Work On Your Work

Whether you realize it or not, you have probably heard people complain about and criticize their job or whatever it is they do. This is not just limited to paid work, but extends to schoolwork, internships, and other tasks. Most humans loathe almost all work and believe they are almost always deserving of a vacation. This is the problem: it is one thing for one to say they need a vacation, but it is completely different for one to truly believe that they need and deserve that break from work. Don’t get me wrong, I’m am certainly not saying that we should work every day until we die. Vacations are great, but it is so important to have the right reasons and understanding behind your motives. I’ve narrowed the list of reasons as to why people feel like they need to opt-out of work down to three:

1. The system
2. They’re too good for their job
3. They’ve done enough

The first reason is one that I talk about a lot with my close friends. It’s the thing we all dread….The system. To me, the system is the fall of the American Dream, monotonous helpless cycle many feel they can’t get out of, and to me the system is the long gray line of American manhood. Growing up we’re taught that where you’re from doesn’t have to be where you’re going. That if, “You work hard, you do the right thing, you clean up.” And this is all true, but for many Americans, this society we live in, this system, does everything it can to make the journey to your goals as difficult as possible. Our society, rather than promoting and nurturing creativity and curiosity, rather than encouraging young people to take risks and see the world, and rather than idolizing values and morals instead of money and objects, has trapped us. This system causes us to make career decisions we don’t want to make, do the same thing every day, become stuck in our personal ideologies, become more closed-minded, and become filled with more hate and less love.

The reality is that our society is becoming more and more like this “system.” However, what but nothing is a man or woman who commits themselves blindly to a system that has no true intentions? If you hate this system and think that the right way rebelling against it is to not participate, you’re probably wrong. Boycotting, rebelling, rioting, using entails doing the opposite of the thing you’re upset with, but in this case, we absolutely can not, should not, stop working. Rather, we need to work harder and dedicate ourselves to putting life and goodness into the work we do. Yes, some industries are nasty and it can be so hard to see anything good come from them, just look at American politics right now. However, the very perceived nature of these industries does not reflect their possibilities. We can not avoid this system by withdrawing ourselves. We are to avoid this system by committing ourselves. Committing ourselves to a new work ethic, a new driving force of creativity, a new heart as a society.

Another popular but subtle reason we hate working is because many people think that they are “too good” for their job. This is ridiculous, this infuriates me, and if you think this you are certainly not too good for your job. This is an absolutely toxic mindset and is a reason behind why millennials are thought to be the worst generation to every be (but that’s a different story). It is possible, and even common for one to run out of challenges and interest at their job, but this in no way is synonymous to them being better than that job. I believe this sense of false confidence and entitlement stems from the idea that people are too concerned with living their life and only smelling the roses rather than building a life. These same people think that once they’re around 30 they’ve found the work and job they’re supposed to do for a lifetime, when in fact there are always new challenges. It should be no surprise that when you commit yourself to a long term routine, you may get complacent. However, being complacent does not and never will mean you’re better than what it is you’re complacent o
ver. Challenge yourself to stop living your life and start building it, as anti-motivational speech esque that may sound.

Finally, the third reason I have identified as to why many people hate working is that they think they’ve done enough. They think they’ve done their time and the day where they hang up the gloves and kick up their feet on a beach somewhere in the Keys for years to come has finally arrived. Before I dive into this let me be clear: I am not anti-retirement, nor am I against those who retire, and I am not against those who retire early (whatever “early” means). Though I do believe that there is a right time to take your foot off the gas and start collecting retirement benefits, this transition is very personal and differs on a case to case basis. CEO Gary Vaynerchuk believes that we shouldn’t be afraid to start a new phase of our careers because of our age, contrarily, getting older is all the more reason to start that new project, to launch your own company, to take on that extra proposal, etc.. I hink that you should ask yourself a couple of questions before you decide to dig your feet in the sand. Ask yourself if you’ve done all you can? Is there anything left to do?  Can I make things better? Where can my curiosity still take me? Evaluate your purpose and how its changed over the past X number of years.
Don’t just look back, look forward.

It’s true that work, whether its a job or schoolwork, can be tedious and just suck, but that one assignment, that one task, or that one job certainly doesn’t represent them all, and you’d be naive to think that. Rather than giving in, kick it up a notch and challenge yourself. Build your life- and you will create crazy things.

Thomas Fusillo