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Working to live ? Living to work?
By Nicholas Storm
Which is it? Well it's Saturday and when I woke up this morning this question popped. I'm still toying with an appropriate answer so bear with me a bit. Trigger might be a gruesomely long week ending late Friday night. At any rate. Which is it really? Now in this part of the world, my standard work week is 50 hours in the office, weekends off (fortunately!), another 2 hours on average every single night so it adds up. Add to that 40% of my time spent out of the country I begin to question quality of live. Money is good so that's a motivator. I love my job even if it's not that exciting (I'm in the printing industry). I have a great boss - truly (rare statement coming from me you should know) and I'm surrounded by fabulous, young, energetic, motivated and caring colleagues that wants to make change. Couldn't be better right? Well - I also do love my family. Fabulous wife and wonderful mother to our model daughter who is a model by the way and a straight A student now finishing her IB. So what is this all about then? I'm complaining! You know what? When I was fired 2 years ago I spent the best 3 months of my life - literally - in between jobs. I had money in the bank - and money in the notice period. It took me just a month to find a great (better) new job so I had all the time in the world to focus on the things I love (my family) and the actions and desires I've been so long pushing off. Every single day, when I wake up in the morning - and even if my work life is as great as I have been trying to project - I long for the 3 months to come back. I recently read a blog, a very depressing one. The punch line was something like - why do we work? We are born, go to school, get degrees, get a job and usually (well most of us) make enough money just to cover a month of expenses and then by 65 or so we retire and on average we have a few years until we keel over. That's not a life - seriously. The blog stopped short there but was sort of arguing that we should all be entrepreneurs. I made a few comments - no response. But he/she had a point. Most of us work to live. We really don't live to work. We never should but what we REALLY should do is to try to change our lives somehow - like me - to go back to the point in life where we really felt that life was best, where there was a healthy balance between work-life, family-life, friends-life etc. so that we get the qualities - hopefully that life is all about. You know me by now. I'm all about change. This is not another piece to awake you to think change and do change. No this is for you (and I) to wake up and smell the roses and ask - Is this the best I can do? - and "is this the life I want" - will I be happy if I, like I'm statistically set to be, leave mother earth right after retirement age (well hopefully not of course but many do!). I say no. Don't accept life as it is! You are living your life. No-one is living it for you! Take calculated chances - we all have responsibilities to family, creditors etc. so these chances driven by decisions must be calculated. Maximize possible outcome and mitigate risk. If you can and you have the slightest feel and belief that this, if it turns out well, can change your life for the better - well do it! In case you wonder - I want to change my life. I don't want to spent 38% of my waking hours working and 21% sleeping (I don't sleep much!). That leaves about 40% time to do what I love and be with those that I love to be with. I like my colleagues but I love my family! I want to change and my plan is to make an online business that can turn around enough to make a living for my family and I but allow me to work the hours and from the places I chose. Status quo is that I'm about 0.02% there so I only have 99.98% to go but as they say, the first step is the most difficult one. Take this as rant from a guy who blows steam or pause for a minute and think: Are you happy? How can you be? Have a great weekend - and be with friends and loved ones!
Nicholas |
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 | | sydney agreed with this intel. Jan 28, 2012 |  | | onlineMD supported this intel. Jan 28, 2012 |  | | Grace liked this intel. Jan 28, 2012 |  | | noline agreed with this intel. Jan 28, 2012 | | | AmberLee liked this intel. Jan 28, 2012 |  | | odls agreed with this intel. Jan 28, 2012 |  | | R Foreman liked this intel. Jan 30, 2012 | | | turifungia liked this intel. Jan 30, 2012 |
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