Let’s face it; most of us don’t even want to ponder the quantification of the cumulative time in our lives that we will have spent at work when we reach the age where we begin to contemplate such things.
Obviously, everybody would love to have the luxury of being able to pay the bills with a profession that is their passion, something that likely, if they didn’t need to worry about income, they would be spending their time doing anyway.
I personally have a long and detailed history with such a career, as I’ve spent 11 of the last 19 years working for an organization that provided a service that I honestly and genuinely know that I would be ardently involved in regardless of whether or not I was being paid to be there.
Although I more often than not felt about that job that I was unbelievably fortunate to have the opportunity to spend my working days doing something that I cared so intrinsically and deeply about, there were also somewhat unforeseen and not entirely positive consequences to having my passion be my career, and one of those things was a condition termed “compassion fatigue”.
However, there are pros and cons to just about everything in this life, and a working person only need to decide for themselves if their vocation has the right ratio of more pros than cons and if overall, their job is really worth it.
It’s good to have money and the things that money can buy, but it’s good, too, to check up once in a while and make sure that you haven’t lost the things that money can’t buy. —– George Lorimer
Here are 5 things that make people go to work every day that have absolutely nothing to do with finances.
1. Having Passion And Belief In What You Do
When I worked at the animal rescue center, it never occurred to me to “play hooky”, because what I did every day mattered enough to me personally that I wanted to go to work, so much so in fact that, I donated a fair amount of my free time because my line of work had become so closely entangled with matters for which I was personally invested.
2. Learning Experience
This is the reason that many an intern has worked for a pittance or even for free when they are just starting out in any given profession. You probably have been there and done that. Ask any accomplished chef and they will tell you that they paid their humble dues slaving away for some lofty culinary tyrant simply because the experience that they managed to accumulate was worth more (at the time anyway) than a paycheck. The paycheck would come later because of the time spent.
Love conquers all things except poverty and toothache. —– Mae West
3. Esteem and Personal Recognition
Hopefully we’ve all had the chance to experience the feeling of pride and personal reward that comes from getting a good grade on a project in school, or receiving a glowing review at work. This undoubtedly strengthens our self-esteem and builds our inner confidence. In many ways it can be potentially the strongest of motivators and inspiration to do any particular job, whether it be for work or for school, or in our personal lives.
4. Loyalty And Devotion
Having a sense of honor in being a reliable, devoted employee. Regardless of the work, for many people is a powerful motivator that ties closely with a person’s sense of pride. For many people this is a defining factor in what they consider to be their character as person, which is certainly a powerful motivator that in no way related to finances.
5. Work Environment
Waking up and absolutely dreading go to work every morning, day in and day out becomes torturous after a while. A lot of people can certainly related to this, maybe even you. Ultimately this is not sustainable long term for most people. This is true even if the pay at that particularly hated job is lucrative.
Most people would gladly make some sacrifices to their budget if the reward were getting to go spend their working days in an environment in which they felt comfortable, even happy. Enjoying yourself for whatever reason (loving the people you work with, having fun at work, etc).
Do what you love and the money will follow. —– Marsha Sinetar
My significant other who used to work in the tech industry changed careers to become a grade school teacher for this very reason. She was received more than a quarter of a pay cut when she chose to teach but she is a far happier person doing something she loves and knows that she’s impacting people’s life in ways that she can’t even fully comprehend at this moment in time.
These are just a few examples of many that exist as to why our occupations need to be fulfilling to us in ways other than just money in order for us to be successful in them long-term.
So may I ask why you work? Is there any other reason other than money being the motivator and inspiration why you wake up every morning or at whatever time you get up to go to work? Share it with our readership.
