“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”
Thomas A. Edison
It seems like everywhere you look, someone is offering five new ways to hack your life or to become more productive or to discover the results you are searching for. There's this drive, this angst, that we aren't doing as much as we should be. Life is a competition. Eat or be eaten. Innovate or die trying. And so, the United States, despite all its latest technologies and opportunities for leisure, continues to maintain its reputation as the most overworked developed nation.
In the middle of the 20th century, as the US emerged from World War II, there were tremendous new opportunities for education, businesses, and housing. Those who used to be working class now found themselves in the middle class. Modern appliances like the microwave and the dishwasher allowed time at home to be freed. The 40 hour work week, houses with yards in the suburbs, and a television in every home with a McDonalds close by became the American Dream.
Since that time, through a variety of policies that have kept wages stagnant, protected our corporate overlords, shipped jobs overseas, eliminated pensions, and broken up unions, many Americans now contend that the Dream is dead. The US is the only country in the Western Hemisphere and Europe without paid parental leave. The US does not have any laws that dictate a maximum length to the work week – 134 other countries do. We take the least vacation days, the least sick days, and a majority of us work more than 40 hours a week. And what about the idea that we are working hard now so that we can retire comfortably later? Definitely not true. Nearly 20 to 25 percent of all Americans over the age of 65 are working, which is significantly more than in prior decades.
Together with technology, the COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the way we work. The recession disproportionately affected public facing and blue collar workers more than white collar workers, who were able to retreat to their homes and work from there. Twenty-four accessibility by email, group chat, and direct messaging has led to people working longer hours from home than they did in the office. And with the tremendous layoffs and furloughs that the pandemic wrought, the gig economy has exploded as people try to work multiple jobs in order to make ends meet.
What exactly are we working for? Why do we glamorize overworking at the expense of our diets, our sleep, our bodies, and our mental health? What is a healthy balance and why can’t we attain it? Despite wanting to escape the rat race, it seems that eventually most of us become either addicted to or dependent on it, racing as fast as we can to meet our expenses, to pay off our debts, and to keep up with the Joneses. If we are lucky we are slightly ahead, but more often than not we are indebted to someone somewhere.
It’s time to examine why we work as hard as we do. Is it the prestige? The money? The impact on others? Because we cannot imagine anything else? Maybe we have no choice. Maybe we spend too much, get ourselves into debt too fast, or have little understanding of how money and finances work. Or perhaps we found what we love to do and we cannot get enough of it. We can also feel called to an occupation, something known as a vocation, but how do we know when we have found it?
The fact of the matter is that we spend an enormous portion of our lives working, most likely for someone else, and it is worth spending the time to consider its purpose and what we want it to look like. Everyone wants to feel like they lived a successful life. But the meaning of success is different for each one of us and it will continue to evolve throughout our lives. Reflecting on your values, your motivations, and your passions will help you get closer to discerning what kind of work you want to spend your life doing and how you define success.
What does success mean to you?
Should our work have meaning?
What does the idea of vocation mean to you? Does it matter?
What do you imagine your ideal job to be in the future? What are things you are looking for? How might you attain it?
What are some important benefits that you expect to get from work or college?
How do you spend your leisure time? How would you like to spend it differently? What leisure activities make you feel creative and energetic?
What factors are weighing in on your pursuit of a meaningful professional life?
The Difference Between Winning and Succeeding – John Wooden – TED
In Praise of Idleness – Bertrand Russell – Harpers
Workism is Making Americans Miserable – Derek Thompson – The Atlantic
How To Find Work You Love – Scott Dinsmore – TED
Givers and Takers – Adam Grant
Outliers – Malcolm Gladwell
Nickel and Dimed – Barbara Ehrenreich
What Color is Your Parachute? - Richard Nelson Bolles