels this way about the current working system! I still feel like it’s so radical to say that I just want to pursue what brings me joy rather than work for a company in order to keep a roof over my head! Love the yolo economy, love challenging the norm, thanks for being a part of this conversation!!!
I totally understand what you're saying, and the people in the comments as well, but this wouldn’t work for everyone. All (or most) of these "meaningless" "corporate" jobs all flow together in the economy so that we can each provide to each other goods and services we need and use on a daily basis. We all need to suck it up and do it because we are really lucky to be living in this time with the technology and modern medicine we have. All of our ancestors worked EXTREMELY hard in much worse conditions than us. We DO have time to follow our other passions as well. Instead of sitting on TH-cam or other social media or watching TV in our free time, we can go and do those things mentioned, like art, gardening, music, spending time with family, etc. We should change our attitudes and be grateful about what we have and be grateful for the jobs that we are able to work for:)
It seems like Americans ask two different questions. "What do you do?" is an abbreviation of "What do you do for a living?", meaning to make money. To ask about interests and hobbies separate from employment, the question is "What do you like to do?" If the two answers overlap, that's a different topic which she addressed.
Sometimes i question myself “should i leave America 🇺🇸 & move to 🇨🇦 ? Or live in 🇳🇴? 🇩🇰? 🇸🇪? Although these countries do have issues (like any country would) their actually more organized & have a different type of respect for the people who live in these places. These countries are Kicking Americas🇺🇸 ass right now. These countries seem very humble & not so “pyramid scheme” “ladder climbing” type mentality.
I figured this out when I realized that I never felt good about going to work. If I analysed my emotions related to work, they were almost always negative. Having the anxiety of waking up early, arriving on time, using public transport, preparing, being evaluated and making a fool out of myself, feeling tired after work, having no free time, dealing with disrespectful students (i'm a teacher). etc. Its no good spending 8 hours a day generally feeling negative, no matter the compensation especially if its low. Whats worse, you have to face it all again the next day. day after day after day.
I got fired from a job I worked for ten years and I realized I never spent any money because I worked 12-16 hour days for the last decade. Now I’m moving to Spain to take long naps during the day and read Ernest Hemingway.
What irks me is everything I'm passionate about would not be a viable career for me. I would not be able to support myself financially because my passions and talents aren't profitable enough in the real world.
@@loststars6533 I love this. I honestly love this idea. Coz I'm also into art,but I'm scared that it's not viable enough to financially support me. But I'll just open my mind to your suggestion, I'll be getting an income while discovering my passions. The result will be that I am more happy coz I contribute to my survival and also to my living...😉👍
@@loststars6533 you do realize that if I had a part time bank teller job I wouldn’t be able to afford above a shared room in a stranger’s house? You have no idea how much slack living with family takes up. It’s unrealistic and frankly rude to tell others they’ll just be free if you don’t also include all the things you don’t pay for yourself.
Make a podcast and share your passions. You can then monetize your knowledge through AdSense/affiliate marketing or a product you may produce. There's thousands of people that share your interest worldwide. You just need 1000 of those people to purchase your product. Good luck 🤞🏾😃
@@namedrop721 Sorry if it came across as unrealistic or rude. I do pay part of the rent, chip in for food/utilities, and pay for my own car (insurance, gas, repairs). I also pay for my own phone, my own subscriptions, and all of my own personal needs/wants (toiletries, for example) I'm not mooching off my folks here XD When it comes to sharing a space, I was talking more living with a group of people, like family or roommates (not renting a room -- that costs a small fortune considering what you get out of it).
Well, learn a profitable skill and use that to fund your passions. Aside from my job, I've learned how to trade (took me 1,5 years to become profitable, +/- around the begining of the pandemic). Now the plan is to make money, use the money to buy assets that will make me more money and then invest in starting business and philantrophic ventures. Because there is no way I will spend 40y being told what to do.
I haven't been in touch with this kind of thinking since I finished college. I'd actually started to feel that this kind of thinking just couldn't survive "the real world" since I hadn't seen it out here. Thrilled to have found your channel!
I've been saying this for a while now, but I seriously think that it's time for another big change of paradigm, this time focused on working less days, maybe 4/3 for starters, because at least for me it's not justified to give away five days of my week to make others rich, specially not when I'm capable of getting my stuff done in less time without compromising the quality of my work. That would totally improve most people's life, allowing them to spend more time with their families, children, pursuing their hobbies and passions, start working for living and not the other way around.
@@FruityUnicorn17 If you work for four 6-hour days, you'll only produce 24 hours worth of value per week and you'll only receive that much in compensation. That amounts to maybe $18000/year at current prices for the average worker. If you're happy with that and it satisfies all your needs, go for it!
The internet was supposed to help but it backfired. It made companies more efficient and way more money. Now we're trying to work hard to keep up with it. Other countries are looking into / trying 4 day work weeks.
@@jw6993 do you think people working 8 hours, five days a week are producing 40 hours of value? I've read a study that said on average an 8-hour employee actually only works 3. We're lying to ourselves, pretending to be busy, just to follow a scheme designed for people that used to work in factories. Conceptual jobs, or jobs that require at least a bit of thinking, as most jobs nowadays are, can't be done for eight hours a day without burning yourself out. Even people great at focusing can barely do it for more than two hours. Smart working is a step in the right direction, task-focused instead of time-focused days are another, since you'll be rewarding faster workers instead of punishing them.
I genuinely wish i took 5 years off after highschool so I could work partime for some money and just give myself time to THINK about life and what I wanted BEFORE being pushed into student debt with a high chance of not using the degree because it wasnt what I really wanted. Kids need a break from school after highschool and yet we jump right back in. Being able to reflect and explore life without knowing theres a test or assignment or project in our heads could have done so much for our generation.
Or you could go to trade school and get paid to learn, get out with actual real life skills and not cry about working in an air conditioned office on TH-cam.
You're not a kid after high school. you are an adult. you can't live with your parents for years and years, you have to make your own way in the world. life is hard, it's supposed to be hard and we get no breaks. You don't have to go to a college or go in debt, you can find your own way. But you have to start working or there is no car, and no place to live. no internet, no cell phone and parents will stop paying the bills.
I resonated with this. The difficult thing in this system is actually to earn time. I am happy to trade my skills for money, but the "job" doesn't end. It encroaches evenings and weekends and always asks for more. This culture has to change.
I think this is a really important distinction to make, and is at the basis of the "work to live, don't live to work" philosophy. A job is you trading your labor/skill/expertise etc for the money you need to live; you barter something you have (labor) for something you need (money). This used to be more direct, like trading the vegetables you grew for the cheese someone else made. The concept of a career is simply the illusion that your job (and its increasing demands) is for your own betterment and advancement, when in fact it's for someone else's benefit (and not in a broad sense like the betterment of humanity, but to benefit a very small group of people who already have more than they will ever need in their lifetimes and usually aren't too interested in sharing).
Americans are over-worked compared to some countries in Europe, where people actually have time to spend with their families and friends, rather than working till they drop wile their family and social life fall apart.
Hi these companies they suck the damn_ life"! Out of people"! Then when people wake_ up from the damn nightmare you are old with pain"! The extreme low wages even with a college education"!; Ridiculous though nothing at the end but damn pain" physical, emotionally corporate don't care you are a machine basically"! Blessings to you ✌️🙏👁️🌍🌍🌍🌍
this video felt like a painful yet gentle calling out to my current existence and my parent's and their parents, parents.... i always found it so odd that my mom would come home EXHAUSTED and say that she loves her work and it brings her joy, but I see how much it stresses her out...it could be a multitude of reasons as well but this video opened my eyes to a lot
I always hate that the first question someone asks you when you first meet them is "So what do you do for work?" And not "So what are your passions/ hobbies"
In the Nordic countries you are allowed to lead a lifestyle that doesn't center on your profession. Actually, in my home country Finland, it is usually considered rude to talk about your job, unless you are directly asked about it.
@@DaleCooper222 Actually, now that I think more about our culture, there is an actual downside to this way of thinking. Namely, us Finns are usually extremely secretive about our salaries or how much we make money. Talking publicly about your pay grade is just something that you must not do in any circumstances, it is simply inappropriate (this is completely opposite to the American culture, of course). Even when asked directly, you would usually get just some vague answer, like "I'll get along nicely" or "it's according to the collective labor agreement". Of course, this would give the employers an unfair edge over the employees, because in Finland nobody in their right mind is comparing their earnings in fear of social repercussions, so an unscrupulous employer could basicly just screw you over, if left unchecked. Luckily, we have pretty comprehensive collective labor agreements in nearly every profession to stop employers taking advantage of the fact that nobody here tells anyone, how much they are actually making in their job. Without these nationwide agreements, there would be no way for an applicant to know, how much he/she is supposed to get paid and for what kind of labor and for what kind of qualifications, because we just wouldn't talk about it openly.
@@Apollyon.King.of.the.Locusts mmm in Argentina people also don't talk too much about their earnings, probably because if they are well paid they feel they will be envy by others who don't (and others will become harsh to them) i use the glassdoor web for knowing what should i be paid for a job. But mostly our salaries are really low and the good job opportunities are running short. If you are not well paid mostly don't talk about how much because you feel ashamed... You only say "i don't get enough for living" me, for example i used to earn 315 usd at month and it's too low, and only talk about it with my closest friends.
@@DaleCooper222 Actually, it's the same here in Finland about the salaries - people are either afraid of that people will start hating them, if they earn more than their peers and also some people might be ashamed if they struggle financially. But the bigger problem, or should I say, one of our less than great national traits, is that we really envy what others have. Therefore, if you're well off, you'd better just shut up, before you lose all of your friends' respect. You can, of course, occasionally help others, that's okay, if you have the means to do so. Just don't rub it in their face, like most Americans seem to do from our perspective. Like for example, if you're giving to charities, you definitely must not do it in public, like Americans tend to do. It should be enough of a reward, that you get a tax cut for it (in the range of 850€-500000€ per fiscal year, applicable to both individuals and businesses alike).
@@DaleCooper222 how old are you? answering in english because of the thread of the conversation. I also live in argentina but I haven't know anyone yet who refuses to share their salary numbers (im 21)
I'm so glad you said this. People say things like "I don't want a career" but that's usually because they're privileged enough to have a nice life without needing to full time. I would love to fill my life with hobbies and family time and just work part time but I, like most people, have to work to pay the bills. I live in a country where rents and living costs are high. If I didn't have a good career I would live in squalor and poverty and that's not what I want for myself.
my life's work is healing myself and consequently gently guiding others to healing through being an example... i am starting to structure my life around healing, including decentering work. it feels a bit scary right now because i don't really know how this is going to work out and im taking risks to try and follow the path i feel called to. but im just going to keep going in that direction because ive already tried it the other way around (centering work above all else) and i was never fulfilled/happy and it was just a slow and painful death.. so im trying something new..
I'd kill to have my basic needs covered! I would rather be volunteering. I would rather be gardening. I would rather be making memories. I'd go to school just to learn, and honestly, I may never leave. I want to be forming connections, supporting my community, and I want to try to satiate my neverending curiosity about the world. As it stands now, I'm low-income. My family has been below the poverty line for several generations now. I get one chance at college because I can't afford to do this twice, and going to college has to somehow both educate me about the things I love... and also provide opportunities for the future. But I just love thoughtful discussions on philosophy, history, politics... I don't want to be a museum curator or a lawyer or a politician. So what am I to do? The "smart" choice is to make myself profitable. The *right* choice (for me) is to do what I love. If shit doesn't work out for me, I've always been poor, I'll manage. But people should NOT have to decide between their dreams and their livelihoods, so let's keep this conversation rolling
i think you can totally do both! find work that invests in your community, that utilizes some things you love. or another option, find a decent paying job that is fun, and do everything else you love in your free time. the first one combines both your passions and work, the second one separates them. both are valid options depending on your preferences. you can do it!!
The word of God says "if you believe that you have received already, then whatsoever you ask WILL BE DONE FOR YOU! The whole of mankind is suffering because of how we're able to believe or not believe the phrase "it will be done for you". It means that God will get physical for us. Jesus says that whoever discovers this secret is set free from labouring. So I'm engaging the believing process more by understanding that he acheives these things and creates wealth through his Holy Spirit at work in me and he helps me administer that wealth judiciously by giving me the fruits of the Spirit. So I acknowledge these truths several times a day and it's changing the way I ask for stuff. I ask for the joyous results of the work he'll do for me and not for work. Jesus blood was the price for the work so all I do is cash out... So when God says "it'll be done for you", he means it because he's the king of rest. Let's cease from our labours and rely his instead. Psalm 127 literally says it sucks to wake up early to toil and sleep late at night just because of food. Like I personally don't care for that sort of life, so if believing in his ability to give me free stuff is the only job God requires me to do in order to live my best life, you best believe I'm going to give it my absolute best shot day and night. So far, I've been doing this for a few days but I think it takes about 40days to really rid the body and mind of all doubt and resistance and start getting consistent results. I think that's why Jesus himself fasted 40days. It breaks the mindset of work and helps you really zone in on the power of God. Caveat: I'm sticking strictly with what Jesus Christ said. I'm not doing any new age stuff like Yoga, meditation, reiki, regression etc. Those are dangerous practices people get into because they don't acknowledge that God is their father. When you equate God with the universe then you lose your connection with him and will be doing more "work" again. Jesus Christ paid for the work with his life whereas it would cost us ours. Acknowledging that God is a real person helps us maintain a stronger connection with him through his HolySpirit which is his way of saying "welcome back my child"... I hope that us "lazies" will really press into this "believing God radically" thing, until he himself is shocked if he could ever be...lol! So that's my journey to doing absolutely nothing! Who's ready to join me? I can share my noteswith you daily if you send me an email to aniesafromerch@gmail dot com. See you in the free!
@@ngreat4390 I really hope you didn't just imply you've been fasting for 40 days. And also, prayer is a form of meditation, so I've got news for you...
As someone from a marginalized background, I really struggle with this because growing up having a career and a 9-5 is literally the end goal and that target of success. I know someone below mentioned the notion of privilege and I think that's really what it comes down to.
Yes, but if or possibly when you gain a skill, go to trade school or college & eventually have a career/job and if you keep slogging at that job/career & after all that... you realize you are no closer to being fulfilled, living a joyful life etc... then a real life-crisis is soon to follow for many people.
@MSunshine I’m an immigrant myself. I’m from Indonesia. It’s really great that you personally find fulfillment in what you do, really, for real. That’s fantastic. But I think it’s a very naive takeaway of what is essentially a video of self reflection and understanding one’s needs in terms of living. Admittedly I’m in a crossroads right now so perhaps I’m biased. If you saw my resume you’d probably be really impressed by where I’ve worked. By the things I’ve accomplished. And I’m lucky enough to be intelligent in a way that’s valued by corporations. But you easily say “9 to 5” as if that’s really all work demands from us. Most of the time it’s not - especially in the US. Most of the time, it’s this constant dichotomy between how productive are you versus oh but yes, of course as a company we care about you. (Spoiler alert, they don’t) This TH-camr mentions throughout the video how she doesn’t fault anybody who truly does find fulfillment in what they do. And I completely agree with that. If that’s for you, you do you. But it’s a little naive to worship at the altar of labor because it’s “produced good”. The only reason we have weekends is because of workers’ unions. Any type of safety features that we have in any industry has usually been paid for by blood. Labor inherently doesn’t produce good. Labor is labor, and there just happens to be some good people in it. I know, in my personal experience, corporations do not do good because it’s in their interest lol. They do good for optics and what’s more profitable. Further, you do not need a constant culture of prioritizing work if things are actually done efficiently and profit is not always at the forefront. But if you do want to work, because you’re crazy passionate about it, cool, go for that. No one is stopping you. I think it’s just pretty disingenuous to say “oh this comes from a view of privilege” when you don’t take the reality of American work culture to heart. Privileged or not if you are worth your money to a company, and unless you’re incredibly lucky, they work you to the bone. Any industry. Any profession. You’re incredibly lucky to have the mental capacity to become a doctor, an engineer, a whatever that has the potential to really produce and enact positive change. However if you truly knew what people actually produced on the day to day for a typical company... would you really have the same tune? And once again, I want to reiterate my point that this youtuber and anybody else who shares my opinion doesn’t want to stop anybody else from working. There just has to be a stop at worshipping career success as the apex of a poor person’s happiness. I came from that background. I am successful. And personally, I’m not happy. And I actually have made friends doing the work I do. I am happy that these people are content and happy with being productive. Personally, I’m finding more and more that it’s not for me. And that’s completely okay. This youtuber can’t provide solid, workable solutions because how American labor is structured at this point simply doesn’t provide “a way out” per se. And frankly, it’s not her job to tell you what you need to do if you choose to quit the lifestyle. It’s a self reflection, it’s honest, and I don’t think it should be discounted because she “comes from privilege”. What do you know about what she’s been through anyway? From the content of the rest of the channel it looks like she worked really hard. Why should her opinions be discounted because you can’t understand how she feels? Another point I want to push is, CORPORATIONS WANT TO USE NARRATIVES LIKE YOURS. They want to say, “see? We’ve paved the way for a person like this immigrant to be successful.” When in reality the most powerful ones take advantage of our society the most lol. Don’t be so easily manipulated by the American Dream narrative. If you find fulfillment in what you do, amazing. But in American culture, that enjoyment you get from your labor will always be eclipsed by the fact that someone else is out there profiting off of your work for a proportion of money that you can’t even imagine or comprehend, and worse, will never see. Until you partake in the system and the cycle continues itself. This was long. I guess I’m just tired of the “I’m an immigrant so stop complaining” narrative. It’s frankly irritating and hollow especially when considering how deeply flawed the American work culture is.
@@MsNinetydays i completely agree with you. I was the first in my family to go to college. And i hate the idea of working 9-5 job. I hate that we have to work 5 days a week.
Because action actually makes you feel good. Getting things accomplished and laboring makes you feel good when it's done. It's how we are wired Know what doesn't feel good? Sitting around like a lazy sack of shit playing games all day, and then wondering why you go to bed depressed
@@Merknilash Exactly, specifically I would say action makes you a stronger person. And the fulfillment of going through a series of arduous tasks and coming out the other side better makes you feel good.
@@Merknilash you know what doesn't feel good? doing the same thing every day, in a job you have no personal connection to, not being allowed to leave when you have finished all your work, sitting at the same chair from 8 to five everyday. Working outside, but having 20 years taken off your life and 0 benefits. Enjoying your job but knowing it gives you no safety net, and sometimes not even enough to survive. you can dare to demand a better economy. that's why there were unions. just because you were miserable, doesn't mean everyone else has to be too. and you really need to throw out the stereotype that everyrone who is unhappy with their job plays videogames all day, it's very inaccurate
Oh girl, you are wise beyond your years! Love this video so much! I'm changing careers at 39 from 13 years in education. Found you as I'm exploring Edtech Sales. Love teaching a lot, and not totally burnt out, love the kids, but knew when I got into it that I would not be doing one thing for 30+ years, and at the time I wanted to teach for a while but recently I've started to outgrow my container. Don't over plan for the long term. Go with what brings you joy and fulfillment now, carve out time for joy and fulfillment outside of work life, and adapt and grow as you evolve!
Work is literally just the medium through which I can afford to be generous with family and friends, explore the world, and live. It is not my identity and does not deserve my loyalty.
At 18 years old, I was burnt out + heartbroken. I told myself, “Maybe in my next life, I’ll get to study a subject I actually enjoy.” It transformed me when I realized that I couldn’t live like that. My career aspirations, now? To be a good dog mom. To be of service to my community through dog training. To be a good partner. To sleep enough, eat well & exercise daily. To travel. To become an old woman surrounded by close friends.
Those are great goals but this is my advice to you. Goals are not fixed. Many of your goals will remain but as you get older, you will refine your goals but you will also discover new goals; many of them will prove to be far more important to you than your current goals. As you mature, the greatest priority for you is to balance achieving your current goals, but to also progress NOW in ways that place you in positions your future self would have hoped. The challenge is to act now in anticipation of future goals that you currently devalue.
Yes but try not to fly often because that is the WORST thing you can do to the melting arctic and increasing global temperature. Go learn more on my channel cute girl.
I work every day across from a friend/coworker who is a part-time worker (around 5 hours), while I work 8 and a half. He would always talk about the hobbies he did when he got home from work, the stores he hit on the way home, how he would make a healthy lunch for the next day, then video game out with buddies later that night. When he would ask about me, I would always reply that when I get home I have no energy to do anything. My hobbies have to wait for the weekend - I only have the energy to get a shower and then plop down in front of the tv or my laptop. He would roll his eyes at me when I said I didn't have the energy to meal-prep a healthy meal to take to work, that I just bought pre-packaged frozen meals instead. One day I had the opportunity to take a couple hours of left-over PTO, and I got to hitch a ride with him when he left for the day. When he dropped me off, I remarked on how much energy I had, how much time was still left in the day, that I actually understood the energy he had every day. If I had his schedule, I would be mentally and physically healthier - having time to exercise, meal-prep healthy food, engage in hobbies, etc. I now understand his experience - though he unfortunately still can't relate to the utter exhaustion I have to experience every day. He does say that sometimes when he's home he looks at the clock and feels bad because he knows I'm still there hours later. But I can't have his schedule.. the pay would be ridiculously low, and I would have no health insurance. So. I just suffer instead. Funny how I have to work myself into unhealthiness to get the health insurance, whereas if I didn't work myself to death, maybe I wouldn't need the doctors so much. Long personal post just to say - yes, I agree with you.
I'm not really sure what this comment means. Yeah, if people had less needs and your country had a better economy and people were given more things for less effort, happiness might improve?
@@creativebeetle I don't think there would be less effort if people worked 6 hours instead. Reverse might happen instead, people would be more motivated to do their job and get more done in shorter amount of time.
I am a dental student right now and have always "known" this is the path I will be eventually taking, not because I like it, but because from a very young age I was manipulated into believing this is what I want. I wasn't a bright independent kid so I didn't gave it a second thought about what I was constantly told, but now that I have grown to create my own philosophy of life and have my own definition of success, I see how unhappy I am with the path I have chosen. I want to give it up but unfortunately I am still dealing with a lot of external influences that it makes it hard to follow what I truely want in life. I am currently studying for a supposedly prestigious carreer that giving it up is socially considered a huge mistake. ("You will like the money you will earn later", "you will be called a doctor, people respect that", "it isn't easy to get to this place so be thankful", and many more comments I have heard) So I am holding on to it since according to everyone else it is the right path. I don't care about what others think, but when you hear continuously that it is a mistake you will eventually regret if you give up now, you really start to question your decision and get scared if you will really regret it later once there is no way back to it anymore. I am really glad I came across this video, where it is very accurately put in words how much worth the society puts into carreer and productivity associated with it that the real meaning of life and the real identity of people is being overshadowed.
I'm in my 50s and have an 18 year old. I quit my "career" to stay home with him and homeschooled him. We formed a family band and played music with his grandpa and dad starting at age 6. He has his own bands now. He loves music and although we followed a "rigorous" curruculum, we worked around time with family and music. We took our kids to visit family in nursing homes, went to funerals-often ours were the only kids there. My point is we took a chance on making less money and being human, really being with our family and community. Over the years I have felt guilty at times for my less corporate lifestyle and not pushing my son toward the typical college career. I've just always wanted family, community, creativity, intimacy, nature, nurture, time, rain, garden, family projects more than the status of a successful career and money. This video helps me not feel like I flaked out. Young people today are so smart and know the value of things they often weren't allowed to taste. Don't waste your humanity building corporate profits! Build a beautiful, life and collaborate with like minded people. Once we got what we needed from ourselves and our neighbors, we sang and danced with them, mourned with them, cooked and created with them. They were our wealth and safety net! The need for cash was minimal. We can get some of that back again. Keep believing!
My dad was laid off from a job he was at for 10 years and his entire worldview of his hard corporate work paying off was shattered. He's still dealing with the emotional ramifications to this day. And I think it's because his entire self esteem was based on work!
I liked your comment not because I like to hear things like that but I think it is super important to hear!!!!! Building your self esteem on your career is a very common mistake I guess and I always try to remember myself that I am a person 'outside of work' too and have to apprectiate my free-time more.
That’s how it should be. Workers are always treated like serfs when kings used to reign. We left that old system so that we could all become kings someday.
I've never worked at the same company for more than a year or two. But that's typical in my field. They want you to stay fresh. I started my career just before the dot com crash and was leery of staying any place too long. Saw what happened to people who stayed at jobs for 20+ years and were hosed because you become stagnant if you stay in one place too long.
HELLO & thanks for stopping by this here comment section! I felt compelled to clarify that not having a "career" is not the same as not having a job -- I completely understand that the vast majority of people do not have the freedom or ability to survive without work under capitalism. It is precisely *because* we have to spend so much time working that I advocate for a shift in the way we conceptualize of our identities, self-worth, validation away from labor.
"survive without work under capitalism" -- what system are you thinking of? There is no system that doesn't require work of someone (mostly everyone) for survival. So which one d'ya like? I really REALLY hope you say communism.
Post modernist philosophy, by which so many Millennials adhere to, is incapable of independent thinking. But when you get older you start to really, REALLY not care what others think. You're having an awakening.
That was a great video. Very well articulated.
See @Naval = 1) A fit body 2) a calm mind and 3) a house full of love. Those must be earned and cannot be bought.
There is this great book on the topic from a German author called The Capital . It even has a chapter where he talks about the feeling you have, it's called alienation :p
Jokes aside, great video. Thanks for the content. Cheers!
I just want to be finanically stable while still having a life.
Same!
Yess
We are all slaves, and we will continue to do so to the end of the days, the only thing we can do is choose where to be slaves.
And for that you have billions of thirldworlders working themselves to death for for some firstworlders to ve "freed" from moving paper 8 hours 5 days in week
Have a job that's stable and gives you time off and some Healthcare benefits while having side hobbies
My dad always told me, "...a job is just for making a living. Your family and community will be your reason for living."
I wish someone would have told me this in my teens. Sigh..... 😞
I feel this way so hard, but I feel so scared to live like this haha
@@Honeyvee22 truth. it may b worth it in the long run tho. just small small steps
true words!!! 😲
it’s hard to feel that way when your job is 80% of the time you spend a week
I want my life’s work to look like this
- growing a garden
- writing stories
- painting
- learning ceramics
- learning how to cook & bake better
- volunteering to help different causes
- spending most of my time with family and friends
Exactly bestie !♥️
Are you in the U.S? Will you have healthcare insurance? How will you pay rent? Can you hand on heart say that your dream lifestyle will not involve taking a single cent or asset from someone that worked hard to get it?
@Rich New those are the things that keep me up at night. I don't need a dream job, but I need money to pay for rent, food, all the different types of insurances, plus other things... I want to garden and fill my life with things I love. But those things costs money, and living and breathing costs money. I feel stuck
this is my ideal life, too.
@@Rich.Newell she said WANT. If society didn’t uphold government and currency and there was no reason to labor yourself to death, this is what she would WANT.
I lost my job because of illness. This is when I realized how dangerous it is if we base all our self-worth on our productivity. We are worthy as human beings as we are, our worth is not based on our productivity. I had to learn that the hard way.
Thank you so much for your comment. I have been utterly depressed after losing my career due to my Multiple Sclerosis taking a turn for the worse. Im devastated. I hope you are ok dear, I'm trying to find my worth without work.
I lost mine as a result of disability but that's tough to prove. In retrospect, I spent most of my life working but I learned that life isn't all about "the grind" it never really got me anywhere
Productivity should be a measure that you buy in yourself. Enjoy the freedom of choice.
I can't afford to lose my job and keep alot of things to myself , I'm sure my job would get rid of me if I was ever pregnant. It's almost cruel that your no longer worth keeping around if you have any disability, my husband was denied jobs for his as well
My father worked hard from 16 till his early 30's fell off a roof at work into tar and burned most his lower body . He's had cancer twice , and a whole bunch of other health problems because of that accident. He hasn't been able to work since and all the money he had saved up to buy a house for my mother and the kids was put towards treating his health. People put in all they have at jobs that will replace them in a blink of an eye and not even care about what happens to you.
I often feel inadequate for being so "unambitious" when it comes to careers, but I have to remind myself that you can be ambitious in your relationships, your non-monetized skills, your whatever!!
Still learning to remember and accept this as well, I appreciate the reminder and that I'm not alone in feeling this way. ☺️
Yes also by the current scenario life is unfair and unjust and unemployment is a major problem , most people don't like their jobs, terrible bosses, no passion, low salaries, nasty coworkers , nothing is worth it
“The simple things are also the most extraordinary things, and only the wise can see them.”
― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
!!! and as long as you're happy and you're not hurting anyone, who cares? That's the way it should be.
@@Chachixo some people are always bitter about it and get offended, fuck them, we shouldn't care , if she has money she is retiring then
I spent decades doing a job I absolutely hated because it "paid well". Don't do that, just don't. Now I'm old and sick, my wife's passed away and I spend a lot of time just thinking about the beautiful creative things I was capable of, the things I could have done, my talents and aptitudes.
I thought I was successful. I was wrong. I'm not saying this to be pitied. I'm saying it to serve as a warning beacon. I'm saying it to act as an existential lighthouse.
This shore is littered with shipwrecks. Steer clear.
Find other ways.
THIS.
Thank you, NeonRabbit. I needed to hear this. Desperately.
This made me tear up a bit 🥺
Wow, beacon received. You've helped me make a decision I've been desperately struggling with and I can't even begin to thank you. Time to plot another course. Again, thank you
Thank you so much for this I worked a job that payed well too but I was so depressed and my creativity died so I kind of died and started abusing drugs I was really going to kill myself since I already felt dead but then I finally got fired from that place and it was a blessing because now I do what I am passionate about and am not dreading my life anymore. I told myself if I go back to working those kind of jobs I would def off myself because if my creativity dies I die. Hearing your story gives me more inspiration to keep pushing.
remember folks.... a company will replace you in a few weeks if something happens to you, your family and friends will never be able to
Very true even if u dedicate all your time and hard effort to your work, you (the worker) will be replaceable by someone else in no time. Spending time with your family and friends is quality time. But sometimes it is so hard to plan and make time for your loved ones, since your time is being dedicated to your work and studying in order to have your job/dreamjob.
That's why you don't put your life at risk for your job if you don't have to. They'll just send your family a plant with a card to your funeral and keep on moving.
Wise words. Which is why I want to own my own business in the future even if it is part-time.
Of course they do...it's a business. What do you want them to do?
Unless you don’t have family or friends
A career is not who a person is and I think people are just getting sick of working so hard for little to no gain sometimes. It gets frustrating and all I want to do is enjoy my life for a change.
What ARE your videos
I first thought of my aunt. She has a very modest life (some would say lower-middle class). I honestly don’t even know what she does for a job nowadays. I admire her because when we go on hikes together she makes me laugh and think new thoughts. I admire her because she’s very spontaneous and loves adventure. I admire her because her house is filled to the brim with plants and it looks like a jungle. I admire her not because of her job, but because of her dynamic personality and her fun hobbies.
Yup, I know a few woman like this and seeing them content gives me something to consider in my own life.
I love this!! 🙌🏻
this is such a relief, but don we all!!??
“She makes me think new thoughts.” This is such a refreshing, inspiring, and wholesome idea 🙏🏻
I admire her too, thank you
The idea of a 40 year career made me so depressed after I finished school, only when I realized I can do whatever I want I don’t have to conform to a system I felt free.
how? how do you make money? If i dont have my job i cant pay my bills, but im too tired to do anything after work
@@e11eme the op doesnt mean he doednt have to work he saying it was crazy to think he has to do one single career and just work tirelessly for 40 years but he doesnt . He can quiet whebever he would like and do different job and try new things . You get out of life what you put into it . Be a slave to a system and stay in your comfort zone or dare to make bold choices and deal with them .
@@e11eme I do work! I‘m a self employed illustrator I always knew art is my true passion in life and finally pursued it. I love being self employed because the thought of working for someone else annoys me deeply since my career is my passion. I also now realized (I‘m 22) that I don’t have to be stuck in something I can always change, life in general always changes. I should’ve worded it better tbh, I felt like I had to do something I didn’t like and felt forced to do it just like school felt to me. That this was just how it is and that it just gets worse. That freedom you get when you turn into an adult can be overwhelming until you realize it’s all you ever wanted. Many people go with the mindset that life has to be miserable most times aka hating mondays cause of work they hate. I love every aspect of my life, finally a Monday doesn’t suck anymore.
@@e11eme maybe I can try giving you some advice. First you need to think about what you truly want in life what is your passion? And don’t overthink that it can be the most simple thing and its usually your passion since childhood. I always got the impression from my environment that art is a career for people who don’t wanna earn money that I should get a „real“ career. But that is total bs. You can make money from basically anything doesn’t matter what. Look at marie kondo for example, that woman just loved organization and made a whole career out of it. Don’t let other people limit your thinking of what you can achieve in life. If you have your passion you need to make a plan how to get there aka make money from it and here is yt and google your best friend I learned everything to be a self employed illustrator on here. And of course I had my years of working in retail and marketing at a 9-5 this took time and effort to achieve but it is absolutely possible. And also a very important aspect, maybe your passion isn’t a career. For some people their family is their passion, having kids and caring for them. Or living self substantially or whatever. You won’t feel like you don’t have time anymore because work „steals“ it all. Hope I could help 🌸
@@kitty79532 exactly what I meant!
I went through these thoughts and quit a corporate job when I was 38...I went from six figures to zero. I tried and had limited success creating income streams for myself while trying to find more balance in my life. At 43, I was 80,000 in debt and miserable. I returned to corporate America that year and made a vow to be thankful for the income and also know that it's just a job. I take all vacation...I don't strive for promotions and I work understanding that "they" don't give two craps about me. I do not spend hours ruminating on my work, I just do it and shut it down at the end of the day. Now, at 50, I'm out of debt and more realistic about how I approach work. It my case it was more about balance. I hated being broke and I don't want to live in a van, although I love that people are doing that. Good luck to you whichever way you go.
As someone who's about to be 28, thank you for this!!! Financial stability is a real concern
I appreciate you sharing your experience! I think we are in similar situations. I don't want to completely quit working, I just don't want my job to dominate me. This is not a popular attitude and I feel alone at times, surrounded by many ambitious crabs in a pot.
I think this is what I need to do. I’m late to life due to my circumstances and I’ve finally got a career but I need to work on allowing it to not dominate me. I feel like everything hangs on this job and I want everyone to like me and look at me as an asset. I stayed home today because I got a bad stomach that kept me up all night. I had to tell myself that I should stay home and get better and that my health is the most important, but moments come when I feel like I’m a disappointed which requires me to remind myself that I’m more important and to be okay if they stop liking me.
It’s important to know your baseline standard of living and what you need to do to
maintain that and no more. Yours may be higher than some peoples’, and that’s fine. Good for you that you figured out that balance.
Thank you for actually putting monetary figures in your story, they are always left out of conversations like this, as if it's not a problem, and leaving your job to frolic about the world is just a matter of balls.
"A salary is the drug they give you to forget your dreams." -Kevin O'Leary
Give Kevin some context lol
Also Kevin O'Leary 😒:
"Quiet quitting is bad for you. If you quiet quit, you are a loser"
@@ajaykiller1992 unless you "quiet quit" being a well paid spolesman for FTX
Classism much? Lol
'' Jobs aren't designed for you to love them '', that, hit me real hard. I've never looked at it that way before. I've always said to myself that I wanted a job which I love, that would make me happy. But I've come to the realization that I just want a job that doesn't make me almost cry, get mad, or be depressed when I wake up in the morning. I already get those feelings when I have to go to school, and I'm sick of them.
28 years old. It won't change unless you do something significant now. Wishing you the very, very best. Chase your dreams, please do. If you fail it's not a problem you'll love you had the balls to try. That may be the only consolation though, life is suffering. and more so when you think the way you've demonstrated (I do too, not attacking you). To simplify it all, assess your expectations and map out what would give you the most peace. If you do this honestly you'll realise that there are certain things you'll have to sacrifice or at least run the very real risk of not having (high status, marriage, kids, career) but ultimately you may (and only may) reach that point of peace and happiness, a worthy risk I'd say. Therapist and a little prayer won't hurt either ;). Lots of love - good luck
If the job has a meaning to you and gives you a sense of purpose, then you will end up loving it. ALL places of work have their challenges but some are tolerable and as an adult you will have the ability to navigate through them and decide when it's time to move on from that job that is bringing you misery!!
As humans we can be weak at times and it is OK, that is the reality. Accept it and give your body the right to feel whatever you are feeling at that moment and make prayers so that He might give you strength to go through this.
Try and minimize your consumption of social media, don't compare your life to others and definitely find something you enjoy outside of school(knitting, drawing, food making, self development courses, skating, exercise, writing.. etc.) This way you will map out your interests and discover your stronger sides.
Volunteering also helps a lot to frame you view of the world and it might make things clearer.
@@gmma125_5 Beautiful comment. In my religion there is the concept of making the effort and leaving to rest to GOD. If things are meant for you, no one will take them away from you. So when you fail, it means this was not meant for you to have at this moment in life(you might get them a later point) and maybe there is a lesson to be learned here for the future. You give your self time and then you try again. I hope the OP reads your comment
@gmma125_
@zinab2blessa
Thank you very much for taking some time out of your day to write those comments!♥ I REALLY appreciate them and will definitely take them into consideration/ apply them. I've already started, as you guys said, to map out what I enjoy doing the most, and got some ideas for the future. Especially because I've only got a couple of months left before graduating (PS: I didn't rush the ideas, it took me some time before I finally found out what I really liked).
Now, if things don't work out, I won't beat myself over them, as you guys said, maybe it wasn't meant for me and at least, I had the balls to pursue what was, at the time, important for me.
Of course, I know that not all things in life will be great, there will be some challenges however I'm still going to try my best and pursue what I love doing and if it wasn't meant to be, then it wasn't.
Again, thank you very much, I wish you a beautiful day/evening! ♥
Move off grid and become self reliant. Then you'll never need to worry about a career, job, money, bills, taxes etc. Then you have all the time in the world to enjoy life and not be a slave to the corrupted system.
I gave up on being an artist at the age of 18 because everyone told me that I would starve if I majored in art. So, I chose something more practical. I regretted that decision every day since. Luckily, at age 50, I have started to draw and paint again. It is like rediscovering the real person that I am. It’s never too late, folks.
I did the opposite and it’s a financial struggle. Grass isn’t always greener on the other side. You can have hobbies but still be practical at the same time. In school they told me I could be a doctor or lawyer if I wanted because of my grades..but I was rebellious and stubborn. Pursued art, and I’m doing ok, but nowhere near what I could be making if I applied myself in a more practical manner.
Idk why people give up their hobbies, plenty of hours in the week to accommodate almost anything if you delegate properly.....
Well all my family and friends didn't waste an opportunity to tell me my art was not gonna make me money to leave it and focus on back breaking work. Now im a tattoo artist and make money amd they bitch about how soft my hands are and how i dont have to wake up hella early like them so now im "lazy" .. lol so just do what u wanna do your worst enemy is not your family or people who tell u that you can't do something your wors enemy is yourself . If u doubt yourself u never gonna reach that dream. Keep on fighting dreamers of the world
@@cerberusnovaempire9483 that's very inspiring to me.
My daughter was an art major. She's an engineer now cause she liked to eat and live in a house. Don't be an art major, kids. That's a hobby, not a way to provide for yourself. No one can teach you art anyway. It comes from within.
I almost quit being an attorney despite it being the career I always wanted. Once I left the office I was working in and starting working for myself, I fell in love with it again. Sometimes it’s the toxic environments that we work that makes us hate our work.
The good thing is you’re licensed to practice law and you can work for yourself on your own terms.
THIS THIS THIS THIS!!! People really need to understand this before them completely give up on their dreams. I am in my 30s pursuing a new career and my goal is to get my independent license eventually so I can work for myself.
Yes mam!
Thiis!!!!
I’d argue the toxic environments are exactly because of the system which increasingly asks more of us, and makes us more competitive through scarcity, which forces people to become toxic to come out on top. It always starts from the root.
I admire people who:
1. Do things because they want to, and for no other reason
2. Love to see other people doing well
Not everyone has “good” choices/options when it comes to work. Nor can anyone expect to live a carefree, child-like life of “I’ll just do what I want” for the rest of our lives. At some point, we are pushed out of the nest and must fend for ourselves. I admire people who do what they need to do to can take care of their family (or themselves) without becoming a burden on others, still keep their optimism and creative spark alive, and don’t complain about living the consequences of the decisions they have made. I could have done better in this regard myself, but that was my bad, not my employer’s. The fact is, it is just easier to follow the crowd than to follow your heart - especially when you are young because you simply do not know better. It is the challenges in life that allow you the opportunity to “know better”. Learn, adjust, and try again.
@@annab.5052 I make my own options. I know life is hard, and it pushes us around, but people are capable of far more than they think. I wasted years of my life seeking approval from authority, only to be cursed and beaten down. This is why I do what I want, and I don't care what other people have to say- unless of course, they are indicating that I am harming them in some way.
I actually admire people more who do things they don’t want to but may need to . Life isn’t always about selfish wants. Balance requires you to not always put yourself first.
@@RealnameKevin Anyone who thinks they do things for other people fist are lying to themselves. Just admit and accept that you care about yourself first, then you will have a lot more time and energy to give to others.
Yes! I agree 1000%.
a wise older friend told me “everything you do in your life is your career.” totally changed me.
💞
Love this
Beautiful!
l love this!!
That's a really good one 💓
Thanks for sharing this beautiful ❤️
My husband was diagnosed with cancer 5 years ago. We had been saving and saving to buy a sailboat to live on so we could cruise the world. We had to use our savings to live off of as I had had a stroke a few months before his diagnosis (we were 36 and 24 at the time). When he went into remission we sold our house and moved into a truck camper. All 88 sq ft of freedom. While out roadtripping we stumbled upon a beautiful sailboat. A few months later, she was out home. It's been 3 years of tiny living and 2 years on the boat (upgrade to 100 sq ft). We wouldn't change it for anything. It's a real privilege to have this life and be out living our dreams at 40.
💕💕💕
You are living the dream!
Beautiful!
Guess I need to get myself cancer to escape my rat life lmao.
Sounds like the story for the modern poor.
"What do you want to be when you grow up?"
"An honest, brave, compassionate human being."
"No... I mean, how do you want to sell your labor?"
💯🤮
It really is disturbing how they primed our brains from such a young age to associate "what we want to BE" with a job/career. Super, super young children, almost as soon as they learn to talk and engage with the world, are being primed to associate their future identity with a job choice. It's scary how commonly that question was asked to me as a child, to all of us. Your identity is not the same thing as earning money - those are entirely different things. One is who you are, the other is just something you do to make money, completely unrelated. Sometimes they overlap for people, but it shouldn't be the default or the expectation.
I remember being very stressed when I was high school aged, and when I was trying out community college. There was so much pressure to choose a path that would fulfill me, what was I interested in. At 18 years old they expected me to know. Thankfully I left college before accepting any loans, because I realized I had no idea what I was getting into. I've separated earning money from my passions, and now everything is a lot more clear for me and I'm planning out my life in a way that makes sense to me.
:(
@@coyoter9691 It is crazy that everybody should know what they want to do as their job at the age of 18 and build the identity of themselves around that... People change as they age and what one wants at 18 might not be what they want when they are 38 😅 If we and our identities are aqual to our work wouldn't we be considered dead when we retire? 😂 Sadly though sometimes it seems to be so...
There are alternatives to selling your labor--they involve exceptional talent. Got any? Or do you just want other people who ARE selling their labor to pay your way?
when i was little people asked me "what i wanted to be when i grew up". i literally thought it was absurd that anyone would think i could actually dream of working
I buried my mom, dad, brother, uncle and grandad from the age of 9-13.
I'm 42 now and my passion is to help kids going through now what I went through in my childhood and help them through their grieving in a good and healthy way.
I'm in the process of starting a vtuber channel and sharing my life experiences and tips I've learned myself and from other people.
For kids who's going through the grieving process, they feel alone and I'm going to be there to help them.
@stogey1 wow! You sound amazing. That is such fulfilling and helpful purpose you have there.
my cousin just lost both their parents and i’m really struggling to help them through their grief-
@@KaitlinGaspar One website to look up is mourning hope. It's a childhood grief counseling service. They have a camp every summer to help process grieving in a positive way.
Healthygamergg has a discord where they can talk about it too, if that helps.
Wow, I wonder if you've ever considered getting certified as a counsellor? That experience would be invaluable
that sounds great 🥺
When I was a kid I dreamed about being a designer, and now I am one. However, when you work at your dream job, that job becomes your life, because your passion is your job. I found that making your hobby a job is a double edge sword, because at one hand you enjoy what you do, but at the other hand you no longer have that hobby to decompress...
Hi I’m a graphic designer, and what you say is really true. But I’ve also found that I love designing when its for me, and when I can do it freely. But I’m almost done with my master year, and I’m scared that I don’t love it enough to take on all the stress that goes with it. When I have to design work for school it becomes like an obligation and I start to dislike it. So I’m scared that I’m ruining my love for designing by making it my job.
@@elie8680 I think you are ruining it because I use to love learning Spanish so I took that as one of my subjects at high school/secondary school and I hate it now. I wanna get back to learning it but I think I'll have to learn another language first so that I can have that passion to go back into Spanish again. I wanna learn French so I'll start with that then introduce Spanish back.
@@jiliciar.1423 Yes I agree, maybe I should take a little brake after I graduate to find that passion again, thanks!
SO. TRUE.
This is exactly why I want to make my passions/hobbies my side hustle and not my main hustle. That way I can create on my own terms and not out of obligation. My main job is to be of service to others but I don’t want to be treated like a work horse cause I can’t service others if my own needs aren’t prioritized.
I used to have mental breakdowns at 14 because I didn't have a dream career and didn't know how I was gonna support myself growing up. Now I'm 20 and I'm pretty much lost.
Can relate. I was so depressed when I was 15 and started learning economics... And felt like there was only meaningless gloom awaiting me. But let me tell you I'm 29 now and happy :) because I'm working a job now that j don't hate. Don't know how it'll go in the future but that was my hope, to be able to feel comfortable and not worry about being able to afford basic necessities or things to enjoy. It's possible to end up with a decent job without a dream career too!
@@OpqHMg whats the job
Learn a trade. Way better than college
@@ChristianVBlue3 Go back to reddit
@@boldandbrash1990 Keep being lost I guess 🤷🏻♂️
"It actually concerns me to do one thing for 40 years". Perfectly said.
How lol?
@@Lebronwski One of the points of the video is that many of us grow and thrive when we experience variety and have flexibility when it comes to our career. Some people enjoy doing exactly the same thing all their lives but that's not the most common and for most people it's not healthy or desirable.
omg yes! I "fell" into my career after getting divorced and becoming a single mom. I needed a job to pay my bills and raise my family. Sadly it has never fulfilled me. I've stayed in field for 20 years now, but have changed jobs and moved a few times. I've been at my current job for 7 years now and I look around wondering how anyone loves being in the same spot so long. I sure don't but I need to pay my bills and have healthcare. We aren't simply here to just work and die.
@@dianewebb1855 agree with you totally the system that has been set up is broken. I think younger people are just becoming more aware about it at a younger age now and its happening faster now.
@@Lebronwski variety is the spice of life
I quit my corporate job at a tech company for exactly this reason. Everyone thinks I’m crazy for not having a new job lined up, but I know I need space in order to figure out who I am and what I want. I used to be such a workaholic that it gave me cancer, which I am grateful for, since it helped me see my true priorities. When you confront death in your twenties, you start thinking, “am I okay with this being my legacy?” That’s when I realized living to work was not living and my soul needed more than that.
Respect. What an awesome story.
Thank you for your testimony Sophia. I’m very glad you’re still here with us, to find what makes you happy
What do you mean when saying “I used to be such a workaholic that it gave me cancer” ??
@@Hannah-nh5qjFor many years I worked 12+ hour days in a toxic work environment. During that time I developed an extremely rare cancer with no known cause, no genetic or other medical explanation other than perhaps stress/trauma from (among other things) my work. Gabor Mate has some interesting things to say about stress and illness. Perhaps it was just bad luck, but in that case I still put off getting a lump checked because I was trying so hard to be productive instead.
@@Scribbles222 Good Luck Sophiii!!! Stay safe
I will just leave this here: "a man has two lifes. The second one begins when he realizes he has just one."
🥇
gonna get a tat of this!!
Good one!
This is good
Is that an actual quote from someone?
Growing up, my parents were strangers who came home 2 hours before my bedtime. This is what living to work does.
my mom was a stay at home mom, my stepdad worked oilfield. he’s a good man, worked hard to support kids that weren’t his as well as his own. but that meant i grew up never really knowing the man that provided for me. it was like money just kind of appeared. we never needed anything. but we also would go weeks without seeing him.
i’m 28 now and we pretty much dont have much of a relationship because of this. he also had some kind of epiphany and suddenly quit the oilfield and does random projects for fun in their garage. everyone thought he’d lost his mind. in my opinion he finally found it.
@@seaportsthename i love that ending so much he is a success story :)
@@seaportsthename I've got a somewhat similar story, but both parents worked. My relationship with my parents and siblings now is completely different from when I was a kid. I couldn't be more thankful for what we have now. Unfortunately, I now live 500+ miles away and across the US/Canada border, but I wonder if that plays a part in how much I miss them.
I'm 31 btw. I think you could slowly start building a relationship with him! It's not too late. :)
Or maybe they wanted to provide a house for you to sleep in. You should thank their selfless efforts instead of being bratty.
@@Jennifer12342 indeed.
This resonates with me. I was told my whole life to get a job already. But I did it my way. I was able to get my Bachelor's degree, get married, have 3 kids, be a stay at home mom for 12 years, work part time while homeschooling, cloth diaper, have a garden, take my kids to all the cool places in NYC (where we live), and now I'm back in college pursuing something new. I'm happy.
Honestly that sounds lovely! I'm 22 and some of my peers from highschool are graduating this year, while I am starting (yet again, because of mental health reasons). We are told that if you don't have your life solved by your mid twenties you're doing something wrong (Forbes 30 under 30 thank you not), and capital gains are only acceptable measure for success. I'm glad you're doing what makes you happy! Testimonies like yours make me feel hopeful 💕
And the money to support your dream life came from...?
@@Paul_Wetor I am married 28 years to a man with a job and for the last 15 years I also have been working. We never had a lot of money. We sacrificed material things for awesome experiences with the kids and with each other. I'm still living my dream life. And you?
Never married, now retired. Solitude works for me, but I appreciate what parents do. (There is a park lagoon near me where kids are often looking for frogs with their parents. Some even have nets and boots. I mentally applaud them for participating in their child's interest.)
Whenever people say things implying that work is the only way to have a fulfilling life/ be productive, I always think, "What about stay at home parents?" I think it is wonderful to be a stay at home parent and that it is equally (or more!) important to any other job!
I just got a new job at a vet hospital, and my mom sat me down and was talking to me about how I can make it into a career. She said surely it’s not your “dream job” and I told her my dream job is to stay home and take care of my family and home. She was saying all of these things about going back to school and I haven’t even had my first day yet. The pay is very good, and my husband makes quite a bit more so we are actually doing really well even without my new income. We’ve really been realizing how money and status obsessed our parents are. They’re always trying to get us to spend money and go out, and we are very frugal by nature. We value time together and minimal living over killing ourselves to work two careers.
Staying home is not a crime. Raising little ones is the most fulfilling thing you can do because young people are so lost today because their parents had to work and was not there for them. I think your new job sounds wonderful. In my generation, mothers stayed home and were housewives and mothers. I was better for it. then when I got up to about sixth grade, she got a job at my school. She worked another 30 years and was fulfilled. If you are able to do that, do it. You can alway go back to work later. The job at the vet sounds great.
You will tank yourself later!
The kids puke 🤮 down the new car anyway, and it is still the best car.
I am a 60 year old and I was a homemaker at a time when it was not popular in the 1990s and early 2000s. Still volunteer, drive an old car, live in a modest house, go to rummage sales, and I love my life choice living a simple life and enjoy our grown sons and my husband of 36 years. And young lady I totally support YOUR CHOICE.
@@phyllisbooth3395 Thank you Phyllis. It’s so hard to find this kind of advice nowadays.
stay home then:)
The hamster wheel looks like a career ladder only from the inside.
I'm going to print this out and put it on my wall cause gods, I need this! Also, I wish I could show this to my workaholic parents, but they'd downright reject it.
wow I've never heard of this analogy. definitely need to remember this one
This is brilliant, seriously.
@@zsofiaszobonya8571 it’s not black and white, people do have careers they enjoy and a good life work balance - it can be done ✅
I like this
If I didn't have to work I would:
-work on healing my PTSD
-learn how to write music
-read, read, read
-go on hikes and nature adventures
-cook and grow food
-spend time with my loved ones
and have children *preach*
Already doing it and the happiness isn't there
@@poppyseed7639 get some help, I guess, open up
@@factsverse9957 that's not nice
@@poppyseed7639 I don't believe they intended it in a nasty way? If you're doing stuff that should make you happy and it's not making you happy, then getting help about it would probably be a good idea. Help should never be a bad thing.
“Jobs aren’t designed for you to love them… the point is to give you income so you can participate in society”. Great point. It’s also when you act out of society’s “norms” that you’re ridiculed, because we’re all taught the same lie about productivity, getting a good job, etc., so it does the companies and the poor people who’ve followed them for years no benefit to break the mold. Misery loves company. And the companies need us to buy into it to keep the machine going. Thanks for posting.
I know someone who was so moved by a story about missed opportunities, that he literally dropped out of his bachelor's degree and worked on a fishing boat for 2 years. He now has his PhD and is working on a pretty cool physics project, but also is the most happy go lucky and laid back person I know. I feel like he discovered the truth about balancing work and happiness.
What was the story? I want to read it, and good for him, that’s amazing!
That's a badass move right there 💯
How did you take care of the essentials while working on the boat. Did he live with mom? Did his gf pay his bills? How did he buy the parts for the boat?
I'm a social worker and I feel like my identity is strongly linked to my career. I've realized in therapy that I'm not so much focused on finding happiness but more seeking meaning and purpose. Social work gives me meaning by uplifting others. I'm working on boundaries so I don't get burnt out!
Dear Elizabeth, yours is not a career but a calling. My your labor continue to bring healing to the broken hearted and my you find peace (meaning) in doing so.
Dear Elizabeth, I’ve resonated with every word you said.The fear of being judged and misunderstood doesn’t allow me to say this out loud to anyone in my life. Thank you for sharing. Much power to you.
@Elizabeth Dean Great for you. But what about your children. Maybe they need your full attention.
I definitely resonate with this, Elizabeth. I practice chinese medicine and, like you, it's more about seeking meaning and purpose in helping relieve the suffering of others. I'm definitely getting burned out, though. I've had my own business for just over 10 years and I wish professions like ours could take a 6-12 month sabbatical every 10 years or so!
I think that one aspect that not enough people talk about is the fact that in the modern world, if you want to have and support a family with kids it is VERY difficult to avoid selling your soul to a corporation. It's one thing when you're choosing between a career and a bigger house or a nicer car. It's quite another when you're choosing between a career and an education for or medical care for your children.
The day will come when birth rates are so low, every country will need to incentivize having children. It's already happening in some countries. Although, that doesn't mean the world would be better off for it when some people just shouldn't be parents.
This is why my country (Denmark) was named the happiest country in the world: With free education (actually, you get paid for taking one) and free healthcare, people don't have to choose between family and work to the same degree that they do in the US. We have so much freedom here, I hope the citizens of the US will realise that taxing the rich isn't a step backwards when it comes to the freedom of the common people
@@yellowsparklefish337 *Finland but close enough :p
In most rich countries (and a bunch of poorer ones) you don't have to choose, because education and medical care are free or very cheap. That's why voting for the right people is important.
Good point!
"Work is what you can get paid to do because nobody wants to do it." Alan Watts
I'm 30 years old with a well paying, established job in manufacturing, and while many people think my job is so great and this is where I should want to be, I've learned that the perspective, especially in America, of the "value of hard work" is horribly misguided. Notice, the people who tell you to work hard and hard work is good for you and that should be your goal, they either have other people doing the hard work for them, or they've worked their life away, and look how broken down they are. Don't work your life away.
"Hard work" is brute-forcing it. Most successful people like Elon Musk wouldn't say "Work hard", but "Make a lot of mistakes". When he slept in his Tesla factory's office during production, it wasn't because he was "working hard", it was because his guidance and supervision was needed almost 24/7. Sure, he "worked hard", but what he actually did was have no trust in hiring people who could share this supervision burden.
So in a sense, "working hard" is just "working stupid", when you could make this work a lot easier and efficient with a little bit of "hard work".
"You'll be doing something you hate in order to keep doing something you hate, and that's stupid."
This mentality is a direct, historical result of the people here refusing to teach, honor, and acknowledge the complex history of american chattle slavery. What naysayers also fail to realize is not wanting to work doesn't just come from a place of privilege. Their viewpoint is steeped in capitalist realism, lack of nuance, and plain misinformation. There's no need for us to work as hard as we do when we have everything we could ever need and then some at our fingertips in this country. Other countries do not have this same luxury as a result of another vast web of forces hellbent on keeping them in abject poverty, but they also deserve to work much less than they do as well. This stance isn't just for decently well-off white people who don't wanna work and I wish more people could be upfront about that.
I can’t imagine a job actually paying me well that’s a dream for me lol 😂
Ive felt this way my entire life. The word “career” actually gives me a pit in my stomach and makes me cringe. Ive never understood why people want a “career.” Life is about relationships, health, wellbeing, and personal growth in my opinion. Id rather live simply than slave away my time at a company.
Yeah, people doing jobs that we literally cannot live without (doctors, nurses, engineers) are just empty shills for companies... I get what you’re saying, but people need to work so people like you can sit on your phone (designed and manufactured by engineers, programmers, marketers) and complain about having to go to a job
@@Becky0494 I’m not saying rewarding jobs that truly make a difference are empty. But climbing some corporate latter for status is not the path for me. Many (not all) corporate jobs have very little positive impact on society.
And meanwhile, motherhood has been degraded while women are told they need to “have it all” to justify their worth and are encouraged to pursue a stressful career while someone else raises their kids. Motherhood is a job that “we literally cannot live without” yet society does not act like its worthwhile.
Also, I am a marketer (purposefully part time and I live frugally to afford the pay cut) and I promise you it is not a job that has any meaning or higher value. Id give up my phone in a heart beat.
Venus Project, Zeitgeist Movement, Peter Joseph, Jacque Fresco, Free World Charter, and the 14 hour TROMsite documentary helped me know that what I was feeling all along was correct. Funny how people cheer for a system that brings war profiteers, prisons for profit, and a system that creates a multitude of crappy and unhealthy products just so we can have jobs. Some people would volunteer to help in our hospitals, become doctors, help the elderly for the joy of helping others. Not everyone would sit around and play video games. Automation and AI will one day render most jobs useless and resources on a finite planet cannot allow the system to continue. Watch Paradise or Oblivion on TH-cam.
@@walking_introvert What are these documentaries about?
@@mikaela9799 they are all based on a better way of organized society for the better of all humans, the environment, and treating the world and its resources as a whole. Look on TH-cam for "Paradise or Oblivion" for a overview. You can then google search for the others. There are also tons of youtube videos of Jacque Fresco on different topics. All of those I listed believe that a monetary system or even a society based on trade will always result in poverty, war, violence, etc.
Y’all ever notice that it’s impossible to hang out with anyone outside of work bc our schedules are always so different therefore ensuring isolation even more
Adulting ruins everything
We have to find a way to change the system and rebel
YES
yes!! omg, it actually makes me sad!
Literally 🤦🏽♀️ I hang out with my best friend of 15 years probably 4 times a year no lie
My ex girlfriend asked “what do you want to do with your life?” I said, “ I wish I could never work again” and that alarmed her.
I feel you, people really thunk all of us should be working to the bine like no. I just want to live :/
Because there's like, a balance. Working all day every day is not healthy and not fulfilling for most people. But there's a reason so many people fall into despair after retirement, because generativity, or feeling like you're being productive or contributing, is really important. It doesn't have to be in the form of a career, a lot of people like volunteering or other passion projects, but like, just wanting to have unlimited money and goof off all day genuinely isn't fulfilling.
@@JemimaDoesASMR I think it’s all about perspective. Some people might love goofing off and living a carefree life if that exists. But I know what you mean. Being a part of something bigger than you is fulfilling
In her defense, we're not yet at a world where we can afford to not work, unfortunately; I feel like your ex might've been worried that she'd have to devote her life to earning and taking care of somebody who won't provide anything in return for the rest of her life. And that sucks, yk, that that's the alternative to not working, but I feel like we shouldnt look down on her for feeling alarmed when this is still the world we live in
@@solarydays exactly.
YES!!!!!! WHY aren’t we allowed to “job hop” to EXPLORE and LEARN and be a WELL-ROUNDED, OPEN-MINDED PERSON?!?!?!?! I never got that!!!!!!! If you want to only do one thing then HECK YES!!!!!!!! GO YOU!!!!!! But why is EVERYONE EXPECTED to do this instead of truly enjoying the world and life they live?!
It's because the thing that costs companies a boatload is training new employees, so they peddle these ideas.
You live in a society.
"allowed"
Well, the down side of doing this is that you'll always be at entry level. You will not achieve the expert level reward of honing your skill. That's the downside of being a generalist. The downside of being an expert is having limited choice of employers and/or being highly susceptible to industry ups and downs.
I don't think you're not allowed to. But for the businesses hiring you probably look unreliable? Most businesses don't want to invest into an employee that will leave and they will have to replace later. I think that's as simple as it gets
I spent my 20's and 30's working very hard to get everything I wanted. I missed the first 6 years of my daughter because I left when it was still dark and came home long after her bedtime. I have a house, two cars, swimming pool, daughter in private school, the whole thing. Then, during the lockdown, for the first time I was forced to actually sit in my garden. I was looking out over the pool, having a coffee and listening to the birds signing, and realized I don't get any joy from it. All my possessions are chains, I don't own it, it owns me. When I swim with my kid, I only see the dirt on the bottom that still needs to be cleaned, when I sit in the garden, I only see the grass that needs to be cut, walking though the house I only see the paint that needs to be redone, the new crack that needs to be filled etc. So I quit my job, started my own thing and I am moving to Europe with my family to travel and see all the things we always wanted to see. My daughter will be home schooled and hope that I can teach her to NEVER, EVER, get caught up in the brainwashed dreams we are sold by society.
This is so beautiful. I love that you're taking your daughter away from the atmosphere of propaganda. When in school you get fed with nothing but the "only way to success" narrative which is very close minded and employee orientated
Yes, we are told that if we buy this external thing that we will fix internal problems. The make us think we need these things to be "successful" or happy.
We work to survive, and the corperations (or whoever) we work for love it when we hustle and base our self worth in how productive (in this context) we are.
But we need to see that the system needs to change, inequalities need to be challenged, so our lives aren't just about working for some cooperation, and we can't just ignore it.
We need to collectively bring change to liberate every worker from being wage slaves.
These ideas in movie form: Fight Club. lol
Congratulations.
@@nondescriptbeing5944 You broke the first rule
as someone working as a nurse, the identity issue hits HARD. throughout school and at the beginning of my first job, I lived and breathed nursing. it was a huge source of pride and purpose for me, and this mindset was aggressively cultivated in school and at my job. I think healthcare, especially in the age of the pandemic, there's an insidious culture of guilt when you don't devote yourself completely to your job. don't you care about your patients? didn't you become a nurse to help people? I sure did! but not at the expense of my own enjoyment, well-being, and self-worth. at the end of the day, my job is just my job. I love what I do, but it is not who I am and it's SO liberating to finally feel this way after years of being told otherwise.
Wow so true!!!!! I’m about to start residency and the issue is so real.
Make sense!
I love and value that you’re a nurse! I also agree that is not the only thing that defines who you are but throughout the pandemic there are so many people who are grateful for you!
THIS. Other nurses have given me so much hell for saying "a nurse isn't all that I am, there's a lot more to me" because it's universally believed that once you graduate nursing school, THAT is your core identity. SUPER unhealthy.
I’m a student nurse and there’s so much pressure to live and breathe your job then just sleep and do nothing at home. I want to complete my nursing course I really love it. But I’m not sure wether I’ll do it for the rest of my life as as an autistic person it’s v hard for anxiety especially when some nurses and everything but I’d love to do another job along w bank nursing (so choosing my shifts whenever and doing another alongside , like my own business)
My problem is I am unable to focus on life when I have a job. A job requires about 95% of my mental focus and strength to keep going, which just leaves me mentally exhausted for the other 5% that involves the basic personal care of eating, hygiene and sleeping. The happiest and most content I have ever been is when I have been out of work. It seems to be either or for me, job and no life or a life but no job.
It sounds like your work is burning you out. I used to spend whole weekends just netflixing. Part time job with a side gig when i have the energy seems to work best for me.
@@rosepemberton5262 Yes, but I've had many different jobs and they all require 100% mental focus to get through. I couldn't afford to live on a part time job, cost of living is too high.
You're simply overworking.
Trust me, the moment you have let's say a month of free time, you realize how little you've actually done that you "wanted" to accomplish while daydreaming.
Honestly, we need to work. It balances us out. The most stuff I ever did in my job and free time was when I had a part-time job. I had enough energy for worklife and normal life. I learned to play more of the guitar than I did in an entire summer of just sitting on my ass unemployed just as an example.
Too much free time is makes you as lethargic as too much work.
Also, cost of living high? I guess you life in a big city?
Thats not normal, some of your habits may be contributing to the lack of energy, find out if there is a problem / what the problem is
I felt this way and I had undiagnosed ADHD..
That’s definitely not normal
This video was so validating! I’m currently 22 and it feels like my peers have it all figured out. But, I’m realizing it’s not that I don’t have it “figured out”, I just don’t have any desire to devote all of those years of my life to a company that doesn’t care about me. Thank you for this
No one ever has it figured out, even the elderly. You're in a race by yourself. Don't focus on what others are doing, strive to be the best version of you. ✌🏾❤
At 22 I was a software engineer. From the outside, it might have looked like I had it "figured out", but really I was depressed and confused. I think that most people haven't figured out a damn thing.
This is such a common feeling in your 20s, but honestly, for most people their 20s is the time they feel least in control. I think you come out of your teens and feel like you need to demonstrate that you're no longer a kid and that you can function as an adult, but I remember asking my mum in my late teens when I would feel like an adult. She replied, 'I still don't'. We're all just play acting. I'm 47 and I still don't have it figured out. Always learning and enjoying the process. 💕
I'd like to add: We all were told to go to college in high school and then at the age of 17 told to pick that career or else you wouldn't be somebody. And then what? Hope we don't wake up 20years later hoping we didn't just waste our life?
If I didn't have to work, I would:
- exercise regularly and get my myself back to healthy weight
- learn to cook meals that are tasty, healthy and nutritious
- grow a vegetable garden
- keep a pet animal (or two)
- draw whatever I want and accept more art commissions
- explore outdoors and maybe travel overseas with my partner
- maintain a cozy home
Edit: To clarify, these are some things i would like to do to occupy my time when I no longer have financial/job insecurity. I get that these things can be done on the side. But as of now, I spend most of my time focused on my job/earning money. To be honest, I rarely ever feel well-rested so I don't pile on more things which might be irresponsible of me to do.
Dream life 😌
So you’d be homeless and drink well water?
trust me whenever im not working im just lazing around on my phone or in my bed. working drives majority of us. I do however get spikes of motivation to that stuff. I feel we should we working less (especially japan poor them) and have more of a balance in our lives rather than eliminating one thing thinking it'll better everything.
If you didn't work, you wouldn't do any of those things. You'd laze around, do a bunch of half finished projects, and then be bored and listless.
I mean think about the times in your life when you did have a lot of downtime? Vacation, lost a job, etc,. The vast majority of us mostly just dicked around. We didn't become productive people.
Productive people who truly have the drive to pursue their goals (whether it's health or passions) are going to do them, regardless of whether they work a 9 to 5. People use the existence of their jobs as an excuse not do shit.
If you really wanted to exercise. You would do it.
If you really wanted to learn how to cook and eat healthier meals, you would do it.
If you really wanted to draw more or have another pet, YOU WOULD DO IT.
People have mentioned they experience lethargy when they have had a period of free time. I think this inevitable because deep down inside you want to have a break from the American style work week. if you have enough time off you get bored and you genuinely want to be productive in some way - that could include cooking and gardening. I think most people who have been in the workforce for more than a decade could use a three to six month vacation. When you do become productive you have to actually make plans have a schedule and even "make" yourself work sometimes You won't always feel like working in the garden.
I needed this video. I have been an ICU nurse for almost three years. I have sacrificed weekends, I work nights, I have sacrificed holidays, been forced to pick up extra work days... I have been abused by patients, experienced lateral abuse in the workforce... But I kept telling myself: I need to be a nurse. I worked hard for this, I chose to sacrifice my life for others. Now, I am in a job that is a top pediatric hospital my “dream job” that forces me to work every other weekend, forced me on an extra weekend in June, working holidays, have to find my own coverage for weekend PTO, forced to pick up Sundays.... I finally realize that this isn’t the life for me. It’s scary because I don’t have debt anymore and bought a house but I would rather take the risk, change careers, and live a life for me that I can actually impact others. 💜 I haven’t been able to focus on the areas I love, the creativity I lack now. I work to sleep, to eat, to repeat...
Nurse here as well...l knoooow exactly how u feel!! I recommend u switch to a per diem or a home health.....we are pushed to work at these "fancy" hospitals and strive for mangerial positions etc.. and like it doesn't matter at the end.....it is so not worth it!! Don't feel bad or guilty...it is just a job. Your life outside of it matters
I relate to this so much as a social worker.
I am also a nurse and I feel your pain.
I hope you and all the nurses know you are making a HUGE impact even on days you don’t feel like you are. You’re appreciated so much! However I also understand if you feel it’s not something that makes you feel fulfilled at the end of the day. I hope you can reach your dreams and find something you love, or find a deeper meaning within what you already do so you can keep going. We love you nurses!
I'm about to finish nursing I'm an assistant nurse rn and thank you! I feel like the nature of nursing makes it even harder to admit you're not enjoying it because as nurses we're expected to be selfless and put patients before ourselves. I've finally decided I dont want to do hospital nursing when I'm done because the stress is already too much.
I work as a software engineer. I could care less about the work, it’s just a paycheck to me but I have a startup on the side which I get enjoyment out of and I’m proud of making that effort/work part of my identity because it’s mine. Even when it’s hard/exhausting. I never understood when people are so passionate about other peoples companies. I couldn’t care less.
Stockholm syndrome
Lmao true
I think people find themselves working so hard because they can't afford to retire (live the life they want) if they don't. I don't think it has much to do with the company they work for.
I literally cannot see myself working at a 9-5 job for the rest of my life and being happy. Life is too short to waste it doing things for someone else who doesn't care about my well being.
it is not your boss's job to care for your wellbeing
however, you are right, if you do not want to do "things for someone else" you need to start working for yourself.
the trick is to be able to do this and not starve!
Yeah, no. Because after doing your hygiene, eating, and striving for 8 hours of sleep, you have no time to live. You’re living for the weekends where likely you’re spending those days cleaning, and running errands or whatnot. And that’s IF you have a stable 9-5. Don’t even get me started on the other side that works these low paying jobs with no benefits that see no issue in scheduling you for an opening shift right after a closing shift. Like wtf? I’ve been pushed to lie and say I have a kid just to get a decent schedule with respect to my wellbeing.
@@DrWhom It should be. Because if I'm giving you my time and energy - most precious thing, I expect more than some paper. I expect fairness at the least.
I think most people are broken from going to school all day everyday. I was homeschooled and will find a way out. I will never get a full time job; never!
@@monkey6207 Same. I was also homeschooled and only did a couple years of online school that destroyed my mental health. We can find a way out of this. A job is not our purpose... We are bigger than this shit.
This pandemic made many people rethink work. Which is exactly what our society needed.
Yessss
THANK YOU. Yes. Yessss.
Nobit made people lazy and sit on their asses at home whether it's receiving government help or working on a computer from home
Also I'm not a Boomer, I just know the difference between sitting on your ass in front of a screen all day and actually being more active in a real, human, face to face work environment.
@@motherwolf1529 No, many employers weren’t paying their employees enough to live and their greed caught up with them. Let’s call a thing a thing. Stop defending this pathetic system.
I work on an oncology floor and it legitimately breaks my heart to see my patients laying in bed seeking treatment for their late stage cancers still working on their corporate laptops. Also I love the parts of goodbye, again that you shared.
Why do they do that, do you think? Do they need the money for their cancer treatment, so they can't afford to stop working even when they're sick? Or do they do it because they're actually that bothered about the career ladder even when they're literally dying?
@@zetaforever4953 in America, if they lost their job, they’d lose their health insurance.
@@SwitchSilver so people in America with terminal diseases have to keep working till they die or recover completely? That seems like a psychotic system. Why don't they just take out private insurance?
@@zetaforever4953 Private insurance is much more expensive and rarely available for most people here in the US.
They probaly used up their sick days and pto.
this whole video lit me the fuck up. I feel so seen, so heard, and excited to start to dream in a way that will produce a life that is well-lived versus well worked.
Wowwww reading this comment made me light up too just from the power behind the words in it!! I hope you’ve been dreaming up a life well-lived in the past 5 months 💕
@@Yourrrr thank you ☺️ I definitely have switched gears to live more than I work. It’s been lovely.
What’s sad is that I think more people would come to this same conclusion if they had the time and emotional energy to do more introspection. But when I get home from work, my mind is so empty and I’m so exhausted, the last thing I want to do is reevaluate my life choices and find out I’m wasting my life so my boss can enjoy theirs.
I mean, even if you have the time and energy, it only does just so much good. You still have to eat and keep the lights on.
I get exactly 6 and a half hours to enjoy myself at home between work and sleep. Where am I supposed to squeeze in an existential crisis??
@Dustin Rathke that’s the truth tho
It's easy to see one's boss as the evil corporate overlord, when he could well be just as dead inside, except with a higher salary at the cost of even more work and responsibilities. Having a subordinate doesn't mean your fixed salary magically turns into stocks.
@@thembones9268 no I understand, I’m using “boss” as short hand for upper level management. My direct managers are both sweethearts who I don’t fault at all. They have zero control over my pay and benefits since I’m a contract employee. The people who control my work site aren’t allowing permanent employees to be hired, so they’re not even allowed to bring me on permanently at the moment. They’re more who I’m talking about.
I was fortunate to have these realizations in my early 20s, and I'm glad to see that the generation behind me is having them as well. It would be great if we can keep this up and start pushing this message to kids earlier in life.
And we should also stop having kids too
They don't deserve to live in such hostile environment
What did you end up doing?
wow yes this makes sense! amazing insights on here...
Everybody got to find on their own.
Yes, we would love to know what you did!
I feel like my generation is burning out and has put self-respect out the window for money and validation. It's terrible that the mindset for a fresh highschool graduate, is to hurry up and get a career and a fancy office job that they don't want for money. I hate that I even fall to that pressure (from my dad specifically).
When family, and society put that pressure on you to "conform" to the work till you drop lifestyle;it's tiring. It takes away your desire to be yourself and to do things with passion. I know work has it's own sphere,but I believe that whatever your job is, at least get one that you want to do and that isn't attached to your self worth or validation.
Work is not your life.
@E. Cantu I mean, if you have another way to gain money, go for it.
@@DEADHOLT He probably thinks that his parents and grandparents were lazy slackers!
work does not define you but if you don't work you don't eat. find a job you like. if we all stop working and only do what makes us feel good, the country will implode. in fact, it's already happening.
Yeah. Could be worse too if you do seek after money, attention, status/fame/pleasure and validation like selling yourself on OnlyFans, Camgirl, or to be a Porn “star”, in place of more fulfilling hobbies, career, family, children, travel, community volunteering, marriage etc.
This is such a powerful conversation. I’m a boomer (but still feel like a millennial :) - Every generation had pressure to go to work, make money - the difference was - it was formerly to pay bills, raise a family, not make millions and hit it big on TH-cam. Millennials grew up with this kind of pressure since childhood - diff from the other generations AND the immense debt they are saddled with after college is also new. This is just too hard a way to start life and is definitely having an impact on mental health. However, what is the way to live your life, then? What is important? How do you live and thrive without money? If you don’t get a typical corporate job, what do you do? Live in your parents’ house til you’re 30 or older? I agree - there must be more to life than getting ahead. But nothing feels better than when you have money in the bank to see the world, go where you want, eat where you want etc. So it’s a big dilemma....
I have mental illnesses and, in my case, they have been disabling. I dropped out of high school my senior year and for the longest time my obsession was getting back "on track." Get my GED, get into a four year university, figure out what my (marketable) passion was, and have a career. This is how I thought my life would go for as long as I could remember and I was desperate to make it happen because I had so much of my self-worth tied up in it. I forced myself through two semesters of college and had an absolute breakdown. I forced myself to get a part time job...and had an absolute breakdown. I was devastated. For now, at least, neither school nor working a traditional job are options for me but I am unbelievably lucky in that I have parents that support me.
I recently turned 30 and that looming birthday brought all my lingering feelings of failure and self-doubt to the surface. But your video makes me wonder. What if I wasn't ill? What if I had followed "the plan"? Gotten a degree and a career? I was so focused on achieving these goals I never stopped to think about if they would make me happy. I honestly doubt it. It's entirely possible that, even if I didn't have the mental illnesses I do now. that forcing myself down that track would have caused a whole different host of mental health problems.
Thanks for the video. It's given me lots to think about.
ok yes, ever since i was a kid and everyone was talking about their dream job and i never had one. i was always jealous of Barbie bc she worked like every job, she didn't have a career just worked whatever job she wanted but never let it be her life, her life was being fabulous!! i especially hate jobs that require you to take your work home... no no no! it's not my life. that's another reason i don't want a career but i am scared of graduating college next year bc i realized i have to figure something out lmao
I feel this comment SO MUCH. I wanted to do everything, like Barbie, and be fabulous. :) Still do. It makes post-grad stuff really stressful, though. 😅 I'm in the same boat as you.
I feel you sis, I'm in 11th grade. Doing school to go to uni when I already know what to do. Barbie is my inspiration 100% I want to be an etiquette consultant and open a charm school eventually because I notice that manners and healthy social etiquette in this day and age is dwindling. In all honesty why can't I go to university in my late 20s early 30s. After 12 years in school I really want to pursue life travel, work in the tourism industry, become a home maker, wife and mother. Then study, because I already know what I want to study, I love learning, I just can't stomach the idea of doing continuous school. Food for thought
That's a great point! Especially when you try to compare to classmates who always knew what they wanted to be. We change so much from high school to university, it a way it doesn't make sense to hold the same career for a lifetime.
This is shedding new light on why I liked barbie so much as a kid hahahha
Im graduating next year with a degree in science and French, but I think instead of trying to climb up the career ladder, I’ll go back to school and get a masters of teaching. Being a teacher will of course be challenging but at least it has a purpose and allows you to be a huge part of your community and help people.
I ONLY went to college so I wouldn't have to get a job! lol. The thought just terrified me!
What breaks my heart is that my dad is in the hospital, he is waiting for tests to come back that will tell him if he will be living much longer or not. Guess what? All he does is work from his hospital bed. He hasn't called his siblings or children to tell us how much he loves us. His whole life is his job. It's so extremely sad.
That’s scary... I’m so sorry.
@@duncanbug Thanks. It really is sad. I called him and he talked about how busy he is trying to work from his hospital bed and rushed me off the phone.😭 His life is the exact opposite of the one I want to live.
That’s really sad, I’m sorry. Maybe you can take the time to tel him how much you love him. I don’t know if this is the case for him, but sometimes people work to distract themselves from their feelings. You could always try taking the first step and see how he responds. I hope he’s okay
@@__led Thanks, that's a great idea. I'll try it. He went home yesterday and is now saying he's going to put his health before work. 🤞
🙏
I left my job at Apple this past Friday. It was a decision informed by desperation and fear of dying of exhaustion. I'm 43 and totally burnt out. I just want to spend time with family and enjoy my home. But I need to find another job if I want to pay my bills. I hate this cycle. I'm a feminist and I feel like not being hardcore about work and achievement makes me a failure as a modern woman, especially since I'm not a mother. This video was incredibly reassuring and needed. THANK YOU.
I used to feel like a loser for not having big career aspirations but thankfully I was able to get over that. My job is not my passion and it’s nothing fancy but my bills are paid, the hours and benefits are good and I’m not expected to work overtime. It’s enough for me.
It's great to hear you prioritizing your health. I used to work as a lab manager and it was super stressful, but nothing prepared me for getting hit by a car as a pedestrian... Let me tell you, it took 8 years of rehab to be able to walk, talk and find some meaning in my life again. I learned so much from almost dying, having all my abilities being taken away to realize my life is worth more. Try to find the type of work that gives you fulfillment as well as money, cause life is too short and can be taken away in an instant. Trust me it can be done. You are a wonderful human who can do anything!
That’s not feminism that makes you feel like a loser for not being hardcore about work.
That’s capitalism telling you your use-value as a human being is be productive and competitive for rich people’s benefit.
Take some time to degprogram. Good luck on your next phase!
I think one of the aspects of feminism is having the choice to do what's right for you. You don't have to have a high profile career and conquer the corporate world if you don't feel called to do so. Your achievements can include enjoying your home life with your family.
It's ok if you become a stay at home mom or wife or stay home and njoy your passions like music cooking art or travelling, life isn't all about working for someone else and getting paid and making money
I want my life work to be:
-constantly learning about the beautiful world and universe around me
-practicing spirituality
-healing myself and helping others to heal as well
-doing art for the sake of art
-playing my intruments whenever i want to listen to music
-writing whenever i want to read something
-growing my own food and cooking it whenever i am hungry
-going outside when i feel like it
Sameee
I just realized that I haven’t had a break for longer than a week either from school or work since the summer after my freshman year in high school. I went to school and worked every summer, then I went away to college...and came home and worked every summer...then I graduated college and the day before graduation I was offered a corporate job, which I started at 1 week later. Fast forward to today...I’m 40 years old and still at that corporate job. They’ve given me raises, promotions, bigger offices...but I long for a life in the arts. I want to sell my crafts at craft markets...I want to explore healthy cooking...I want to plant a vegetable garden...I want to be a travel blogger...and I want to have coffee with my mom in the middle of the afternoon on a Tuesday and pick my nephews up from school 3 days a week. I have so many things I’d rather do that I can’t even list them all here. My passion for art and writing and music and photography has been on hold for over 20 years. I want to spend more time with my parents and my nephews and my husband and my siblings and my 90-year-old grandpa. I don’t want to give employee evaluations, manage task inboxes, and attend team building huddles every single morning anymore. I’d love a 3 month break...and maybe even a permanent break from my corporate job. A break to clear my mind, find out who I am. I want to feel free.
Wow u stayed in tht job for 40 yrs 😲😲😲 even my grandparents and parents have had a similar life story and tbh i cant imagine doing tht 😭😭😭 it looks so depressing for me maybe cuz i already feel like school college is some kinda jail its like u graduste from highschool AKA AIL go to another jail called college and work is JAIL part 3 and the marriage 😢😢 but ig this is wht life is 😥
I would encourage you to do all the activities you described. I used to enjoy picking my 8 year old nephew up from school every Wednesday and taking him to karate 😊🥰Not sure if you have experienced death and loss yet, however, it will make you reconsider and reflect your life and what's truly important. My mom died unexpectedly and my best friend died about a year later. I questioned my existence and what really mattered. My best advice is to create a strategy and go for it. It may be part-time work or a short sabbatical. I know it's cliche but it's true that life is not infinite. At 46 years old, I have been fortunate to take small breaks from corporate work and have been rejuvenated during the downtime I created. Good luck! Don't question yourself and claim the life you want.
I was in the same boat last year, and luckily had enough saved up that I was able to take the time off that I needed, and though it's been a few months now, I still don't know the job that I want to get back into, but my mental health is SO much better than it was when I was working 60+ hours a week in NYC and not spending time thinking about the things I truly wanted. What I do know, after this time, is what's important to me, what makes me happy vs what upsets me, what I want to handle vs what is not worth my energy, and energy in general... I have it for the people who mean the most to me again. Fuck that rat race. Best of luck with your dreams; they're valid and WORTH your energy if you say they are. We don't live long enough to simply be the cogs in other peoples wheels.
@@aena5995 20 years...but feels like 40. :(
@@verbosibee Thank you so much! Just knowing your mental health improved is really amazing. And you’re right, just being able to clear your mind enough to know what you enjoy and what upsets you and decipher between the two is huge. Thank you again.
2015 Katherine: Soo high schoolers you should start making your LinkedIn before it's too late!
2021 Katherine: I want LinkedIn ANNIHILATED
Growth.
experience, growth and self respect
It is very nice to ask yourself a question: "When I lay dying somewhere - will I remember the countless hours of stacking up boxes or filling forms?" Maybe I will just remember that one time when I was soaking wet and eating a burger - after losing my shoes somewhere and having a laugh?
We are just some older kids. Don't let the kid die in you.
Omg I LOVE that. It’s sad that we are forced to suppress our inner child.
I heard once, there are no saddle bags on a coffin. When you are at the end no one cares about your job. Family is what matters.
Take vacations. Enjoy life. The memories you make will fill your thoughts and you will have no regrets, despite working hard at a soulless job.
No, but i’ll remember making my parents proud, providing for my family, having money to pursue my dreams, feeling fulfilled for being strong enough to do something that I find difficult, for the hobbies it allows me to follow, for the growth in character and the lessons it teaches me, for the people I meet...
Why not be a doctor? Why not use your career to help people? Why does it have to be filling forms and stacking boxes. It doesn’t have to be. That’s just a bottlenecked stereotype of “work”. The lady’s first mistake was doing business when she clearly likes art and preaching her philosophy (which I encourage because I like the discussion).
It's incredible how many angry, defensive comments are under the lists people made when answering what they'd like to do if they didn't need to work. Please, ask yourself why seeing hobbies and gentle desires makes you so hostile.
Please say that again.
Because it's a first world problem.
@@fbaallied personally, I'm not from a first world country, but I don't want to spend my whole life slaving away to a company for pennies, they'll never share profit with us workers, so yuh.
Fuck capitalism, finally we opened our eyes to the misery they pay us for our specialized labour.
@@suqadiqniwa Correct, but I was just explaining why ppl are mad in the comments.
@@suqadiqniwa Capitalism isn't the problem. Unfettered capitalism and Corporate Personhood are. There must be balance.
My mom has been doing laundry for a nursing home for 25 years. When people ask her how she has stayed that long she says, "I leave my brains at the door when I come in, and pick them up when i leave."
Well someone has to do it, it might be a boring sounding job but it’s definitely important!
Thats the spirit you work to live, not they orther way
Yup work as a barista and its the exact same for me. I work here to pay my bills and pay for the creative work I do on the side
I got a job as UPS truck loader, I get to exercise for a few hours a day, make some decent money, and get to be alone with my thoughts for a bit 👌
This is kind of why i liked manual labor jobs even though I'm a journalist now. You just put in your time and don't have job stress. A cognitive job consumes your thoughts all the time.
As a fellow business major.. I laughed when you said “i majored in jobs” cuz that’s legit the best way to describe the degree 😂
The "haves" are controlling the "have-nots." I'm 60. Seen it all. Just yesterday it seems I was 20 years old in college. Life goes by faster than you ever think it will at age 20. Find a way to separate from the treadmill.
Time is flying - never seems to be enough of it
The "haves" have always controlled the "have-nots"
The question is do you want to live in a society where being a "have not" means you're living in absolute squalor, like in every fucking communist regime ever tried, or do you want to live in a society where being a "have not" means you have a smartphone that you lazily browse while laying in bed in your air conditioned/heated room and whine about how bad capitalism is?
Yeah, I am 21 and since last year, I am already mentality preparing myself for my 40s. Im thinking what I want to be doing and how to get there. Fuck my 20s, I could care less. Its waning, no point in trying to catch it.
@@zeffery101 I’m glad to hear it. When you are in your 40s, you’ll be happy you prepared for your 40s. Along the way to your 60s, begin to think about your retirement years and what you want to be doing then so you can prepare and have an enjoyable, full life during those years also. But make sure to enjoy and appreciate your youth as well. There’s a lot of time spent being old, but you’re only young for a short time. Blessings. 🙏
@@Merknilash Haves and have nots is not just about communism versus capitalism. A bad life is a bad life, regardless of where one lives. But there is always hope to change one’s life for the better. Changing one’s life starts from within the human spirit and heart.
The fact that my ENTIRE family (my mom, my brother, and my sister) quit their jobs this year/last year to follow their dreams and take a risk speaks volumes!!! YOLO!!!
Curious to hear updates! 🙂
I spent thirty years of my life going up the corporate ladder. I reached the top. Now I think that it was a very stupid way to spend my life. I lived at work, and did not have a chance to do anything else. As I was going more and more up the ladder, it was expected of me to spend more of life at work and never to speak or consider that I had a life outside of work. As a woman, I worked in a men's world where I was the true minority. After giving my life to corporations, I regret doing that. I should have lived. I am not saying that you should not work, but young people need to find a better way to live than giving their lives to companies. I do not frown upon the new way of thinking of the younger trying to enjoy more of life. Your challenge today is to find a way to make money, but enjoy life at the same time.
Thank you! I'm learning to be a software engineer and my school's all about that "be a girl boss!" thing, hiring speakers to make us aspire to that kinda life. Me? I just want as much free time as possible, even if I have to live modestly.
@@mikkykyluc5804 exactly! free time to actually be able to be there for people I care about and do somethiny for the world.
It's honestly so comforting seeing everyone agreeing with this and going through similar things. It's so engrained into our brains after we finish school that if we don't have a career we'll be losers and hate life. I hope everyone purues their passions and interests 🙂
During my 20s, I was so worried about not having a "normal career" or being successful and saying "I do THIS THING for a living". I no longer care much about that. If I did find something that I just genuinely love and it turned into a career, that would be awesome. But I'm not going to worry about it anymore. I have a job that isn't fancy. But I've made some friends there and in general, I get by working there. That's all that matters. I'm also not interested in consumerism anymore. I'm only 32 and recently had some medical issues. Life is too short to not try to enjoy it the best you can. For me, being stressed by work/job duties isn't enjoyable. Some people really need that in their life though, and that's fine.
We need leisure, sleep and good health. Ironically these things make us more productive workers but make us look lazy.
Most of us experience constant stress, worry, and busy-ness. A great many of us experience anxiety, depression.
So, our bodies need rest, our minds need rest.
And yet, we are so terrified of falling behind, not measuring up, not fitting in, or discovering that we’re unworthy or unlovable, that we fill every single moment of every single day with SOMETHING.
Which leads us to numbness, dissociating, disconnecting, exhaustion, and burnout.
You are not lazy.
You deserve to rest. You deserve to slow down. You deserve nourish yourself: to sleep, to eat, to play, to have fun, to feel good. You never have to earn those things because those things are what it means to be human.
My life’s work is to *know people.* I want to interview people, learn languages, travel and visit museums, read more National Geographic and nonfiction anthropology books. Luckily my career does scratch this a little bit.
I would like to know what you do if you don't mind sharing
What’s your career?
I found myself in your comment! I’d love to know what you do for a living :)
commenting on this post for future reference!
Yes! I need to know what you do hahaha
"Careers" went out with our parent's generation. Along with most unions. Now it's "employment at will", which means you can get fired at any time for any reason. Employers suck and have no loyalty to their employees, so why should employees feel any different? 🤷♂️
When I was young (I'm 58), first started working, the whole atmosphere was different. There was a mutual respect and a genuine working relationship between employers and employees. Today - more machines have taken work away from humans, and boss humans demoralize and objectify servile humans. There's a lot more I could say, but - I work for myself now, and I have never felt so free!
@@911preety This. I work for myself too and while I got into it because I wanted freedom and control over my life, a huge part of why I do it now is because I want to help others on their path to achieving the same. It's heartbreaking to watch people suffer in jobs and environments where they aren't valued and their jobs aren't safe.
Unions are trash and corrupt anyways
What went out the window was leaders, people with values and virtue. All that plagues people's mind's nowadays is greed, fear (scarcity vs abundance), wanting more power, control and materialism. That's the problem
@@xXRubella666Xx Exactly! I have been through a lot of jobs in my life, and stability and respect are out the window. I truly appreciate not having to punch a timeclock or take orders from anyone!
@@911preety the fact that employers were never loyal to their employees are so sick. Plus when they feel "betrayed" and enforce discipline and all that shit I hate employment I hate people who were heirs of the parents who actually worked hard to build the businesses and yet actually still treated employees as equals. I hate entitled pricks
It is SO comforting to hear someone else who feels this way about the current working system! I still feel like it’s so radical to say that I just want to pursue what brings me joy rather than work for a company in order to keep a roof over my head! Love the yolo economy, love challenging the norm, thanks for being a part of this conversation!!!
I totally understand what you're saying, and the people in the comments as well, but this wouldn’t work for everyone. All (or most) of these "meaningless" "corporate" jobs all flow together in the economy so that we can each provide to each other goods and services we need and use on a daily basis. We all need to suck it up and do it because we are really lucky to be living in this time with the technology and modern medicine we have. All of our ancestors worked EXTREMELY hard in much worse conditions than us. We DO have time to follow our other passions as well. Instead of sitting on TH-cam or other social media or watching TV in our free time, we can go and do those things mentioned, like art, gardening, music, spending time with family, etc. We should change our attitudes and be grateful about what we have and be grateful for the jobs that we are able to work for:)
It seems like Americans ask two different questions. "What do you do?" is an abbreviation of "What do you do for a living?", meaning to make money. To ask about interests and hobbies separate from employment, the question is "What do you like to do?"
If the two answers overlap, that's a different topic which she addressed.
Love the third question, going to use that from now on!
Sometimes i question myself “should i leave America 🇺🇸 & move to 🇨🇦 ? Or live in 🇳🇴? 🇩🇰? 🇸🇪? Although these countries do have issues (like any country would) their actually more organized & have a different type of respect for the people who live in these places. These countries are Kicking Americas🇺🇸 ass right now. These countries seem very humble & not so “pyramid scheme” “ladder climbing” type mentality.
I figured this out when I realized that I never felt good about going to work. If I analysed my emotions related to work, they were almost always negative. Having the anxiety of waking up early, arriving on time, using public transport, preparing, being evaluated and making a fool out of myself, feeling tired after work, having no free time, dealing with disrespectful students (i'm a teacher). etc. Its no good spending 8 hours a day generally feeling negative, no matter the compensation especially if its low. Whats worse, you have to face it all again the next day. day after day after day.
I’m a teacher too. Can’t wait to quit.
I got fired from a job I worked for ten years and I realized I never spent any money because I worked 12-16 hour days for the last decade. Now I’m moving to Spain to take long naps during the day and read Ernest Hemingway.
have fun
heck yah ! enjoy !
Congratulations on your liberation. Enjoy it without a care, you have earned it.
@@asanabright538 this is awesome!
What irks me is everything I'm passionate about would not be a viable career for me. I would not be able to support myself financially because my passions and talents aren't profitable enough in the real world.
@@loststars6533 I love this. I honestly love this idea.
Coz I'm also into art,but I'm scared that it's not viable enough to financially support me. But I'll just open my mind to your suggestion, I'll be getting an income while discovering my passions. The result will be that I am more happy coz I contribute to my survival and also to my living...😉👍
@@loststars6533 you do realize that if I had a part time bank teller job I wouldn’t be able to afford above a shared room in a stranger’s house? You have no idea how much slack living with family takes up. It’s unrealistic and frankly rude to tell others they’ll just be free if you don’t also include all the things you don’t pay for yourself.
Make a podcast and share your passions. You can then monetize your knowledge through AdSense/affiliate marketing or a product you may produce.
There's thousands of people that share your interest worldwide. You just need 1000 of those people to purchase your product.
Good luck 🤞🏾😃
@@namedrop721 Sorry if it came across as unrealistic or rude. I do pay part of the rent, chip in for food/utilities, and pay for my own car (insurance, gas, repairs). I also pay for my own phone, my own subscriptions, and all of my own personal needs/wants (toiletries, for example) I'm not mooching off my folks here XD
When it comes to sharing a space, I was talking more living with a group of people, like family or roommates (not renting a room -- that costs a small fortune considering what you get out of it).
Well, learn a profitable skill and use that to fund your passions. Aside from my job, I've learned how to trade (took me 1,5 years to become profitable, +/- around the begining of the pandemic). Now the plan is to make money, use the money to buy assets that will make me more money and then invest in starting business and philantrophic ventures. Because there is no way I will spend 40y being told what to do.
I haven't been in touch with this kind of thinking since I finished college. I'd actually started to feel that this kind of thinking just couldn't survive "the real world" since I hadn't seen it out here.
Thrilled to have found your channel!
I've been saying this for a while now, but I seriously think that it's time for another big change of paradigm, this time focused on working less days, maybe 4/3 for starters, because at least for me it's not justified to give away five days of my week to make others rich, specially not when I'm capable of getting my stuff done in less time without compromising the quality of my work. That would totally improve most people's life, allowing them to spend more time with their families, children, pursuing their hobbies and passions, start working for living and not the other way around.
You couldn’t have said it any better. I vote for four 6-hour days. Five 8-10 hour days is wayyy too much. Add to that 1.5 hours spent in traffic.
@@FruityUnicorn17 If you work for four 6-hour days, you'll only produce 24 hours worth of value per week and you'll only receive that much in compensation. That amounts to maybe $18000/year at current prices for the average worker. If you're happy with that and it satisfies all your needs, go for it!
The internet was supposed to help but it backfired. It made companies more efficient and way more money. Now we're trying to work hard to keep up with it. Other countries are looking into / trying 4 day work weeks.
@@jw6993 do you think people working 8 hours, five days a week are producing 40 hours of value? I've read a study that said on average an 8-hour employee actually only works 3. We're lying to ourselves, pretending to be busy, just to follow a scheme designed for people that used to work in factories.
Conceptual jobs, or jobs that require at least a bit of thinking, as most jobs nowadays are, can't be done for eight hours a day without burning yourself out. Even people great at focusing can barely do it for more than two hours.
Smart working is a step in the right direction, task-focused instead of time-focused days are another, since you'll be rewarding faster workers instead of punishing them.
There's plenty of careers that allow you to get your work week done in 4 days, just have to look for them.
I genuinely wish i took 5 years off after highschool so I could work partime for some money and just give myself time to THINK about life and what I wanted BEFORE being pushed into student debt with a high chance of not using the degree because it wasnt what I really wanted. Kids need a break from school after highschool and yet we jump right back in. Being able to reflect and explore life without knowing theres a test or assignment or project in our heads could have done so much for our generation.
Yup, there's so much pressure to be completely set with what career you're gonna have and what your future is gonna look like, all by the age of 18..
Or you could go to trade school and get paid to learn, get out with actual real life skills and not cry about working in an air conditioned office on TH-cam.
You're not a kid after high school. you are an adult. you can't live with your parents for years and years, you have to make your own way in the world. life is hard, it's supposed to be hard and we get no breaks. You don't have to go to a college or go in debt, you can find your own way. But you have to start working or there is no car, and no place to live. no internet, no cell phone and parents will stop paying the bills.
@@curious011 Can i ask: Do you have, or want to have children?
I'm really looking forward to my gap year.
I resonated with this. The difficult thing in this system is actually to earn time. I am happy to trade my skills for money, but the "job" doesn't end. It encroaches evenings and weekends and always asks for more. This culture has to change.
I think this is a really important distinction to make, and is at the basis of the "work to live, don't live to work" philosophy. A job is you trading your labor/skill/expertise etc for the money you need to live; you barter something you have (labor) for something you need (money). This used to be more direct, like trading the vegetables you grew for the cheese someone else made. The concept of a career is simply the illusion that your job (and its increasing demands) is for your own betterment and advancement, when in fact it's for someone else's benefit (and not in a broad sense like the betterment of humanity, but to benefit a very small group of people who already have more than they will ever need in their lifetimes and usually aren't too interested in sharing).
Americans are over-worked compared to some countries in Europe, where people actually have time to spend with their families and friends, rather than working till they drop wile their family and social life fall apart.
Hi these companies they suck the damn_ life"! Out of people"! Then when people wake_ up from the damn nightmare you are old with pain"! The extreme low wages even with a college education"!; Ridiculous though nothing at the end but damn pain" physical, emotionally corporate don't care you are a machine basically"! Blessings to you ✌️🙏👁️🌍🌍🌍🌍
I agree. Having to be constantly available on multiple social tech platforms becomes exhausting!
this video felt like a painful yet gentle calling out to my current existence and my parent's and their parents, parents.... i always found it so odd that my mom would come home EXHAUSTED and say that she loves her work and it brings her joy, but I see how much it stresses her out...it could be a multitude of reasons as well but this video opened my eyes to a lot
I always hate that the first question someone asks you when you first meet them is
"So what do you do for work?"
And not "So what are your passions/ hobbies"
Try telling that to a girl as a dude she'd walk away faster then you can say "hi" to her if you don't make six figures and drive an Audi
In the Nordic countries you are allowed to lead a lifestyle that doesn't center on your profession. Actually, in my home country Finland, it is usually considered rude to talk about your job, unless you are directly asked about it.
:( i would like to live in countries like that, but I'm trying to survive in mine (literally)
@@DaleCooper222 Actually, now that I think more about our culture, there is an actual downside to this way of thinking. Namely, us Finns are usually extremely secretive about our salaries or how much we make money. Talking publicly about your pay grade is just something that you must not do in any circumstances, it is simply inappropriate (this is completely opposite to the American culture, of course). Even when asked directly, you would usually get just some vague answer, like "I'll get along nicely" or "it's according to the collective labor agreement". Of course, this would give the employers an unfair edge over the employees, because in Finland nobody in their right mind is comparing their earnings in fear of social repercussions, so an unscrupulous employer could basicly just screw you over, if left unchecked. Luckily, we have pretty comprehensive collective labor agreements in nearly every profession to stop employers taking advantage of the fact that nobody here tells anyone, how much they are actually making in their job. Without these nationwide agreements, there would be no way for an applicant to know, how much he/she is supposed to get paid and for what kind of labor and for what kind of qualifications, because we just wouldn't talk about it openly.
@@Apollyon.King.of.the.Locusts mmm in Argentina people also don't talk too much about their earnings, probably because if they are well paid they feel they will be envy by others who don't (and others will become harsh to them) i use the glassdoor web for knowing what should i be paid for a job. But mostly our salaries are really low and the good job opportunities are running short.
If you are not well paid mostly don't talk about how much because you feel ashamed... You only say "i don't get enough for living" me, for example i used to earn 315 usd at month and it's too low, and only talk about it with my closest friends.
@@DaleCooper222 Actually, it's the same here in Finland about the salaries - people are either afraid of that people will start hating them, if they earn more than their peers and also some people might be ashamed if they struggle financially. But the bigger problem, or should I say, one of our less than great national traits, is that we really envy what others have. Therefore, if you're well off, you'd better just shut up, before you lose all of your friends' respect. You can, of course, occasionally help others, that's okay, if you have the means to do so. Just don't rub it in their face, like most Americans seem to do from our perspective. Like for example, if you're giving to charities, you definitely must not do it in public, like Americans tend to do. It should be enough of a reward, that you get a tax cut for it (in the range of 850€-500000€ per fiscal year, applicable to both individuals and businesses alike).
@@DaleCooper222 how old are you? answering in english because of the thread of the conversation. I also live in argentina but I haven't know anyone yet who refuses to share their salary numbers (im 21)
As someone who hops from gig to gig, seasonal or retail, I wish I could have a stable career rather than live in constant insecurity.
same. i cant even count how many jobs I've had in the last decade lol
out of curiosity (I also work gig to gig), Is your biggest issue the high cost of living or low paid gigs?
@@mayarasmussen817 both! Rent is too damn high and these gigs aren’t paying a living wage based on how high the rent is!
@@nr1094 It's the endless cycle of earning enough to pay rent to live to work more and pay more rent!! delete the whole system :o
I'm so glad you said this. People say things like "I don't want a career" but that's usually because they're privileged enough to have a nice life without needing to full time. I would love to fill my life with hobbies and family time and just work part time but I, like most people, have to work to pay the bills. I live in a country where rents and living costs are high. If I didn't have a good career I would live in squalor and poverty and that's not what I want for myself.
my life's work is healing myself and consequently gently guiding others to healing through being an example... i am starting to structure my life around healing, including decentering work. it feels a bit scary right now because i don't really know how this is going to work out and im taking risks to try and follow the path i feel called to. but im just going to keep going in that direction because ive already tried it the other way around (centering work above all else) and i was never fulfilled/happy and it was just a slow and painful death.. so im trying something new..
I'd kill to have my basic needs covered! I would rather be volunteering. I would rather be gardening. I would rather be making memories. I'd go to school just to learn, and honestly, I may never leave. I want to be forming connections, supporting my community, and I want to try to satiate my neverending curiosity about the world.
As it stands now, I'm low-income. My family has been below the poverty line for several generations now. I get one chance at college because I can't afford to do this twice, and going to college has to somehow both educate me about the things I love... and also provide opportunities for the future. But I just love thoughtful discussions on philosophy, history, politics... I don't want to be a museum curator or a lawyer or a politician. So what am I to do?
The "smart" choice is to make myself profitable. The *right* choice (for me) is to do what I love. If shit doesn't work out for me, I've always been poor, I'll manage. But people should NOT have to decide between their dreams and their livelihoods, so let's keep this conversation rolling
Why don't you become a teacher? Then you can share your ideas with others :)
i think you can totally do both! find work that invests in your community, that utilizes some things you love. or another option, find a decent paying job that is fun, and do everything else you love in your free time. the first one combines both your passions and work, the second one separates them. both are valid options depending on your preferences. you can do it!!
I got a degree in my "back up plan" field so I could fund my artistic passions. Try and find a marketable major and an expansive minor.
The word of God says "if you believe that you have received already, then whatsoever you ask WILL BE DONE FOR YOU!
The whole of mankind is suffering because of how we're able to believe or not believe the phrase "it will be done for you".
It means that God will get physical for us. Jesus says that whoever discovers this secret is set free from labouring.
So I'm engaging the believing process more by understanding that he acheives these things and creates wealth through his Holy Spirit at work in me and he helps me administer that wealth judiciously by giving me the fruits of the Spirit.
So I acknowledge these truths several times a day and it's changing the way I ask for stuff. I ask for the joyous results of the work he'll do for me and not for work. Jesus blood was the price for the work so all I do is cash out...
So when God says "it'll be done for you", he means it because he's the king of rest. Let's cease from our labours and rely his instead.
Psalm 127 literally says it sucks to wake up early to toil and sleep late at night just because of food. Like I personally don't care for that sort of life, so if believing in his ability to give me free stuff is the only job God requires me to do in order to live my best life, you best believe I'm going to give it my absolute best shot day and night.
So far, I've been doing this for a few days but I think it takes about 40days to really rid the body and mind of all doubt and resistance and start getting consistent results. I think that's why Jesus himself fasted 40days. It breaks the mindset of work and helps you really zone in on the power of God.
Caveat: I'm sticking strictly with what Jesus Christ said. I'm not doing any new age stuff like Yoga, meditation, reiki, regression etc. Those are dangerous practices people get into because they don't acknowledge that God is their father. When you equate God with the universe then you lose your connection with him and will be doing more "work" again.
Jesus Christ paid for the work with his life whereas it would cost us ours. Acknowledging that God is a real person helps us maintain a stronger connection with him through his HolySpirit which is his way of saying "welcome back my child"...
I hope that us "lazies" will really press into this "believing God radically" thing, until he himself is shocked if he could ever be...lol!
So that's my journey to doing absolutely nothing! Who's ready to join me?
I can share my noteswith you daily if you send me an email to aniesafromerch@gmail dot com.
See you in the free!
@@ngreat4390 I really hope you didn't just imply you've been fasting for 40 days.
And also, prayer is a form of meditation, so I've got news for you...
As someone from a marginalized background, I really struggle with this because growing up having a career and a 9-5 is literally the end goal and that target of success. I know someone below mentioned the notion of privilege and I think that's really what it comes down to.
Yes, but if or possibly when you gain a skill, go to trade school or college & eventually have a career/job and if you keep slogging at that job/career & after all that... you realize you are no closer to being fulfilled, living a joyful life etc... then a real life-crisis is soon to follow for many people.
@MSunshine I’m an immigrant myself. I’m from Indonesia. It’s really great that you personally find fulfillment in what you do, really, for real. That’s fantastic. But I think it’s a very naive takeaway of what is essentially a video of self reflection and understanding one’s needs in terms of living. Admittedly I’m in a crossroads right now so perhaps I’m biased. If you saw my resume you’d probably be really impressed by where I’ve worked. By the things I’ve accomplished. And I’m lucky enough to be intelligent in a way that’s valued by corporations. But you easily say “9 to 5” as if that’s really all work demands from us. Most of the time it’s not - especially in the US. Most of the time, it’s this constant dichotomy between how productive are you versus oh but yes, of course as a company we care about you. (Spoiler alert, they don’t) This TH-camr mentions throughout the video how she doesn’t fault anybody who truly does find fulfillment in what they do. And I completely agree with that. If that’s for you, you do you. But it’s a little naive to worship at the altar of labor because it’s “produced good”. The only reason we have weekends is because of workers’ unions. Any type of safety features that we have in any industry has usually been paid for by blood. Labor inherently doesn’t produce good. Labor is labor, and there just happens to be some good people in it. I know, in my personal experience, corporations do not do good because it’s in their interest lol. They do good for optics and what’s more profitable. Further, you do not need a constant culture of prioritizing work if things are actually done efficiently and profit is not always at the forefront. But if you do want to work, because you’re crazy passionate about it, cool, go for that. No one is stopping you. I think it’s just pretty disingenuous to say “oh this comes from a view of privilege” when you don’t take the reality of American work culture to heart. Privileged or not if you are worth your money to a company, and unless you’re incredibly lucky, they work you to the bone. Any industry. Any profession. You’re incredibly lucky to have the mental capacity to become a doctor, an engineer, a whatever that has the potential to really produce and enact positive change. However if you truly knew what people actually produced on the day to day for a typical company... would you really have the same tune? And once again, I want to reiterate my point that this youtuber and anybody else who shares my opinion doesn’t want to stop anybody else from working. There just has to be a stop at worshipping career success as the apex of a poor person’s happiness. I came from that background. I am successful. And personally, I’m not happy. And I actually have made friends doing the work I do. I am happy that these people are content and happy with being productive. Personally, I’m finding more and more that it’s not for me. And that’s completely okay. This youtuber can’t provide solid, workable solutions because how American labor is structured at this point simply doesn’t provide “a way out” per se. And frankly, it’s not her job to tell you what you need to do if you choose to quit the lifestyle. It’s a self reflection, it’s honest, and I don’t think it should be discounted because she “comes from privilege”. What do you know about what she’s been through anyway? From the content of the rest of the channel it looks like she worked really hard. Why should her opinions be discounted because you can’t understand how she feels?
Another point I want to push is, CORPORATIONS WANT TO USE NARRATIVES LIKE YOURS. They want to say, “see? We’ve paved the way for a person like this immigrant to be successful.” When in reality the most powerful ones take advantage of our society the most lol.
Don’t be so easily manipulated by the American Dream narrative. If you find fulfillment in what you do, amazing. But in American culture, that enjoyment you get from your labor will always be eclipsed by the fact that someone else is out there profiting off of your work for a proportion of money that you can’t even imagine or comprehend, and worse, will never see. Until you partake in the system and the cycle continues itself.
This was long. I guess I’m just tired of the “I’m an immigrant so stop complaining” narrative. It’s frankly irritating and hollow especially when considering how deeply flawed the American work culture is.
@@MsNinetydays Amazing comment !!
@MSunshine you’re the exception not the minority. You were lucky.
@@MsNinetydays i completely agree with you. I was the first in my family to go to college. And i hate the idea of working 9-5 job. I hate that we have to work 5 days a week.
People are obsessed with action. Action gets you nowhere. Once you've completed some task you return to yourself. You cannot escape yourself.
Because action actually makes you feel good. Getting things accomplished and laboring makes you feel good when it's done.
It's how we are wired
Know what doesn't feel good? Sitting around like a lazy sack of shit playing games all day, and then wondering why you go to bed depressed
@@Merknilash Exactly, specifically I would say action makes you a stronger person. And the fulfillment of going through a series of arduous tasks and coming out the other side better makes you feel good.
@@Merknilash you know what doesn't feel good? doing the same thing every day, in a job you have no personal connection to, not being allowed to leave when you have finished all your work, sitting at the same chair from 8 to five everyday. Working outside, but having 20 years taken off your life and 0 benefits. Enjoying your job but knowing it gives you no safety net, and sometimes not even enough to survive.
you can dare to demand a better economy. that's why there were unions. just because you were miserable, doesn't mean everyone else has to be too. and you really need to throw out the stereotype that everyrone who is unhappy with their job plays videogames all day, it's very inaccurate
That's the thing. I make action FOR myself. I ain't participating in action for someone/something else
Now here's a wise one. God bless.
Oh girl, you are wise beyond your years! Love this video so much! I'm changing careers at 39 from 13 years in education. Found you as I'm exploring Edtech Sales. Love teaching a lot, and not totally burnt out, love the kids, but knew when I got into it that I would not be doing one thing for 30+ years, and at the time I wanted to teach for a while but recently I've started to outgrow my container. Don't over plan for the long term. Go with what brings you joy and fulfillment now, carve out time for joy and fulfillment outside of work life, and adapt and grow as you evolve!
Work is literally just the medium through which I can afford to be generous with family and friends, explore the world, and live. It is not my identity and does not deserve my loyalty.
At 18 years old, I was burnt out + heartbroken. I told myself, “Maybe in my next life, I’ll get to study a subject I actually enjoy.” It transformed me when I realized that I couldn’t live like that.
My career aspirations, now?
To be a good dog mom.
To be of service to my community through dog training.
To be a good partner.
To sleep enough, eat well & exercise daily.
To travel.
To become an old woman surrounded by close friends.
amen girl, you can achieve all of that ❤️🥺🙏🏻
Those are some excellent goals! 😊👍
I'm curious though, how would you, broadly, "pay the bills"?
Those are great goals but this is my advice to you. Goals are not fixed. Many of your goals will remain but as you get older, you will refine your goals but you will also discover new goals; many of them will prove to be far more important to you than your current goals. As you mature, the greatest priority for you is to balance achieving your current goals, but to also progress NOW in ways that place you in positions your future self would have hoped.
The challenge is to act now in anticipation of future goals that you currently devalue.
Yes but try not to fly often because that is the WORST thing you can do to the melting arctic and increasing global temperature. Go learn more on my channel cute girl.
Honestly, if work hours reduced from 8 to 6 hours a day without losing the original pay, it would be a huge improvement to people's happiness.
I work every day across from a friend/coworker who is a part-time worker (around 5 hours), while I work 8 and a half. He would always talk about the hobbies he did when he got home from work, the stores he hit on the way home, how he would make a healthy lunch for the next day, then video game out with buddies later that night. When he would ask about me, I would always reply that when I get home I have no energy to do anything. My hobbies have to wait for the weekend - I only have the energy to get a shower and then plop down in front of the tv or my laptop. He would roll his eyes at me when I said I didn't have the energy to meal-prep a healthy meal to take to work, that I just bought pre-packaged frozen meals instead.
One day I had the opportunity to take a couple hours of left-over PTO, and I got to hitch a ride with him when he left for the day. When he dropped me off, I remarked on how much energy I had, how much time was still left in the day, that I actually understood the energy he had every day. If I had his schedule, I would be mentally and physically healthier - having time to exercise, meal-prep healthy food, engage in hobbies, etc. I now understand his experience - though he unfortunately still can't relate to the utter exhaustion I have to experience every day. He does say that sometimes when he's home he looks at the clock and feels bad because he knows I'm still there hours later.
But I can't have his schedule.. the pay would be ridiculously low, and I would have no health insurance. So. I just suffer instead. Funny how I have to work myself into unhealthiness to get the health insurance, whereas if I didn't work myself to death, maybe I wouldn't need the doctors so much.
Long personal post just to say - yes, I agree with you.
@@coyoter9691 Thanks for sharing this. It's very relatable.
I'm not really sure what this comment means. Yeah, if people had less needs and your country had a better economy and people were given more things for less effort, happiness might improve?
@@creativebeetle I don't think there would be less effort if people worked 6 hours instead. Reverse might happen instead, people would be more motivated to do their job and get more done in shorter amount of time.
This. A million times.
I am a dental student right now and have always "known" this is the path I will be eventually taking, not because I like it, but because from a very young age I was manipulated into believing this is what I want. I wasn't a bright independent kid so I didn't gave it a second thought about what I was constantly told, but now that I have grown to create my own philosophy of life and have my own definition of success, I see how unhappy I am with the path I have chosen. I want to give it up but unfortunately I am still dealing with a lot of external influences that it makes it hard to follow what I truely want in life. I am currently studying for a supposedly prestigious carreer that giving it up is socially considered a huge mistake. ("You will like the money you will earn later", "you will be called a doctor, people respect that", "it isn't easy to get to this place so be thankful", and many more comments I have heard) So I am holding on to it since according to everyone else it is the right path. I don't care about what others think, but when you hear continuously that it is a mistake you will eventually regret if you give up now, you really start to question your decision and get scared if you will really regret it later once there is no way back to it anymore.
I am really glad I came across this video, where it is very accurately put in words how much worth the society puts into carreer and productivity associated with it that the real meaning of life and the real identity of people is being overshadowed.
I'm in my 50s and have an 18 year old. I quit my "career" to stay home with him and homeschooled him. We formed a family band and played music with his grandpa and dad starting at age 6. He has his own bands now. He loves music and although we followed a "rigorous" curruculum, we worked around time with family and music. We took our kids to visit family in nursing homes, went to funerals-often ours were the only kids there. My point is we took a chance on making less money and being human, really being with our family and community. Over the years I have felt guilty at times for my less corporate lifestyle and not pushing my son toward the typical college career. I've just always wanted family, community, creativity, intimacy, nature, nurture, time, rain, garden, family projects more than the status of a successful career and money. This video helps me not feel like I flaked out. Young people today are so smart and know the value of things they often weren't allowed to taste. Don't waste your humanity building corporate profits! Build a beautiful, life and collaborate with like minded people. Once we got what we needed from ourselves and our neighbors, we sang and danced with them, mourned with them, cooked and created with them. They were our wealth and safety net! The need for cash was minimal. We can get some of that back again. Keep believing!
this made me cry ur dedication to music and ur son is beautiful
My dad was laid off from a job he was at for 10 years and his entire worldview of his hard corporate work paying off was shattered. He's still dealing with the emotional ramifications to this day. And I think it's because his entire self esteem was based on work!
I liked your comment not because I like to hear things like that but I think it is super important to hear!!!!! Building your self esteem on your career is a very common mistake I guess and I always try to remember myself that I am a person 'outside of work' too and have to apprectiate my free-time more.
@@raphisu I appreciate your comment! He's doing way better now but it's for sure a cautionary tale.
How did he deal with it? Did he find a comparable employment or had to lower his standards? Did he outgrow his loss?
Makes sense why I prefer job-hopping. Jobs pay the bills and when they no longer help me, I move on.
Same. And I’m tired of being made to feel bad about that.
That’s how it should be. Workers are always treated like serfs when kings used to reign. We left that old system so that we could all become kings someday.
I've never worked at the same company for more than a year or two. But that's typical in my field. They want you to stay fresh. I started my career just before the dot com crash and was leery of staying any place too long. Saw what happened to people who stayed at jobs for 20+ years and were hosed because you become stagnant if you stay in one place too long.
It used to be called a bad worker
If you're not willing to walk away then you're giving your employer all the leverage.