Work life balance myth.

[Delmania]

http://www.alexstjohn.com/WP/2016/05/16/strange-times-wage-slaves/

Most important point, look at the people who are highly successful, like Gates, Musk, Buffet, and Jobs. For them, there is no work/life balance, there is no sense of sacrifice. They only work on things they truly believe in, things they know will be of value to others. They don't need to wind down from work because for them, work is satisfying, challenging, and invigorating.

When I started analyzing why I was so unhappy in my life, what has caused me to move jobs, I realized a part of it is that I find the work most companies hire me to do immensely unfulfilling. It has little value, and ultimately will have no impact on peoples' lives. I think of the POTUS. He doesn't work just 40 hours and go home. He spends 4 to 8 years working 24/7 in a high-pressure job, dealing with people who don't like him, all because he believes (on some level) he can make a difference. He believes in his mission. (I know I am romanticizing this a little).

If you're in a position where you simply want to go home and do something else (as I am in), it's time to move on and keeping moving until you find that work that consumes you. Life is too short to work in a shitty job.

 

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[StompingAcorns]

I liked the videos and articles you linked - thanks.

 

[Delmania]

@StompingAcorns You're very welcome! I am glad to see someone enjoy these!

 

[BellaPippin]

Very interesting article. I think the definitions of work-life balance vary depending on whether you look at it with slowlane eyes or fastlane ones. Work-life balance on the slowlane might be like the one month sabbatical a friend gets offered on his benefit package every 5 years. He thinks it's awesome, to me it just reminds me of the 5 for 2 deal MJ describes on the book. It's felt that way to me way before I even read TMF . So you work all 5 years (2 week vacation aside) miserably because you have that one month in mind, like a carrot hanging in front of a mule. It sucks to me. Now don't get me wrong, I still think not everyone thinks like that and it's totally valid. Less competition for us lol. But personally if I'm gonna work that much it has to be for a vision of my own. Ideally, automate it enough so money comes in while I'm taking a painting class or volunteering for a cause or eating asado in Buenos Aires.


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[JasonR]

Gates, Musk, Buffet, and Jobs. For them, there is no work/life balance, there is no sense of sacrifice. They only work on things they truly believe in, things they know will be of value to others.

I agree with very little work/life balance. But I disagree on the sense of sacrifice. I'm half way through Elon Musk's biography, and while he may not use the word sacrifice, the man has absolutely sacrificed IMMENSELY to achieve the things that he has done in his life.

If you're in a position where you simply want to go home and do something else (as I am in), it's time to move on and keeping moving until you find that work that consumes you. Life is too short to work in a shitty job.

I have a counterpoint to this argument. I was in a "shitty" job, and I used that as the motivation to start my business and never have to have a job again. If I had a cushy job, higher salary, and I actually enjoyed going to work (most of the time), I may have never found the motivation to escape.

Humans are only motivated by two things: moving away from pain or moving toward pleasure.

Sometimes having an immensely strong "move away from my shitty job" is exactly the thing that lights a fire under your a$$.

In MJ's book, he recounted how shitty it was driving a Limo in the freezing cold weather.

I look back, and remember how shitty my commute was, and how rigid my work environment was, and how I struggled to get even a salary of $42,000 a year, and how much that motivated me to get out.

 

[TonyStark]

This is very true.

 

[petkovic]

I agree with very little work/life balance. But I disagree on the sense of sacrifice. I'm half way through Elon Musk's biography, and while he may not use the word sacrifice, the man has absolutely sacrificed IMMENSELY to achieve the things that he has done in his life.

I agree, but did it feel like sacrifice to him? I could imagine that he develops such an intense focus that all the things he sacrificed (in the eyes of others) are of little or no value to him.

That said, I wouldn't want to be Elon Musk. I am almost certain that he has found his balance but it would not be the right balance for me.

 

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[Delmania]

I agree with very little work/life balance. But I disagree on the sense of sacrifice. I'm half way through Elon Musk's biography, and while he may not use the word sacrifice, the man has absolutely sacrificed IMMENSELY to achieve the things that he has done in his life.

As @petkovic mentioned, the question is whether Musk considers the things he gave up as sacrifices.

That said, I wouldn't want to be Elon Musk. I am almost certain that he has found his balance but it would not be the right balance for me.

In some aspects, Musk is a positive role model, in other areas (hs first marriage) he's a negative role model. He's human after all.

I have a counterpoint to this argument. I was in a "shitty" job, and I used that as the motivation to start my business and never have to have a job again. If I had a cushy job, higher salary, and I actually enjoyed going to work (most of the time), I may have never found the motivation to escape.

Counterpoint, if you had a cushy job you enjoyed most of the time, I'd probably point out that you don't want to be an entrepreneur. It's not a path for everyone and that's okay, which is something I think people tend to forget on this forum. Musk, Gates, or Jobs couldn't have accomplished the things they did without the help of other people. My point was that if you're in a situation where the anger and frustration consume you, you have to move on. You can try to detach yourself, but in my experiences, eventually those negative emotions will consume you. It's better to move to a less engaging job that you can stand while working on your own ideas so you have the mental and emotional energy.

 

[limitless_c]

I have a counterpoint to this argument. I was in a "shitty" job, and I used that as the motivation to start my business and never have to have a job again. If I had a cushy job, higher salary, and I actually enjoyed going to work (most of the time), I may have never found the motivation to escape.
.

I agree, that is how you get A LOT of motivation if all you want is being on the fastlane.

 

[petkovic]

In some aspects, Musk is a positive role model, in other areas (hs first marriage) he's a negative role model. He's human after all.

I don't actually know too much about Elon Musk but when I think of role model I associate this with "Is this person a good person?". I assume that for Musk you can say he might have some flaws and done some things in life that were not so nice, but he is human after all and overall he is someone to look up to and has had an overall positive impact much bigger than the majority of population.

Myself, I think I couldn't be this person. Some of the things he "blocked out" to reach his goals, I need them to be happy.

 

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[Delmania]

I don't actually know too much about Elon Musk but when I think of role model I associate this with "Is this person a good person?". I assume that for Musk you can say he might have some flaws and done some things in life that were not so nice, but he is human after all and overall he is someone to look up to and has had an overall positive impact much bigger than the majority of population.

Most people tend to implicitly put in the word "positive" in front of the term role model; I personally think that leads to hero worship. (A role model is just an example of behavior.) I'm not disagreeing with you about Musk's impact, I just think it's important to look the whole person, and not just the areas you consider success.

 

[SteveO]

This is an interesting topic. Good points are being made by all.

I don't even like the phrase as it seems to be intended for those that have regular jobs.

Sometimes I work 70 hours a week. Other times I don't work at all. It is my choice of what I want to do.

I agree that a role model is just an example of behavior.

 

[Yoda]

Something you may have missed:

The Billionaires have passion for everything they pursue while the millennials job hop hoping to find the magic job or opportunity that full-fills them without considering the possibility that the root of their dissatisfaction with every employer is internal not external.
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Perhaps the largest disparity in what people think is happiness is those who find it regardless of their work versus those who find pleasure from their work.

I can most definitely claim to have one of the most nominal, boring, and unfulfilling lines of work.

But I am happy. It's not because of my work, but rather because of my attitude and what I stand to gain by being me. My passions are my hobbies, and even 30 minutes per day within my passions is enough to satisfy my day because I am eternally grateful to have the audacity to spend that thirty minutes how I want.

 

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[Robert Taylor I]

I agree with very little work/life balance. But I disagree on the sense of sacrifice. I'm half way through Elon Musk's biography, and while he may not use the word sacrifice, the man has absolutely sacrificed IMMENSELY to achieve the things that he has done in his life.



I have a counterpoint to this argument. I was in a "shitty" job, and I used that as the motivation to start my business and never have to have a job again. If I had a cushy job, higher salary, and I actually enjoyed going to work (most of the time), I may have never found the motivation to escape.

Humans are only motivated by two things: moving away from pain or moving toward pleasure.

Sometimes having an immensely strong "move away from my shitty job" is exactly the thing that lights a fire under your a$$.

In MJ's book, he recounted how shitty it was driving a Limo in the freezing cold weather.

I look back, and remember how shitty my commute was, and how rigid my work environment was, and how I struggled to get even a salary of $42,000 a year, and how much that motivated me to get out.

This is so true. Right now my job is fun, it is in the field I want, and even though I know that years from now it won't take me where I want to be I like going to work. The only issue is that the pay is not enough to fund my life and my current venture properly. Sometimes I feel like taking a shittier job with higher pay to get some more a$$-fire going.

 

[GuestUser153]

I am enjoying this

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