“Law school sucked all the life and creativity out of me.” “I’ve never been happy practicing law.” “I have never had a sense of purpose.” “I feel destined to do something great, but have no idea why or what.” “I work only for the money.”
These are statements from a young attorney – who in his last position had been sick for 6 months, “triggered initially by stress.” But a new “career opportunity” presented itself and he is now working in a prestigious position with a Fortune 500 company. Unfortunately, the sickness is returning, starting with the symptoms of a choking feeling and shortness of breath.
Ultimately, money is never enough compensation for investing our time and energy. There must be a sense of meaning, purpose and accomplishment. Anything that does not blend our Values, Dreams and Passions will cause us on some level to choke. On an ongoing basis, each of us have opportunities to “reassess what’s important.” A life well lived must go beyond just making a paycheck – even if it’s a very large one.
The Bible tells us in Ecclesiastes 5:10; “Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.” If money is the only reward of your job, you will begin to see deterioration in other areas of your life – physically, emotionally, spiritually, and in your relationships. Need a new plan? Check out my 5-step plan for creating a change.
“That every man find pleasure in his work — this is a gift of God.” Ecc. 3:13
P. S. I have to add an interesting side note. Proper alignment in doing work we love does not mean the family will be eating rice and beans – in fact, the opposite is more often the case. Proper alignment releases not only a sense of peace and accomplishment, but money is likely to break in on you like an exploding dam.
Great truth in this post. Thank you Dan!
So true! One of the worst experiences is being stuck in a career and company that are a terrible fit. I understand how it can make people physically ill. Happiness and peace are worth more than any amount of money. Keep spreading the word, Dan.
Back in my homeschooling days, I observed more often than not, homeschool moms were dealing some stress related health issue – chronic fatigue, migraine, etc. The pressure to preform and be “a good mom” begin to show up in the health area because admitting things are out of balance was just unthinkable. Reminds me of the Woody Allen quote, “I don’t get angry, I just grow a tumor.”
The mindbody has so much wisdom – and it WILL use physical symptoms if we don’t listen.
So much truth to all of this Dan, thank you so much for sharing. It’s sad to hear stories about work making people sick but the word needs to get out. This reminds me of the ditch digging experiment / story where guys get paid really well to dig a ditch only to fill it in, over and over again. Slowly the crew members quit the job due to lack of purpose in the work they are performing even though they were getting paid a nice salary. Thanks for bringing attention to all of this. Keep up the great work!
A lot of us have blindly followed what the world dictates- how it defines success. For those of us who knew all along what the real meaning is, it takes a lot of courage to stay on the path you know and you believe is right.
Dan, It sounds like your reader has many gifts, drive, ambition, intelligence and I’m sure many others as well. If not intentional, one can devote their considerable energies to the wrong pursuits, such as “the money.” Cooked in the squat, a phrase you have used often, comes to mind. There is something I am puzzling over, as I think about my own recent experiences, observe others with whom I come into contact and listen to “ReLaunch” (plug for Joel Boggess) stories. It appears that in oh so many cases, the company consumes us, not only do we work to the point of infringing upon time spent in other areas of life but, our role becomes a life style dictated by someone else. Who we have dinner with, what charities we contribute to, events we attend on the weekend and even how we dress. Although I suspect that is fine for some, certainly it is not for many. Square peg in a round hole anyone? Such a poor match, it would seem, can be soul sucking. If distressed, physically or otherwise, we need to ask ourselves what is really going on here? Best of luck to the person who has made the statements above. Ask questions of yourself and others, and don’t stop.
Quote of the Day: ” A life well lived must go beyond just making a paycheck – even if it’s a very large one.” Love it Dan! Thanks for sharing your wisdom.
Dan, there truly is such a thing as being in a job that is a bad fit. There are also companies out there that are negligent in who they allow to work for them. I’m currently in both. I’ve been in great situations and wouldn’t have left if our departments had not been rift, so I moved on. I knew my current job was a bad fit soon after getting into it (the job description was far different from the job in which they hired me) and started looking to leave soon after starting. Things have been changing lately which is compounding the situation, as people are being rift and others shifted around; I now work for someone who is on the abusive side. This man is fairly new to the company and the assistant who was assigned to him left after 6 weeks of working for him; her replacement left after a few months; the next replacement (who is the person before me) landed in the ER with high blood pressure spikes and less than 2 weeks ago the same happened for me. I actually came close to having a stroke because of the stress, and I’m young and fit. I have reported him, my doctor even sent HR a letter to have me moved away from him, and the company has done nothing as of yet. Life is too short and there’s no need for garbage, especially in the workplace where you spend the majority of your day. Stress definitely takes a toll and while we need to learn how to manage stress, we also need to find the right situations. Thank you for your encouragement and work in helping others to know that a job is much more than earning a paycheck and that we can find the work of our dreams. I hope to find mine soon – or at least a healthier paycheck working for safer people.
This is good advice. Love the scripture Ecc. 3:13.
Hey, beans and rice are two of the healthiest foods available. I’m happy if my family eats that. 🙂 I get what you mean, but that phrase seems outdated.