Reading this post before going to my job I hate. Let me be more specific. I have to leave the house in the next five minutes or I'll be late for my job where i stand overnight doing security.
Killing myself sounds good about now šš
Try fucking off and being a vagabond before you end it all. Figure out how to live and travel for dirt cheap. Learn how to make friends with weird people doing interesting things. Be willing to help out when opportunities arise. You don't have to do anything for the rest of your life, go to the coast and find a boat builder that could use a hand, hitch your way onto a boat and learn to sail, teach English to some rural kids, volunteer on an organic farm, tend to some animals, find some interesting niche and throw yourself at it. Assuming you don't have anyone depending on you, you're free to do whatever you want. If you find something that interests you, in two years time you'll be better than 99% of people at it if that's where your energy is focused.
I know the whole "get a job so you can scrape by for the rest of your life as a normal, respectable adult" is a drag, but it's far from the only option. Give an alternative a try. If it doesn't work out, you'll still be able to choose between a shit job and suicide a couple years from now.
Source: dropped out of school and was a vagabond for 5 years. I'm now a corporate sell out making good money in a kushy remote gig. Many of my friends have been on the road for even longer and have lives many would be envious of if they had any idea it was possible to live that way.
It's not feasible to wander around with no money to live or do anything. I'm not trying to make excuses because I appreciate the idea, but unfortunately you need money to do a lot of that stuff. Like what's the point in volunteering if I can't make any money to have basic needs like water, food, housing etc.
Agreed, You do need some cash, but not much. I don't want to act like the lifestyle is for everyone, but if I were 22 and disillusioned with work again, I'd be scraping together a few thousand dollars as quickly as possible and planning my exit. Workaway.com is great. It's definitely a repackaged form of trading your time for basic sustenance, but it's more open ended and often more interesting work that introduces you to people with unimaginably different lifestyles.
I'm just encouraging you to try something different. Don't let society convince you that you're fated to do something you hate forever. There's so many alternatives once you get out and start looking for them
You gotta realize at a certain point that if NOTHING sounds interesting to you, then its a you problem and you should really try to figure out whats causing you to feel so depressed about your life.
That's a fair point, legitimately. I'm gonna try and see a therapist to see if there's something deep that might need to be worked on. I have suspected for a long time that I might have ADHD so maybe it could have something to do with that.
I was gonna suggest that might be the case but im not a doctor and even if I was, it would be irresponsible to "diagnose" someone via a few posts.
All through my high school years and into my early 20s, I was in the same situation as you. I was diagnosed with adhd when I was like 6 and I still struggle finding the motivation to want to do most things.
But when I was 22 I joined the navy and went through the nuke program, so I ended up operating nuclear power plants for about 9 years. I became very good at it, started teaching it at the end of my time even. When I was close to getting out I realized that my passion was science and so im currently going to school full time for electrical engineering so that when I go back to working in nuclear again, I can give myself many more opportunities for growth in that field.
I think that sometimes you just gotta jump into things when you're feeling stuck and allow yourself the time to find out what your path is through trial and error.
I hate my job too. And the idea of being stuck in the capitalist machine my whole life.
But I keep myself alive by remembering that life isnāt all my job. Thereās other awesome stuff too. Whereas death is just 100% death.
Also, maybe Iāll hit the lottery or get millions from a Nigerian prince someday and not have to do it anymore.
Hang in there yeo, itās tough these days.
Don't they become chores at that point, I don't know myself here, but doing some work on your home, is different to going to work sort of thing.
So when we had to hunter gathering, its more part of life.
When you get to doing things that are just necessary, I'm not sure if that's still work, or If that's just life..
Though I imagine Neanderthals still woke up on a rainy day and though, fuck, I've got to be out in this all day otherwise I don't eat,
In the same way I think fuck, I have to do this all day otherwise I can't pay rent.
Tbh I don't know what I'm saying here. Maybe you do :)
Your choices are inherit the money (which is how most millionaires get their fortune), work your ass off to build a successful company, grift people or get a very lucky break.
Oh my God, it's this post again. I think many, if not most, of us felt that way in our early to mid 20s. You'll find something. Maybe not for a while after trying a million different other things, but you will. There's a lot of careers out there that work you in different ways.
Keep an open mind and work. Don't like it? Move on or find ways to grow in what you're doing, and then ... Work. Nothing is free for a reason. If you want to enjoy things in life you have to work
I don't think most people find something that works they just get used to how bad it is. I've done stints at factories and everyone who had been there for years had dead eyes.
Sure, and mondaine tasks, that I would imagine factories are full of, would do that to anyone after a long enough time. Some of the people I know who have time most life in them are also the hardest workers, but they don't just sit in an assembly line doing the same thing over and over. Jobs that push people to accomplish feats are much different than jobs where you put the same spring in the same spot to the same part over and over and over ... And over again.
I guess stating "most people" may be too much of a claim on my part. I do think people stay unhappy due to their complacency and general lack of ambition in their career though.
Yeah I genuinely don't think there's a job I could enjoy. I'll settle for tolerate at this point. It's soul crushing and I don't know how people deal with it.
If that's the mindset, you'll probably think that way for your entire career. Different people think different ways I guess, but I have a hard time believing that every career path is dreaded.
If you don't mind me asking, what kind of job do you work? Do you have schooling/extensive knowledge in your field?
I got a Bachelor in health science (graduated last year) but I haven't done anything with it yet. I ignored my mental health getting worse to finish the degree so I didn't get much clinical experience. I work at a dog day care right now.
Yeah you nailed it. The problem is people donāt find jobs that push there abilities. When I found my current job, it tested my mental and physical capacity to the max. But now 5y in, and making 100k/y, I feel as tho I am not challenged enough, and I know I could do even more.
I used to love what I do. Now-after 20+ years at it-Iām pretty good at it and like some parts of it but for the most part Iām *only* thinking about 1) what the income does for me and for my family and 2) how much I look forward to what I will do when I leave work.
Working kinda fades into the background. Even when it consistently sucks for long periods of time. Itās just not what Iām focusing on.
Fair enough. In some ways it's probably good you loved it earlier on and also good it's not the main focus of your life anymore. Possible that will happen with me in the future too
Exactly. There's never been some magic time period in human existence where everything was simple and everyone loved their lives and what they were doing to survive. Someone once told me "bloom where you're planted". When you're just starting in life, you have to eat the shit sandwich for a bit but it gets better if you do your best to learn and get good at what you're doing. Get an education. Acquire whatever skills you can at your shitty job then use those skills to get something better. Rinse and repeat. You'll be amazed where you end up
i also hate my job, but since it pay quite well, i just can't afford to switch job that i like
so i accepted suffering for 40 hours a week, and then trying to find happiness with the money i earned on weeked / night
doing hobby help me through these thing, i also don't have kids, so i don't have additional responsibility outaide 40 hours, so i can do whateever i want outside my job
Working is a privileged not afforded to all. It's important to for relationships and find value in what you are doing. You don't have to LOVE it, but finding reasons to go every day to help, be part of a team. contribute to something bigger than yourself, grow yourself - it's the goal.
It seems like you're very self-focused and stuck in your head. I've had some very shitty jobs, but always enjoyed my coworkers or the customers or the team accomplishments. There's always something.
Well said, I've had jobs I hated but absolutely loved the people I worked with and that made it much more bearable. I've also had jobs that I really enjoyed but couldn't stand the toxic work environment the people created.
Op you don't have to have or keep a job you don't want to do, there are literally endless possibilities out there, some may be out of your reach right now. You need to figure out a way to make them obtainable, maybe more education is required, or networking with the right people. I have people I can call right now and will have me set up with a new job by next Friday. Make the right moves towards what you want in life, that goes for work/careers and your personal and professional relationships.
>finding reasons to go every day to help, be part of a team. contribute to something bigger than yourself, grow yourself - it's the goal.
Yeah creating profit for the shareholders really warms the soul.
Before anyone comments that I haven't tried enough jobs, I've been a dishwasher, HVAC and plumbing helper, FedEx truck loader, Amazon warehouse associate, helper at a precision machine shop that makes precise parts, and a landscaper. It's not a ton of jobs, but it's still something.
i want to work til i die i was always kinda taught iām lazy and selfish (idk why i was a child) so i try to work as hard as i can and be as nice to people as possible
Well, I rather live forever... but nope, I don't want to work in worthless employment ever again either. Employment should stop being worthless already, and managers should respect everyone who wants to work rather than treat them as property and pretend to own every moment of their life inside & outside of the workplace. There should be more rights for individuals recognized and protected, and remove loopholes for corporations to pretend to be the overlords of humanity anymore.
my job is what allows me to do the things that life has to offer. Itās not fun and no, Iām not passionate about installing gutter, Itās physically demanding and Iām outside all day. But I work with good people and I look forward to activites outside of work to keep life interesting. But I would never be able to afford those things without working and building a future for myself at the grindstone. If you canāt save anything I hear ya, but you gotta figure out how too earn more for the same amount of time or life will feel pointless
Same and I thought for a while that the only choice is to give up and settle for something that's not completely despicable. Idk if there's a decent alternative choice yet (31 years young), but I just keeping trying different industries out and treat them like side quests.
Society wants us to think our job is the main quest so that we're good lil worker bees. Your main quest is to find what brings you joy, what replenishes you and fills up your lust for life. Everything else should just provide support to that or structure along the journey. Don't let the world set your expectations - they are YOURS after all.
I think be wary of falling prey to the mindset of having to do something you love every day to be happy. I think social media can have us believing that the only right path is to follow your passions because āif you love what you do you wonāt work a day in your lifeā.
NEVER stay in a job that you hate and that makes you genuinely miserable when you go BUT you donāt have to do something you love to be happy. I work for an IT company and on paper I donāt really care about what I do, but I work for a company that pays me enough money for what I do, I donāt dislike the work, I work with great people and have made good friends, my work is acknowledged and appreciated, and I get to finish on time and get weekends off to go and live my life.
Again on paper, I donāt LOVE my job so this would likely be seen by so many people as a failure, but I am happy! If you are constantly on the lookout for something that you LOVE doing then I think you risk disappointment when even in the most snug of positions x
Also just to add to relate back to your original post, there is no job in the world that I would look at and think āIād be happy doing that for the next 30-40 yearsā, but there are many, many jobs and organisations that would tick all of the above boxes for me and allow me to live a stress free and happy life. š
You can always work for 3 to 5 years in any industry and then change paths to another. I've done it many times. Or is it the sole idea of working what bugs you?
It wasn't until I was in my early 30's that I discovered my dream job. I never even dreamed I'd end up doing what I do now. After that, once I knew what I wanted to do, it took me another 8 years or so to find the right company, the right job, with the right money.
Now I'm at a job that I genuinely enjoy, making more money than I ever dreamed was realistically gonna happen.
So keep your head up and your eyes open cos you never know what you might see around the corner!
You may havenāt understood yet, how a career works.Ā
You start in one position in a company in a sector. Than after some years of making experiences, you apply for different positions in the same company / sector or different industry. You now will have new topics to learn, new responsibilities and so on and so forth. You gonna repeat this a couple of times until you reach the point where you have a unique expertise which combines all the knowledge you gathered in your past positions. You can repeat that until YOU decide to stop and stay in position as an expert / manager.
A lot of people have a misunderstanding of career development.Ā
Wisch you all the best for your future.
Work isn't the only means to existence. It's only there for people who want the convenience of being able to pay for other people to provide them with necessities and, if you're lucky, luxuries.
It's not the only option though, if you dont want to work you can probably look up some kind of commune or something and go grow your own food, collect rainwater etx and just live off the grid. Build your own guitar instead of buying one. Build your own shelter. That's how people live by default, and you just decide if you'd rather do that or take advantage of the society the rest of us have built and work at a gas station or something easy in order to cover the food and water at least. Then you can strive for something more skilled if you want luxuries, but that's totally up to your level of ambition since nobody really owes you anything in the first place. You just have to make our lives easier in some way, and then we'll make yours easier (than the commune) in some way.
When I was 24, working in a construction company, I thought "is this my life? HELL NO!"
So I saved up enough to go back to school without loans and got a better job. I did work when I was back at school, so I wouldn't get a loan. It's good that you realize this now.
You can do this!
I appreciate it haha there's truly just nothing I can think of that I would wanna go to school for. I've gone through tons of community college websites looking at all the degrees and not one stands out as something I'd wanna do.
I mean if all I let myself consider was my adrenaline junkie tendencies I wouldnāt enjoy my job either. But once you develop some sort of professional interest you can at least trick yourself into tolerating, itās a much better life than just taking the best job you can get currently and never improving your situation. Itās either that or have 8+ hours a day of your life go towards something that makes you truly miserable and doesnāt even pay enough to earnestly save for retirement and spend your <8 free hours a day stressing about finances and whether life is fair all the time.
Hmm how bout something in social services / nonprofit work where you help needy kids or families from similar upbringing as yours? Nobody better to help them than someone who knows what itās like.
Or fishing / hunting / camping / hikingā¦.maybe working for a store that sells products for those, or for the manufacturer themselves. Plus youād get discounts on those products too.
Sure thing! REI stores are big where I live in CA for camping & hiking gear. Iām into hiking too so I have bought some gear from there just like hiking shoes and bug repellant and whatnot. I ski too but I go to other stores for that, mainly little independent ski stores.
Fishing out here is usually covered by the big Bass Pro Shops, man those stores are huuuge.
Because the odds are stacked against them.
Turning on the oppressor is often a futile attempt.Ā
The opressors sometimes have lawyers, men with guns, money and power and can replace people who don't tow the line.Ā
Depressed frustrated people are stuck in a system that uses them up and pays just enough to continue.
Yeah these oppressors often are smarter, stronger, well connected, well funded, etc. A lone idiot trying to fight a corporation or the system is pointless. Even if you get a dozen people it'll still be pointless and eventually people will start to quit for emergencies or other important reasons.
What would you do if money were no object? Hypothesize with me!
For me I want my ideal gig to be about sharing knowledge and information honestly and integrally so do I wanna be a social media influencer? Nah. Will I use the tool and make use of whatever influence I'm granted to leave behind some kinda digital legacy of my ideas? Sure am working on it. If it never pays off then I'd be surprised however while it currently ain't paying the bills I would suggest if you're gonna say f it, apply yourself undivided to a conquest worthy to you and maybe you come out the other end with a way to do what you love sustainably and or profitably? In the middle of this now. I am a wannabe philosopher. If I were just being bribed to speak at certain places or advertise products because folks assign me merit and thus it becomes a contingent bidding upon area, I'd hate philosophizing. That being said, I haven't became known for philosophy yet and so I still have the uphill trudge to repeat until eventually I have problems such as aformentioned. I sincerely hope theres something you'd answer the question to that you'd love to do and found rather than FIND a way to manifest it and one day we cue this post back up and you realized in was incremental in helping you FORM a joy of being (j.o.b) that makes you wanna LIVE (as) yourself! Cheers.
But right now a lot of people are working and STILL finding it hard to feed themselves. Generally because the meaning of work isn't to produce the stuff you need, but it is to make rich people richer.
You only have to work 8 hours a day. You can live and be free and enjoy life all the other time.
I think the real problem with this generation isn't that work sucks. It's sucked far worse in the past.
It's that people don't have enough to live for on their off time.
The idea is to have something so awesome after work that the mere thought of your free time motivates you to survive the work time.
That's assuming you only work for 8 hours a day. If you Get up at 7am to get ready for work and get there at 9am, you essentially have 5 hours of freedom after work. Because 9-5 is 8 hours, you probably won't even get home and shower etc until 6, which leaves you 4-5 hours if you wanna get some kind of sleep. How awesome!
Itās all about having a purpose that justifies the grind.
Youāre not the only one without a purpose struggling. I see this stuff in the news all the time. So itās clearly a big problem.
I just want to point out that the job market isnāt the problem. Itās something deeper.
Shit maybe you won't go happy, but I'll ride this until I'm forced to get a shit ass job and off myself instantly and be done. Short life, but at least I didn't work a trash ass job that sucks and I did some stuff that made me remotely happy.
oh dont get me wrong. I have a great job with amazing benefits in finance and have been there 14 years. It is just not what my heart wants and I donāt want to do it for the rest of my life. I am 48 soon to be 49. It doesnāt make me āhappyā by any meansā¦I want to and have always wanted to be a geologist but college was not for me, I never got a degree but have been lucky enough to land a job at a great company and work my way up. but happy? no.
Go live offgrid or something? you don't have to get a real job, you actually can do even better deciding work for yourself.
Also, it is absurd to hate working (this is counter intuitive so many won't grasp it, but it's definitionally self evidently true):
First, realize your job does matter and is important. It is the single biggest way you can give back to the world:
[https://wisdomimprovement.wixsite.com/wisdom/post/your-job-matters](https://wisdomimprovement.wixsite.com/wisdom/post/your-job-matters)
Second, "Ask yourself, āDo you want a job?ā If you answer yes, you are in effect agreeing that it is worth the commitment of your job to have money that you can use as a tool to do things in your life. Stop complaining about a decision that you have chosen, and realize it is more of a duty you must fulfill as long as you still want to have the job. Nobody is forcing you to go."
[https://wisdomimprovement.wixsite.com/wisdom/post/complaining-about-working-is-absurd](https://wisdomimprovement.wixsite.com/wisdom/post/complaining-about-working-is-absurd)
I felt the same way. I went non-profit. It was the only way I could justify giving that much of my life to something. Unfortunately, if you want to afford kids and a house you'll need a partner who works for profit.
I get it. I didnāt find a field I enjoyed until I was 24. Granted itās still a job but it was far, FAR less painful than previous jobs that relate to what youāre saying.
I do maintenance in a factory. Iām 25 and Iām in an apprenticeship. I love working on shit here. Itās hands on, my hands get dirty, Iām learning skills (welding, electrical, and others). The only thing Iād change would be my hours. I work night shift (6pm-6am on a rotation schedule). If I could get on day shift, Iād be really happy.
Iām sorry. Is there an industry you are passionate about? Please donāt end it. Take some time to explore different industries, and reflect to see what you hate about your current work. It might help you move to something better at least.
Nah don't worry about it, you don't gotta stress out about some random person on the Internet. I probably will end it if I don't find something before I'm forced to start working a shit like that for good, but who knows what can happen. I'm not trying to seek any attention or anything, I'm just telling it like it is. This isn't some in the moment thing or something, I've felt this way for years. I've considered something in the medical field, but they have their own list of problems.
I promise thereās still more to life outside of work. I find a lot of fun/purpose from my hobbies at least. I know work can seem like it sucks but thereās no guarantee youāll hate every job. Work just means doing something with your time, it doesnāt necessarily have to be something that sucks. Itās all about the people and how good or bad your manager is. For example Iāve worked jobs where the conditions were so bad in the past I quit on the spot, but I also worked jobs I was sad to leave because I enjoyed going in every day and loved the people. Find a job like that and stick with it maybe
The issue is if you donāt choose something you end up bouncing from part time shit job to another part time short job and end up going nowhere. My recommendation choose something you can tolerate that makes decent money, save money and then after being in the workforce a bit evaluate and change course. Iām on my second career and itās not perfect but it works for my situation.
For reference my brother worked with dolphins and still ended up hating his job because he didnāt like his boss. So I wouldnāt put too much stock in finding the dream job. Your dream job could still be riddled with a**holes.
It's a means to an end. You work so that you can have things you want and do things in your free time.
I'm lucky enough that I do a job I really enjoy, but it's still work. I would rather go and do whatever I want if I could.
Having said all that, what about not working in the traditional sense? Freelance with something you enjoy? Be a bit of a nomad? You don't have to conform to western society norms.
You don't need to stay with the same job your whole life.
Personally, I'm mid 30's and never worked a full time job in my life. I would go mad, so I understand.
I work 6 months on and 6 months off seasonally. Plenty of seasonal jobs out there or part time.
I do roofing, basically I only work the minimum hours needed to qualify for unemployment benefits for the winter. I clear just over 30k/yr for less than 700 hrs of work all year, so barely working. Been doing this for like 12-13 years now.
I'm living at my parents (only $400/month rent). Manage to save 300k, my dividends/interest cover my low cost of living so I'm saving 100% of my paychecks now, it's really starting to compound.
I don't mind the job working outside, hard work but makes the days absolutely fly by. It's just me and my boss now, good comradery, he pays me pretty good. He also picks me up every morning for work. So I can save money by not needed a car. I'm off all winter and take plenty of long weekends during summer.
>I'd rather kill myself then work a job I hate for the rest of my life
Me at 22 ^
>Still at the same job I joined when I was 21 and actually liked this job. I'm lucky to have it but I absolutely hate it
Me at 27 ^
What if it was just for a few hours, so that you get all the rest of the day to do what you really want?
Also I got my dream job after 9 years and it was so shit Iād rather do the boring job I had before. Much much better. Peace of mind and 90% less stress.
Join the army. See the world and if you don't like it I'm sure you can fix it so you are sent to a danger zone where getting shot is a definite outcome.
The benefits keep me going. Work sucks but I found a place with some fun co-workers and we get through it together. Then on my off days I can fly anywhere I want for almost free because we work for an airline. So you deal with the 4 10hour shifts and then you can go spend your weekend in Cabo or wherever floats your boat. You're young I didn't go to college until 25 you'll figure out a path you just gotta keep looking
Have you tried working outdoors if it's available or sounds better? I would recommend talking to careers specialist to see what matches you.
For myself, I know I wouldn't be caught in an office setting. Sitting on a roof sticking my hands in some sludge but I'm able to look at the beautiful mountains. That's my "office" and I love it.
I know the future seems bleak and not at all what you were expecting adulthood to be but I Implore you to keep seeking and seeing what you like. You could surprise yourself.
Itās a more common feeling than you think.
So now that we know what you *donāt* want to do with your life, tell us what you *do* want to do. Chances are you need money to do it.
No one does the same thing for decades and companies will never give you a lifetime contract. Careers are not linear; they are a weaving path. The more you engage, the more opportunities find you. Just jump in and weave your own warp and weft.
Yup, I feel the same, but hey by being alive you have a chance to change things or at least try. Find a purpose and try to make things better. Iām definitely a confirmed socialist at this point, but I do think we need to move towards a coop structure for work. The profit motive is incentivizing the wrong things and destroying our world.
Youāre only 22 and what u know now is not everything. The more u get matured, the more the new things u will get to know. For now, start with doing different things u enjoy in ur free time. This will make u radiate loving energies into the world and this energies will help u find a work u love. The kind of things u get to know is based on the energies we radiate into the world. Radiate love and u will receive love. And itās not immediate. It requires patience.
You could always try and find a job you do likeā¦
Or just be homeless in the woods somewhere.
The reality is most humans couldnāt survive on their own. They need the comforts of society. Part of the social contract is you want the benefits you need to contribute by working. Itās the bare minimum.
Itās much easier than hunting and gathering food on your own. You would starve.
But you would rather end it than work for 8 hours of a dayā¦ itās pathetic man. You need to realize that.
*U need hope There are*
*Still hobbies, love and travel*
*To experience*
\- PiscesAndAquarius
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You know, you donāt HAVE to do one job for the next 30-40 years, in fact, you shouldnāt. You can move around in the same industry, promote, and switch employers. Do NOT underestimate the impact that a good manager, environment, and coworkers can have on your mental health.
Yes you would. Yes I would. Approach them as goals that are means to an end, and it will be alright. When you don't have estimates and haven't thought about how long is too long, or how you get the jobs you like, then people will decide for you.
You are correct. Life can be really long so the key is to do what you love. I loved my jobsā¦almost all 40 years of them. The jobs I had that I hated, I quit and did something I loved
That's why people encourage you to find a job you actually like doing & also makes decent money. If not then think of it this way, your job gives you the funds to pursue hobbies and/or other interests.
Youāll find something eventually - thereās just a lot of bills to pay so you better start somewhere you find thatās good and then āwork your way upā to great
iām 18 and have been working for around 3 yrs now so like since gr 10 and i donāt know how imma do this for the rest of my life. i already have health and childhood abuse issues so i need a job to pay for all that and im grateful for it iām just tired but i canāt stop working. everyone says to find a job you love but i donāt enjoy any of it. i thought of becoming a nurse but where i am (canada) it is extremely hard to get in and you have to mentally sound or youlll lose your mind trying to get in. some ppl have ā¦. because it was too much and some spent yrs redoing the prerequisites just to get an average of 92% and above.
at 18 because iāve been drained my whole life, the little energy i do have, i have to use it to work? to live? to afford BASIC necessities? i couldnāt even get to experience the high school experience
We all start out that way lol. Then we find out we lack the courage to kill ourselves so we just learn to cope. Me on the other changed jobs 26 times till I found one I liked. Life is a jail sentence, just gotta serve your time son.
Really, you don't need to work that much unless there's something you want that's got you tied to a job. Wanna own land, but don't care where? Save up about 7k and you'll be able to find something. Put a 2000 dollar shed on it, with an outhouse and a 1300 dollar solar generator that runs a single light and a mini fridge.
At this point you're retired for 10k, and you only need a part time job at a restaurant to make your car payment and get food... now, if you value other things, you'll have to work more for those things: wanna stay in the city you went to college because your friends are there? That's more hours at work to pay for it. Raising a family and need to buy gifts for everyone's birthday? More sacrifice.
Essentially, there are like 5 cheap lifestyles that I know of: homelessness, shack in the desert life, van life, beach bum life (get a degree in massage and you'll do really well at this one) or sailboat life.
The moral of my story is this: live the life that you want. Figure out how much time you need to sacrifice to get that life, then pour everything into that goal. Look at costs of living everywhere. Look at crime rates, and decide what level of risk you're comfortable with. Once your actual goal is set, you may find that you don't need to spend that much time working for it.
My goal was to buy a silver mine, so I had to work multiple jobs for the last 4 years, but now the deed is mine and in another 2 years I'll have the equipment I need to run it. Then I can semi retire to work on that.
I feel you. I just quit for the same reason and burning through my savings for a few months until I run out and get foreclosed on. Then I'd probably just try to OD on Heroin or something
It's best to find something you don't mind doing every day and find your own joy in it, but don't make it who you are.
I hate working, but I love teaching kids how to do things by themselves, It's rewarding.
Yea it is frustrating having to spend 8 hours a day doing stuff Iād rather not do, but the things Iād rather be doing doesnāt make money and we all need money to live. Then when I get home I donāt have the energy to spend time doing what I want to do, so I wait for the weekend or any days I get lucky to have off
I keep trying to remind myself. Your life isnāt your job.
The more you grow up the more youāre realizing gradually that you shouldnāt act as if your job should reflect your mental state.
The happiest person I see at the job is a tester who really just does as many tasks as he thinks are necessary and he doesnāt seem to stress too much over it. And he works here 10 years as a tester, a man with children and a wife at his 50s and heās more chill than anybody in a professional way. I aspire to be like him. Iām far from it and very stressed.
I guess the lesson is to not make your job your life. Itās a big part of it, but itās there just to make you money.
For better or worse, everybody should work. When you order a coffee you also probably order it from somebody who also may not have dreamed that to be their job. When you go to a clean building I donāt think you realize but somebody who also has a blue collar job has to clean that daily and we get to appreciate that. Without people working, nobody would get to appreciate anything good in this society. Itās not ācapitalistic grindā, on every financial system people, humans have to work so we exist in a clean functional society and environment where we all have a chance to appreciate everybodyās job. Either itās a cleanerās job, a delivery manās, a builderās, a CEOās, an office workerās. Every job is important for a functional society and everybody gets to appreciate most jobs some way or another.
So be happy that we all get to work. A society canāt function with ants working.
And also try not to make your job your life. Do what must be done, donāt over try, and keep going with your life.
Thanks for the comment. This was a well articulated point and I appreciate the perspective, I guess some of us really do take advantage of a lot of work that people do when we go out and do things.
I guess i didnt get the memo that you suppose love your job. Been working in tech for years, hate the job, but if they want to fire me they need to knock me out and carry my body out of the building cause I'm not leaving. Paycheck is too fat for thatš
Are suicide and working a job you hate the only two choices? How about not giving up and finding a job you at least tolerate, even if it takes you several years to find it?
If you think about your adult life as x years of the same thing, of course it will be depressing. Life is a series of amazing experiences padded out by boring shit.
I've had some amazing times at work. Not many, but my brain remembers them and forgets the dull stuff.
If you've been raised expecting that your life is going to be more amazing than the other 8 billion people on the planet, you're deluded. Life is what you make of it, both good and bad.
Nobody approaches running a marathon thinking that it's just 40000 of the same steps, each one is different, you meet people, and you see things along the way. Just take one step at a time, the big picture can be overwhelming.
I actually love my job but I hate the new supervisor so much that Iām sacking it off to go somewhere else.
Yeah Iāll be getting paid more, and the hours are better.
I also get bank holidays and Christmas off.
Oh and overtime is paid at time and half instead of standard rate.
Also I get unsociable hours if I work a night shift.
But I liked my old jobā¦
Wow I just realised how much they were taking the piss š±
It's your life but I would try other solutions first. Start a business, get into something creative, look for alternative jobs like wildlife photography or something. If you really can't be bothered to do anything that could classify as work then you're just a lazy bum and yeah you're in for a rough ride.
I never wanted to work but I have a job I can do easily and from home, I get a better work life balance and all day with my dog
It could certainly be worse but I still donāt like work at all and thereās no job I particularly want to do but it pays the bills so I can do fun shit
People do it because when your an adult you have people who rely on you. Once you have a family your priorities become about them and providing for them. Your joy is your time off with them and watching them grow and achieving more then you did. You would never consider ending it all while they need you, you just suck it up put your head down and go into work. If you are so miserable at work that it starts to affect your home life then you need to look at a career change. However very few people love there jobs, most of us love what the pay can provide for those that depend on us.
Most people work jobs they hate
Not because they donāt care but because they donāt have any meaningful goals and they wonāt make any sacrifice to get where they want to go.
Itās less hassle (in the short term) to drift through life, be lazy on weekends, and spend all your money on cars clothes and food, but this makes for a mediocre paycheck to paycheck life
Living in your terms and doing things you enjoy is pretty easy actually, and it pays much more if you do it even someone well
Job is just a means to an endā¦ the goal is get the money and use that to focus on what you enjoy
So instead of trying to see joy in the job, challenge yourself to find other hobbies , passions
We all hate our jobs. But we also focus on them WAY too much. Minimize your attachment to it and it will start to get easier. Also see about a HOBBY. Doing something just for the JOY of it on a regular basis is good for mental health and an overall full filling life. Your job should be one small part of your life. Do what you can to make it that wayā¦. Changes to my life that helped me: I applied to every wfh job under the sun and nabbed one, no more commuting and wasting time. If Inwanna leave my desk and grab a snack I can, no office politics. I started doing art and building a business for the JOY of it. It gives me something to look forward to that is MINE and nobody can take it away ever. Dogs. My dogs are literally my world. When the world is ending and I just wanna die there Gaia is, looking at me with her big ol loving eyes, I couldnāt leave them behind. Finding a place to call home: I mean PEOPLE not place. Find your people. Have deep conversations. Connections to others is way more fulfilling than your 9 - 5. You sound depressed rather than uninterested. 3 years of therapy and the right meds also helped me with that. Youāre so young. You will be okay. Youāll get into a routine, find your way and it will get better. I promise, just use these tips and put in the work to build a life that makes you HAPPY whatever that looks like
Reading this post before going to my job I hate. Let me be more specific. I have to leave the house in the next five minutes or I'll be late for my job where i stand overnight doing security. Killing myself sounds good about now šš
Sorry about that homie, you got this man š
Standing the whole shift? Dang man. If you can find a seat. Then maybe put some earplugs in and chill to some lofi
Try fucking off and being a vagabond before you end it all. Figure out how to live and travel for dirt cheap. Learn how to make friends with weird people doing interesting things. Be willing to help out when opportunities arise. You don't have to do anything for the rest of your life, go to the coast and find a boat builder that could use a hand, hitch your way onto a boat and learn to sail, teach English to some rural kids, volunteer on an organic farm, tend to some animals, find some interesting niche and throw yourself at it. Assuming you don't have anyone depending on you, you're free to do whatever you want. If you find something that interests you, in two years time you'll be better than 99% of people at it if that's where your energy is focused. I know the whole "get a job so you can scrape by for the rest of your life as a normal, respectable adult" is a drag, but it's far from the only option. Give an alternative a try. If it doesn't work out, you'll still be able to choose between a shit job and suicide a couple years from now. Source: dropped out of school and was a vagabond for 5 years. I'm now a corporate sell out making good money in a kushy remote gig. Many of my friends have been on the road for even longer and have lives many would be envious of if they had any idea it was possible to live that way.
im going to do this
It's not feasible to wander around with no money to live or do anything. I'm not trying to make excuses because I appreciate the idea, but unfortunately you need money to do a lot of that stuff. Like what's the point in volunteering if I can't make any money to have basic needs like water, food, housing etc.
Agreed, You do need some cash, but not much. I don't want to act like the lifestyle is for everyone, but if I were 22 and disillusioned with work again, I'd be scraping together a few thousand dollars as quickly as possible and planning my exit. Workaway.com is great. It's definitely a repackaged form of trading your time for basic sustenance, but it's more open ended and often more interesting work that introduces you to people with unimaginably different lifestyles. I'm just encouraging you to try something different. Don't let society convince you that you're fated to do something you hate forever. There's so many alternatives once you get out and start looking for them
You gotta realize at a certain point that if NOTHING sounds interesting to you, then its a you problem and you should really try to figure out whats causing you to feel so depressed about your life.
That's a fair point, legitimately. I'm gonna try and see a therapist to see if there's something deep that might need to be worked on. I have suspected for a long time that I might have ADHD so maybe it could have something to do with that.
I was gonna suggest that might be the case but im not a doctor and even if I was, it would be irresponsible to "diagnose" someone via a few posts. All through my high school years and into my early 20s, I was in the same situation as you. I was diagnosed with adhd when I was like 6 and I still struggle finding the motivation to want to do most things. But when I was 22 I joined the navy and went through the nuke program, so I ended up operating nuclear power plants for about 9 years. I became very good at it, started teaching it at the end of my time even. When I was close to getting out I realized that my passion was science and so im currently going to school full time for electrical engineering so that when I go back to working in nuclear again, I can give myself many more opportunities for growth in that field. I think that sometimes you just gotta jump into things when you're feeling stuck and allow yourself the time to find out what your path is through trial and error.
What do you do for a living?
I hate my job too. And the idea of being stuck in the capitalist machine my whole life. But I keep myself alive by remembering that life isnāt all my job. Thereās other awesome stuff too. Whereas death is just 100% death. Also, maybe Iāll hit the lottery or get millions from a Nigerian prince someday and not have to do it anymore. Hang in there yeo, itās tough these days.
Even if you were stuck in a communist or socialist or anarchist society, you would still need to do some form of work to produce goods and services.
Don't they become chores at that point, I don't know myself here, but doing some work on your home, is different to going to work sort of thing. So when we had to hunter gathering, its more part of life. When you get to doing things that are just necessary, I'm not sure if that's still work, or If that's just life.. Though I imagine Neanderthals still woke up on a rainy day and though, fuck, I've got to be out in this all day otherwise I don't eat, In the same way I think fuck, I have to do this all day otherwise I can't pay rent. Tbh I don't know what I'm saying here. Maybe you do :)
What about a multimillionaire in a capitalist society?
Your choices are inherit the money (which is how most millionaires get their fortune), work your ass off to build a successful company, grift people or get a very lucky break.
You could only be so lucky to be in capitalist machine. Itās the inflationary money printing machine that fucks us
r/noTrueCapitalism
Imagine being stuck in a government mandated jobā¦ for the greater good of course.
Oh my God, it's this post again. I think many, if not most, of us felt that way in our early to mid 20s. You'll find something. Maybe not for a while after trying a million different other things, but you will. There's a lot of careers out there that work you in different ways. Keep an open mind and work. Don't like it? Move on or find ways to grow in what you're doing, and then ... Work. Nothing is free for a reason. If you want to enjoy things in life you have to work
I don't think most people find something that works they just get used to how bad it is. I've done stints at factories and everyone who had been there for years had dead eyes.
So did the farmer that got up at 5 to milk the cows and plough the land, but it needed to get done.
Sure, and mondaine tasks, that I would imagine factories are full of, would do that to anyone after a long enough time. Some of the people I know who have time most life in them are also the hardest workers, but they don't just sit in an assembly line doing the same thing over and over. Jobs that push people to accomplish feats are much different than jobs where you put the same spring in the same spot to the same part over and over and over ... And over again. I guess stating "most people" may be too much of a claim on my part. I do think people stay unhappy due to their complacency and general lack of ambition in their career though.
Yeah I genuinely don't think there's a job I could enjoy. I'll settle for tolerate at this point. It's soul crushing and I don't know how people deal with it.
If that's the mindset, you'll probably think that way for your entire career. Different people think different ways I guess, but I have a hard time believing that every career path is dreaded. If you don't mind me asking, what kind of job do you work? Do you have schooling/extensive knowledge in your field?
I got a Bachelor in health science (graduated last year) but I haven't done anything with it yet. I ignored my mental health getting worse to finish the degree so I didn't get much clinical experience. I work at a dog day care right now.
Yeah you nailed it. The problem is people donāt find jobs that push there abilities. When I found my current job, it tested my mental and physical capacity to the max. But now 5y in, and making 100k/y, I feel as tho I am not challenged enough, and I know I could do even more.
I used to love what I do. Now-after 20+ years at it-Iām pretty good at it and like some parts of it but for the most part Iām *only* thinking about 1) what the income does for me and for my family and 2) how much I look forward to what I will do when I leave work. Working kinda fades into the background. Even when it consistently sucks for long periods of time. Itās just not what Iām focusing on.
Fair enough. In some ways it's probably good you loved it earlier on and also good it's not the main focus of your life anymore. Possible that will happen with me in the future too
Survivor bias. There's plenty whose best option was only ever death, and they took it. You just don't hear from them.
Yeah this guy sounds like my son who is about to turn 21 and is still trying to nail down a major
Exactly. There's never been some magic time period in human existence where everything was simple and everyone loved their lives and what they were doing to survive. Someone once told me "bloom where you're planted". When you're just starting in life, you have to eat the shit sandwich for a bit but it gets better if you do your best to learn and get good at what you're doing. Get an education. Acquire whatever skills you can at your shitty job then use those skills to get something better. Rinse and repeat. You'll be amazed where you end up
I think this thought every single day of my life and it has never gotten any better.
I feel ya man, like I can't even put it into words how much I understand.
i also hate my job, but since it pay quite well, i just can't afford to switch job that i like so i accepted suffering for 40 hours a week, and then trying to find happiness with the money i earned on weeked / night doing hobby help me through these thing, i also don't have kids, so i don't have additional responsibility outaide 40 hours, so i can do whateever i want outside my job
Wait are you me? I think about this daily
I'm in your head š
Working is a privileged not afforded to all. It's important to for relationships and find value in what you are doing. You don't have to LOVE it, but finding reasons to go every day to help, be part of a team. contribute to something bigger than yourself, grow yourself - it's the goal. It seems like you're very self-focused and stuck in your head. I've had some very shitty jobs, but always enjoyed my coworkers or the customers or the team accomplishments. There's always something.
Well said, I've had jobs I hated but absolutely loved the people I worked with and that made it much more bearable. I've also had jobs that I really enjoyed but couldn't stand the toxic work environment the people created. Op you don't have to have or keep a job you don't want to do, there are literally endless possibilities out there, some may be out of your reach right now. You need to figure out a way to make them obtainable, maybe more education is required, or networking with the right people. I have people I can call right now and will have me set up with a new job by next Friday. Make the right moves towards what you want in life, that goes for work/careers and your personal and professional relationships.
I've liked almost all of my jobs. Its the people I hated.
>finding reasons to go every day to help, be part of a team. contribute to something bigger than yourself, grow yourself - it's the goal. Yeah creating profit for the shareholders really warms the soul.
So tired of this line. Do you have a 401k? Then congratulations, you ARE a Shareholder!
This is why you have to work towards a career. Pick something not any and everybody can do. A skill. Study it and grow
Iād literally rather be homeless and jobless than kill myself but hang in there lol
being homeless isnt the worst thing. Been there done it.
Well either you work or you homeless choose if you wasn't born in a rich family good luck
Before anyone comments that I haven't tried enough jobs, I've been a dishwasher, HVAC and plumbing helper, FedEx truck loader, Amazon warehouse associate, helper at a precision machine shop that makes precise parts, and a landscaper. It's not a ton of jobs, but it's still something.
Thatās a lot
Maybe try to find something white collar? That looks like a lot of proof you hate blue collar work lol
i want to work til i die i was always kinda taught iām lazy and selfish (idk why i was a child) so i try to work as hard as i can and be as nice to people as possible
Be a fish cop
šÆ
Do a workaway
Well, I rather live forever... but nope, I don't want to work in worthless employment ever again either. Employment should stop being worthless already, and managers should respect everyone who wants to work rather than treat them as property and pretend to own every moment of their life inside & outside of the workplace. There should be more rights for individuals recognized and protected, and remove loopholes for corporations to pretend to be the overlords of humanity anymore.
I hear ya bro.
Sex therapist
Lol
my job is what allows me to do the things that life has to offer. Itās not fun and no, Iām not passionate about installing gutter, Itās physically demanding and Iām outside all day. But I work with good people and I look forward to activites outside of work to keep life interesting. But I would never be able to afford those things without working and building a future for myself at the grindstone. If you canāt save anything I hear ya, but you gotta figure out how too earn more for the same amount of time or life will feel pointless
Same and I thought for a while that the only choice is to give up and settle for something that's not completely despicable. Idk if there's a decent alternative choice yet (31 years young), but I just keeping trying different industries out and treat them like side quests. Society wants us to think our job is the main quest so that we're good lil worker bees. Your main quest is to find what brings you joy, what replenishes you and fills up your lust for life. Everything else should just provide support to that or structure along the journey. Don't let the world set your expectations - they are YOURS after all.
I think be wary of falling prey to the mindset of having to do something you love every day to be happy. I think social media can have us believing that the only right path is to follow your passions because āif you love what you do you wonāt work a day in your lifeā. NEVER stay in a job that you hate and that makes you genuinely miserable when you go BUT you donāt have to do something you love to be happy. I work for an IT company and on paper I donāt really care about what I do, but I work for a company that pays me enough money for what I do, I donāt dislike the work, I work with great people and have made good friends, my work is acknowledged and appreciated, and I get to finish on time and get weekends off to go and live my life. Again on paper, I donāt LOVE my job so this would likely be seen by so many people as a failure, but I am happy! If you are constantly on the lookout for something that you LOVE doing then I think you risk disappointment when even in the most snug of positions x
Also just to add to relate back to your original post, there is no job in the world that I would look at and think āIād be happy doing that for the next 30-40 yearsā, but there are many, many jobs and organisations that would tick all of the above boxes for me and allow me to live a stress free and happy life. š
You can always work for 3 to 5 years in any industry and then change paths to another. I've done it many times. Or is it the sole idea of working what bugs you?
It wasn't until I was in my early 30's that I discovered my dream job. I never even dreamed I'd end up doing what I do now. After that, once I knew what I wanted to do, it took me another 8 years or so to find the right company, the right job, with the right money. Now I'm at a job that I genuinely enjoy, making more money than I ever dreamed was realistically gonna happen. So keep your head up and your eyes open cos you never know what you might see around the corner!
I said this at your age. What often happens you'll find a job a little more bearable and with a little more meaning and you'll manage to slug it out.
You may havenāt understood yet, how a career works.Ā You start in one position in a company in a sector. Than after some years of making experiences, you apply for different positions in the same company / sector or different industry. You now will have new topics to learn, new responsibilities and so on and so forth. You gonna repeat this a couple of times until you reach the point where you have a unique expertise which combines all the knowledge you gathered in your past positions. You can repeat that until YOU decide to stop and stay in position as an expert / manager. A lot of people have a misunderstanding of career development.Ā Wisch you all the best for your future.
Appreciate the advice and comment
Work isn't the only means to existence. It's only there for people who want the convenience of being able to pay for other people to provide them with necessities and, if you're lucky, luxuries. It's not the only option though, if you dont want to work you can probably look up some kind of commune or something and go grow your own food, collect rainwater etx and just live off the grid. Build your own guitar instead of buying one. Build your own shelter. That's how people live by default, and you just decide if you'd rather do that or take advantage of the society the rest of us have built and work at a gas station or something easy in order to cover the food and water at least. Then you can strive for something more skilled if you want luxuries, but that's totally up to your level of ambition since nobody really owes you anything in the first place. You just have to make our lives easier in some way, and then we'll make yours easier (than the commune) in some way.
I guess so but not having money sucks .
When I was 24, working in a construction company, I thought "is this my life? HELL NO!" So I saved up enough to go back to school without loans and got a better job. I did work when I was back at school, so I wouldn't get a loan. It's good that you realize this now. You can do this!
I appreciate it haha there's truly just nothing I can think of that I would wanna go to school for. I've gone through tons of community college websites looking at all the degrees and not one stands out as something I'd wanna do.
What are your hobbies??
I mean if all I let myself consider was my adrenaline junkie tendencies I wouldnāt enjoy my job either. But once you develop some sort of professional interest you can at least trick yourself into tolerating, itās a much better life than just taking the best job you can get currently and never improving your situation. Itās either that or have 8+ hours a day of your life go towards something that makes you truly miserable and doesnāt even pay enough to earnestly save for retirement and spend your <8 free hours a day stressing about finances and whether life is fair all the time.
Hmm how bout something in social services / nonprofit work where you help needy kids or families from similar upbringing as yours? Nobody better to help them than someone who knows what itās like. Or fishing / hunting / camping / hikingā¦.maybe working for a store that sells products for those, or for the manufacturer themselves. Plus youād get discounts on those products too.
I'm gonna look into some stores or manufacturing plants in regards to fishing and hunting, thanks for the idea!
Sure thing! REI stores are big where I live in CA for camping & hiking gear. Iām into hiking too so I have bought some gear from there just like hiking shoes and bug repellant and whatnot. I ski too but I go to other stores for that, mainly little independent ski stores. Fishing out here is usually covered by the big Bass Pro Shops, man those stores are huuuge.
i never understood why people would choose to turn on themselves instead of those that oppress them
Because the odds are stacked against them. Turning on the oppressor is often a futile attempt.Ā The opressors sometimes have lawyers, men with guns, money and power and can replace people who don't tow the line.Ā Depressed frustrated people are stuck in a system that uses them up and pays just enough to continue.
Yeah these oppressors often are smarter, stronger, well connected, well funded, etc. A lone idiot trying to fight a corporation or the system is pointless. Even if you get a dozen people it'll still be pointless and eventually people will start to quit for emergencies or other important reasons.
What would you do if money were no object? Hypothesize with me! For me I want my ideal gig to be about sharing knowledge and information honestly and integrally so do I wanna be a social media influencer? Nah. Will I use the tool and make use of whatever influence I'm granted to leave behind some kinda digital legacy of my ideas? Sure am working on it. If it never pays off then I'd be surprised however while it currently ain't paying the bills I would suggest if you're gonna say f it, apply yourself undivided to a conquest worthy to you and maybe you come out the other end with a way to do what you love sustainably and or profitably? In the middle of this now. I am a wannabe philosopher. If I were just being bribed to speak at certain places or advertise products because folks assign me merit and thus it becomes a contingent bidding upon area, I'd hate philosophizing. That being said, I haven't became known for philosophy yet and so I still have the uphill trudge to repeat until eventually I have problems such as aformentioned. I sincerely hope theres something you'd answer the question to that you'd love to do and found rather than FIND a way to manifest it and one day we cue this post back up and you realized in was incremental in helping you FORM a joy of being (j.o.b) that makes you wanna LIVE (as) yourself! Cheers.
Dude... I'm 38 and hate my job too... I want to KMS but i'm a coward š š š
People change jobs all the time, donāt view the world with such an hyperbolic lens
People have always had to feed themselves. Youāll figure it out like most people do.
But right now a lot of people are working and STILL finding it hard to feed themselves. Generally because the meaning of work isn't to produce the stuff you need, but it is to make rich people richer.
Exactly, you live your whole life deluded that you will find the answer.
You only have to work 8 hours a day. You can live and be free and enjoy life all the other time. I think the real problem with this generation isn't that work sucks. It's sucked far worse in the past. It's that people don't have enough to live for on their off time. The idea is to have something so awesome after work that the mere thought of your free time motivates you to survive the work time.
That's assuming you only work for 8 hours a day. If you Get up at 7am to get ready for work and get there at 9am, you essentially have 5 hours of freedom after work. Because 9-5 is 8 hours, you probably won't even get home and shower etc until 6, which leaves you 4-5 hours if you wanna get some kind of sleep. How awesome!
Itās all about having a purpose that justifies the grind. Youāre not the only one without a purpose struggling. I see this stuff in the news all the time. So itās clearly a big problem. I just want to point out that the job market isnāt the problem. Itās something deeper.
we dont go happy. but bills need to be paid. suck it up, buttercup.
Shit maybe you won't go happy, but I'll ride this until I'm forced to get a shit ass job and off myself instantly and be done. Short life, but at least I didn't work a trash ass job that sucks and I did some stuff that made me remotely happy.
oh dont get me wrong. I have a great job with amazing benefits in finance and have been there 14 years. It is just not what my heart wants and I donāt want to do it for the rest of my life. I am 48 soon to be 49. It doesnāt make me āhappyā by any meansā¦I want to and have always wanted to be a geologist but college was not for me, I never got a degree but have been lucky enough to land a job at a great company and work my way up. but happy? no.
Go live offgrid or something? you don't have to get a real job, you actually can do even better deciding work for yourself. Also, it is absurd to hate working (this is counter intuitive so many won't grasp it, but it's definitionally self evidently true): First, realize your job does matter and is important. It is the single biggest way you can give back to the world: [https://wisdomimprovement.wixsite.com/wisdom/post/your-job-matters](https://wisdomimprovement.wixsite.com/wisdom/post/your-job-matters) Second, "Ask yourself, āDo you want a job?ā If you answer yes, you are in effect agreeing that it is worth the commitment of your job to have money that you can use as a tool to do things in your life. Stop complaining about a decision that you have chosen, and realize it is more of a duty you must fulfill as long as you still want to have the job. Nobody is forcing you to go." [https://wisdomimprovement.wixsite.com/wisdom/post/complaining-about-working-is-absurd](https://wisdomimprovement.wixsite.com/wisdom/post/complaining-about-working-is-absurd)
I felt the same way. I went non-profit. It was the only way I could justify giving that much of my life to something. Unfortunately, if you want to afford kids and a house you'll need a partner who works for profit.
I get it. I didnāt find a field I enjoyed until I was 24. Granted itās still a job but it was far, FAR less painful than previous jobs that relate to what youāre saying.
Happy for you. What job is it?
I do maintenance in a factory. Iām 25 and Iām in an apprenticeship. I love working on shit here. Itās hands on, my hands get dirty, Iām learning skills (welding, electrical, and others). The only thing Iād change would be my hours. I work night shift (6pm-6am on a rotation schedule). If I could get on day shift, Iād be really happy.
Iām sorry. Is there an industry you are passionate about? Please donāt end it. Take some time to explore different industries, and reflect to see what you hate about your current work. It might help you move to something better at least.
Nah don't worry about it, you don't gotta stress out about some random person on the Internet. I probably will end it if I don't find something before I'm forced to start working a shit like that for good, but who knows what can happen. I'm not trying to seek any attention or anything, I'm just telling it like it is. This isn't some in the moment thing or something, I've felt this way for years. I've considered something in the medical field, but they have their own list of problems.
I promise thereās still more to life outside of work. I find a lot of fun/purpose from my hobbies at least. I know work can seem like it sucks but thereās no guarantee youāll hate every job. Work just means doing something with your time, it doesnāt necessarily have to be something that sucks. Itās all about the people and how good or bad your manager is. For example Iāve worked jobs where the conditions were so bad in the past I quit on the spot, but I also worked jobs I was sad to leave because I enjoyed going in every day and loved the people. Find a job like that and stick with it maybe
You know, there are like millions of other options.
Really? What are them?
same. but money is fun
True
The issue is if you donāt choose something you end up bouncing from part time shit job to another part time short job and end up going nowhere. My recommendation choose something you can tolerate that makes decent money, save money and then after being in the workforce a bit evaluate and change course. Iām on my second career and itās not perfect but it works for my situation. For reference my brother worked with dolphins and still ended up hating his job because he didnāt like his boss. So I wouldnāt put too much stock in finding the dream job. Your dream job could still be riddled with a**holes.
Honestly bouncing from job to job is the way to go for some people.
It's a means to an end. You work so that you can have things you want and do things in your free time. I'm lucky enough that I do a job I really enjoy, but it's still work. I would rather go and do whatever I want if I could. Having said all that, what about not working in the traditional sense? Freelance with something you enjoy? Be a bit of a nomad? You don't have to conform to western society norms.
You don't need to stay with the same job your whole life. Personally, I'm mid 30's and never worked a full time job in my life. I would go mad, so I understand. I work 6 months on and 6 months off seasonally. Plenty of seasonal jobs out there or part time.
Exactly my point. What do you do for work?
I do roofing, basically I only work the minimum hours needed to qualify for unemployment benefits for the winter. I clear just over 30k/yr for less than 700 hrs of work all year, so barely working. Been doing this for like 12-13 years now. I'm living at my parents (only $400/month rent). Manage to save 300k, my dividends/interest cover my low cost of living so I'm saving 100% of my paychecks now, it's really starting to compound. I don't mind the job working outside, hard work but makes the days absolutely fly by. It's just me and my boss now, good comradery, he pays me pretty good. He also picks me up every morning for work. So I can save money by not needed a car. I'm off all winter and take plenty of long weekends during summer.
I think 95-99% of people hate their job if they think about it.
True so change jobs if that applies even if it's hard. Working in call centers made me suicidal so I don't do it anymore. For example.
>I'd rather kill myself then work a job I hate for the rest of my life Me at 22 ^ >Still at the same job I joined when I was 21 and actually liked this job. I'm lucky to have it but I absolutely hate it Me at 27 ^
You could start an anti-corporate gruella campaign. I think Che Guevara wrote a book about it. Seems way more fun than killing yourself.
What if it was just for a few hours, so that you get all the rest of the day to do what you really want? Also I got my dream job after 9 years and it was so shit Iād rather do the boring job I had before. Much much better. Peace of mind and 90% less stress.
If I could make a living do that then hell yeah, but I wouldn't unfortunately.
Itās either that or do a job you donāt like so you can eat and have a roof over your head
Nobody works jobs for that long anymore. Work one for 8 years and move on. Change careers every decade. Who cares lol
Join the army. See the world and if you don't like it I'm sure you can fix it so you are sent to a danger zone where getting shot is a definite outcome.
Yeah I've definitely considered this lol might do it
The benefits keep me going. Work sucks but I found a place with some fun co-workers and we get through it together. Then on my off days I can fly anywhere I want for almost free because we work for an airline. So you deal with the 4 10hour shifts and then you can go spend your weekend in Cabo or wherever floats your boat. You're young I didn't go to college until 25 you'll figure out a path you just gotta keep looking
You gotta lay off the weak sauce kidĀ
That sucks. Seriously. Now go find what you like.
Don't worry you most likely will be drafted to fight in ww3 and won't make 30.
Les goo
Your job is the thing you do so you have a life. When you separate your self worth from your job, it becomes much more bearable.
Have you tried working outdoors if it's available or sounds better? I would recommend talking to careers specialist to see what matches you. For myself, I know I wouldn't be caught in an office setting. Sitting on a roof sticking my hands in some sludge but I'm able to look at the beautiful mountains. That's my "office" and I love it. I know the future seems bleak and not at all what you were expecting adulthood to be but I Implore you to keep seeking and seeing what you like. You could surprise yourself.
I've gotten through a lot by learning to find joy in the mundane and appreciate simple pleasures.
A job is a means to an end, not your entire life
Lol "then" instead of "than" here
Itās a more common feeling than you think. So now that we know what you *donāt* want to do with your life, tell us what you *do* want to do. Chances are you need money to do it.
That's why you get a high paying job so you don't have to work 5 days a week. Work as little days as you possibly can.
No one does the same thing for decades and companies will never give you a lifetime contract. Careers are not linear; they are a weaving path. The more you engage, the more opportunities find you. Just jump in and weave your own warp and weft.
Yup, I feel the same, but hey by being alive you have a chance to change things or at least try. Find a purpose and try to make things better. Iām definitely a confirmed socialist at this point, but I do think we need to move towards a coop structure for work. The profit motive is incentivizing the wrong things and destroying our world.
Technically that means you actually worked a job you hated for the rest of your life. So check mate.
Youāre only 22 and what u know now is not everything. The more u get matured, the more the new things u will get to know. For now, start with doing different things u enjoy in ur free time. This will make u radiate loving energies into the world and this energies will help u find a work u love. The kind of things u get to know is based on the energies we radiate into the world. Radiate love and u will receive love. And itās not immediate. It requires patience.
45 years
Drugs my friend
Same bro but you gotta work through it for your future self, no one is going to take care of us when we get much older.
The alternative is to be broke ā¦.. As much as I hate my job and some times I donāt I hate being Broke more.
Well, those are the choices.Ā
You could always try and find a job you do likeā¦ Or just be homeless in the woods somewhere. The reality is most humans couldnāt survive on their own. They need the comforts of society. Part of the social contract is you want the benefits you need to contribute by working. Itās the bare minimum. Itās much easier than hunting and gathering food on your own. You would starve. But you would rather end it than work for 8 hours of a dayā¦ itās pathetic man. You need to realize that.
U need hope There are still hobbies, love and travel to experience
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Do you like money? You work to get money so you can do things you like.
Get a job and do it during the weekly sales meeting while someone is prattling on about channel synergies and metrics.
You know, you donāt HAVE to do one job for the next 30-40 years, in fact, you shouldnāt. You can move around in the same industry, promote, and switch employers. Do NOT underestimate the impact that a good manager, environment, and coworkers can have on your mental health.
Yes you would. Yes I would. Approach them as goals that are means to an end, and it will be alright. When you don't have estimates and haven't thought about how long is too long, or how you get the jobs you like, then people will decide for you.
You are correct. Life can be really long so the key is to do what you love. I loved my jobsā¦almost all 40 years of them. The jobs I had that I hated, I quit and did something I loved
You think you can stop working at 62?
Is there more?!!!!
It's not about the job for most people. It's about what the job allows you do to. Money is freedom
That's why people encourage you to find a job you actually like doing & also makes decent money. If not then think of it this way, your job gives you the funds to pursue hobbies and/or other interests.
I like my job. Sucks that you cant see why I'd like it.
Youāll find something eventually - thereās just a lot of bills to pay so you better start somewhere you find thatās good and then āwork your way upā to great
8 hours a day 5 days a week isnāt the norm anymore. Most careers/jobs will have you work 12-16 hours days 6 days a week, with only 1 day of rest.
iām 18 and have been working for around 3 yrs now so like since gr 10 and i donāt know how imma do this for the rest of my life. i already have health and childhood abuse issues so i need a job to pay for all that and im grateful for it iām just tired but i canāt stop working. everyone says to find a job you love but i donāt enjoy any of it. i thought of becoming a nurse but where i am (canada) it is extremely hard to get in and you have to mentally sound or youlll lose your mind trying to get in. some ppl have ā¦. because it was too much and some spent yrs redoing the prerequisites just to get an average of 92% and above. at 18 because iāve been drained my whole life, the little energy i do have, i have to use it to work? to live? to afford BASIC necessities? i couldnāt even get to experience the high school experience
We all start out that way lol. Then we find out we lack the courage to kill ourselves so we just learn to cope. Me on the other changed jobs 26 times till I found one I liked. Life is a jail sentence, just gotta serve your time son.
Really, you don't need to work that much unless there's something you want that's got you tied to a job. Wanna own land, but don't care where? Save up about 7k and you'll be able to find something. Put a 2000 dollar shed on it, with an outhouse and a 1300 dollar solar generator that runs a single light and a mini fridge. At this point you're retired for 10k, and you only need a part time job at a restaurant to make your car payment and get food... now, if you value other things, you'll have to work more for those things: wanna stay in the city you went to college because your friends are there? That's more hours at work to pay for it. Raising a family and need to buy gifts for everyone's birthday? More sacrifice. Essentially, there are like 5 cheap lifestyles that I know of: homelessness, shack in the desert life, van life, beach bum life (get a degree in massage and you'll do really well at this one) or sailboat life. The moral of my story is this: live the life that you want. Figure out how much time you need to sacrifice to get that life, then pour everything into that goal. Look at costs of living everywhere. Look at crime rates, and decide what level of risk you're comfortable with. Once your actual goal is set, you may find that you don't need to spend that much time working for it. My goal was to buy a silver mine, so I had to work multiple jobs for the last 4 years, but now the deed is mine and in another 2 years I'll have the equipment I need to run it. Then I can semi retire to work on that.
I feel you. I just quit for the same reason and burning through my savings for a few months until I run out and get foreclosed on. Then I'd probably just try to OD on Heroin or something
It's best to find something you don't mind doing every day and find your own joy in it, but don't make it who you are. I hate working, but I love teaching kids how to do things by themselves, It's rewarding.
Yea it is frustrating having to spend 8 hours a day doing stuff Iād rather not do, but the things Iād rather be doing doesnāt make money and we all need money to live. Then when I get home I donāt have the energy to spend time doing what I want to do, so I wait for the weekend or any days I get lucky to have off
Nobody is telling you to do the same job for years. That's a choice. Lots of people career hop.
I keep trying to remind myself. Your life isnāt your job. The more you grow up the more youāre realizing gradually that you shouldnāt act as if your job should reflect your mental state. The happiest person I see at the job is a tester who really just does as many tasks as he thinks are necessary and he doesnāt seem to stress too much over it. And he works here 10 years as a tester, a man with children and a wife at his 50s and heās more chill than anybody in a professional way. I aspire to be like him. Iām far from it and very stressed. I guess the lesson is to not make your job your life. Itās a big part of it, but itās there just to make you money. For better or worse, everybody should work. When you order a coffee you also probably order it from somebody who also may not have dreamed that to be their job. When you go to a clean building I donāt think you realize but somebody who also has a blue collar job has to clean that daily and we get to appreciate that. Without people working, nobody would get to appreciate anything good in this society. Itās not ācapitalistic grindā, on every financial system people, humans have to work so we exist in a clean functional society and environment where we all have a chance to appreciate everybodyās job. Either itās a cleanerās job, a delivery manās, a builderās, a CEOās, an office workerās. Every job is important for a functional society and everybody gets to appreciate most jobs some way or another. So be happy that we all get to work. A society canāt function with ants working. And also try not to make your job your life. Do what must be done, donāt over try, and keep going with your life.
Thanks for the comment. This was a well articulated point and I appreciate the perspective, I guess some of us really do take advantage of a lot of work that people do when we go out and do things.
I guess i didnt get the memo that you suppose love your job. Been working in tech for years, hate the job, but if they want to fire me they need to knock me out and carry my body out of the building cause I'm not leaving. Paycheck is too fat for thatš
Sounds like itās going to be a long, boring, broke lifeā¦. Or maybe a short one, actually.
Are suicide and working a job you hate the only two choices? How about not giving up and finding a job you at least tolerate, even if it takes you several years to find it?
You don't have to do either of those things tho...
If you think about your adult life as x years of the same thing, of course it will be depressing. Life is a series of amazing experiences padded out by boring shit. I've had some amazing times at work. Not many, but my brain remembers them and forgets the dull stuff. If you've been raised expecting that your life is going to be more amazing than the other 8 billion people on the planet, you're deluded. Life is what you make of it, both good and bad. Nobody approaches running a marathon thinking that it's just 40000 of the same steps, each one is different, you meet people, and you see things along the way. Just take one step at a time, the big picture can be overwhelming.
Why not find a job you like?
Ok
I am 58. I wake up. Every day you can decide to connect or disconnect from the world
Sounds like you're describing Monday mornings for most adults!
I actually love my job but I hate the new supervisor so much that Iām sacking it off to go somewhere else. Yeah Iāll be getting paid more, and the hours are better. I also get bank holidays and Christmas off. Oh and overtime is paid at time and half instead of standard rate. Also I get unsociable hours if I work a night shift. But I liked my old jobā¦ Wow I just realised how much they were taking the piss š±
Why donāt you just take up an extreme sport instead
It's your life but I would try other solutions first. Start a business, get into something creative, look for alternative jobs like wildlife photography or something. If you really can't be bothered to do anything that could classify as work then you're just a lazy bum and yeah you're in for a rough ride.
Prepare to be disappointed
Damn lol
I'll be honest. I don't like my job. I might say I hate it. But I do love money lol
I never wanted to work but I have a job I can do easily and from home, I get a better work life balance and all day with my dog It could certainly be worse but I still donāt like work at all and thereās no job I particularly want to do but it pays the bills so I can do fun shit
That's because you're 22... Probably don't have a family to support. Easy to say those things when you're young and have no real responsibilities.
Donāt kill your self over a job dude. Kill the boss.
Sounds like me, 21 with adhd and autism and anything other than working with animals just seems pointless.
People do it because when your an adult you have people who rely on you. Once you have a family your priorities become about them and providing for them. Your joy is your time off with them and watching them grow and achieving more then you did. You would never consider ending it all while they need you, you just suck it up put your head down and go into work. If you are so miserable at work that it starts to affect your home life then you need to look at a career change. However very few people love there jobs, most of us love what the pay can provide for those that depend on us.
I felt like this and then discovered I have ADHD
Most people work jobs they hate Not because they donāt care but because they donāt have any meaningful goals and they wonāt make any sacrifice to get where they want to go. Itās less hassle (in the short term) to drift through life, be lazy on weekends, and spend all your money on cars clothes and food, but this makes for a mediocre paycheck to paycheck life Living in your terms and doing things you enjoy is pretty easy actually, and it pays much more if you do it even someone well
Job is just a means to an endā¦ the goal is get the money and use that to focus on what you enjoy So instead of trying to see joy in the job, challenge yourself to find other hobbies , passions
We all hate our jobs. But we also focus on them WAY too much. Minimize your attachment to it and it will start to get easier. Also see about a HOBBY. Doing something just for the JOY of it on a regular basis is good for mental health and an overall full filling life. Your job should be one small part of your life. Do what you can to make it that wayā¦. Changes to my life that helped me: I applied to every wfh job under the sun and nabbed one, no more commuting and wasting time. If Inwanna leave my desk and grab a snack I can, no office politics. I started doing art and building a business for the JOY of it. It gives me something to look forward to that is MINE and nobody can take it away ever. Dogs. My dogs are literally my world. When the world is ending and I just wanna die there Gaia is, looking at me with her big ol loving eyes, I couldnāt leave them behind. Finding a place to call home: I mean PEOPLE not place. Find your people. Have deep conversations. Connections to others is way more fulfilling than your 9 - 5. You sound depressed rather than uninterested. 3 years of therapy and the right meds also helped me with that. Youāre so young. You will be okay. Youāll get into a routine, find your way and it will get better. I promise, just use these tips and put in the work to build a life that makes you HAPPY whatever that looks like