What motivates us to work so hard at our day job?
FEAR! Fear is what motivates us every day to work
No one out there in the whole wide world asked any of us to work so hard at a living. Instead it is us who work out of fear of missing out. We have set high expectations of what we deserve and then strive all our lives to achieve those dreams. We don’t want to miss out or be seen that we are failures.
Now…
There is nothing wrong about dreaming and striving for good things that possibly can make us happy in this life. Its a great feeling to be able to strive for what we want. Achieving is a sign of growth. If we are not growing we are dying. Just look at nature ….
In nature if plants are not growing they are in slow decline, heading towards death.
So as humans we too should keep on keeping on and work towards our dreams.
One of the other reasons we work so hard comes from the example set by our society. Society has shown us that if we don’t work hard at something we will never achieve anything.
The first example we have in our lives is watching our parents work hard for a living from a young age. Parents instill this great work ethic into us. However in the 21st Century life has exposed us so many new possibilities/opportunities. We no longer have to just depend on hard work. We can for the first time use our minds instead and do very well. Just look at what people like Bill Gates (Microsoft) and Bezos have done in this world in their short life span. Ordinary people becoming extraordinary. So can you.
But before we move forward lets look at out lives in a day and see why we just don’t have any time.
A Glimpse Into Our Day!
How many of us complain that we don’t have
- enough time in the day to do the things we love.
- Example pursue a hobby,
- take up exercise,
- spend time with our aging parents, or
- time with our new born baby.
Where has our time gone or being spent on?
So lets look what your day look like?
Have you taken time to look at what your day is each and every day, or almost everyday in the week.
Lets start with Sunday…
Sunday morning begins happy as it’s still the weekend. Off we head out for a family breakfast or invite a few friends over for lunch. Everything is happy and rosy until around 5pm when we start to be plagued with a feeling about work.
We must start preparing for work the next day. Even before the working week begins work has taken over our lives. The ironing of clothes, preparing meal boxes and getting to bed is foremost in our minds, dampening the beautiful day we just been just experiencing.
Most of us dread going back to work on Monday. In fact we have coined phrases “it’s hump day” for the half way mark of the week, or “thank God it’s Friday” or “Happy Friday“. We do we hate or dread work so much when it provides us with our livelihood?
Why cant each day be happy is my question.
Now lets move into Monday…
All night we lie in a semi coma tossing and turning hoping the alarm doesn’t go off at 4.30am in the morning (most people may wake at 5am). When the alarm rings we jump up from bed and the first thing we think about is work. Most often we forget to say hello to our loved ones lovingly.
Getting ready and what will the work load be like is our focus. Its not about looking out of the window thinking “Wow, its such a beautiful day outside. Lets enjoy every minute of it“. Isn’t that sad.
We get ready in a hurry, pack our kids into the car and hurry off to work. How many of us talk loving to each other early morning? Not many as we are stressed about what lies ahead at work. Work dominates our lives.
Our day moves along at a fast pace and we just hoping the 5pm chime comes soon for us to leave for home, freedom. But is freedom really awaiting us?
We are exhausted after the first day at work, Monday.
Well, we do leave eventually for home, exhausted. However, we are not thinking of having a great time. Its about preparing dinner, getting our lunches ready for work the next day and ironing our clothes. Get the kids into bed and tuck ourselves in with the alarm set for 5am. In-fact we repeat everything we did 24 hours before on Sunday. Isn’t this sad.
Now, the funny thing is this cycle goes on for each day of the week. The only excitement we have momentarily is on Friday afternoon when we leave work. Thank God, its Friday syndrome sets in. We are set free momentarily for the next 2 days we think.
Friday it’s party time. Most of us head for dinner to the local restaurant with family or friends or we get a takeaway and enjoy Netflix. Its the best feeling we have had for the week.
Then comes Saturday…
We have the shopping to do, the yard to keep clean and cooking and washing. By late Saturday we are exhausted. Maybe we will have friends over for dinner for one last fling at freedom.
Is This The Meaning Of Life…
To just work hard?
So my question to you is this how do you want to live your life. Why should we live this way all our working life. Certainly there is a smarter way. We just have to find it.
I shall blog my experiences here of what I have experienced and how I am working towards my freedom. You can too. If you come across this page come back and read other posts here that I have.
Brisbane