I know that there'll be people who say that they prefer to keep their job as just a job and find fulfilment elsewhere, but I'd like to hear from those who've managed to crack the "secret" in making a living from doing what they love.
If you are one of those people, what do you do and how did you come to working a fulfilling job?
Proposed my strategy to my wife before we got married. I only took jobs that I would enjoy, and didn’t worry about the money much. She is a far better programmer than I am, but didn’t particularly like it. We both knew if both of us worked, we would just come home and complain to each other. She was very happy as a housewife.
Since they were programming jobs, they always paid pretty well, but not amazingly well due to my strategy of choosing places, I would enjoy working. I first chose to work in Orange County California, instead of Silicon Valley, for example, because I always felt the latter was just too stressful. Eventually moved to the Seattle area when Microsoft offered a job.
For the first 20 years I always made sure I was close enough to work that I could walk or bike to it in case I somehow got poor and couldn’t afford a car. Yet we always found very nice apartments.
I always studied for my next job at night. my wife accepted that this was the cost of having a good life, and eventually when we had children, I had a good enough financial situation that I could quit work.
We always saved money for the same reason: if I were fired, I wouldn’t have to take a bad job due to lack of resources. I did get fired once, and I had plenty of time to prepare for the next job.
I’ve told this story a lot here, but it was a strategy that worked in both good times and bad. I immodestly think this was one of the smartest things I ever did.
I got into self-protection in my second job. A mindset of, I am doing the best I can here, if it's not good enough sack me. It seemed like a clever mindset at the time, but doesn't now. It probably translated as I was unhappy and didn't feel valued. I am still unpacking this though.
Or maybe you just have a robust self-image? If it's that, I think it's a strong adaptation.
> I am still unpacking this though.
I went through years of therapy & many therapists. Got almost nothing out of it. Much of my childhood still lives with me for some reason. So... same here! One thing I love about programming is that it has far fewer of the kind of gray areas that I couldn't navigate as a kid. Can't tell you how much I love that when a program runs right, I can usually be assured it will continue to run right. It's totally awesome to have a job where you can be provably correct a lot of the time.
Thank you. I think there was truth in my point of view. I always wished I could express it in a less aggressive manner.
I also had a difficult childhood. I'm in my 50s and still working it out. I have had a great life and have the most wonderful wife and two adult children.
I have found family, friends and work is not a bad order of priorities.
Specifically, I work for a robotics startup in web technologies. So I get to play with an interest and work in my field of expertise. My manager and hours manager are both really relaxed, and we hit our deliverables regularly.
I sort of stumbled into it. I was looking for jobs and came across a robotics company that was looking for web devs for interface building. That fell through, but it made me realize that my skill set and robotics intersected. I found a startup that was looking for someone, They really liked me, but decided the role was redundant. Then I found my current role. And my now-manager and I really connected over a few things and it was a good fit.
For the company, I worry about a shift in employee benefits and culture when we eventually go public - especially as I’ve seen the belt start to tighten in the time I’ve been there.
I want to say that even though I get fulfillment out of my job, it is still work. There’s the whole “do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life” which I think is total bunk. Work is work, even if you enjoy it it.
But with the good comes the bad. I have fought to keep my position for many years. Aside from dealing with at least five or six bosses over the course of my employment, letting power go to their head and trying to get me fired, every single of them failing to do so, in part because it's a bit hard to justify firing someone whose good at their job with projects equaling over half a million dollars a year, but at least I have had the privilege of observing all but one or two of them being let go, getting fired, or leaving the company themselves.
I have also faced pay cuts, lack of merit increases, and bonuses probably to appease our CEOs, which have been plentiful... as they can't seem to keep them. Not saying I don't get paid well for what I do, but it is well below the average for someone in my industry. However, I've utilized my remote position to acquire other jobs while continuing to work my primary job.
So why do I stay despite all I've been through? I love my company and what I do even though I've survived massive layoffs through the years, non-pandemic and pandemic. There is something about working for a media corporation that I love in spite of all the abuses or lack of incentive. I do what I do because it brings out the very creative side of me.
No one pays me for painting landscapes, so I work for company Paint Inc where I paint portraits. They pay good money since I'm very good at painting. I don't really like painting portraits. It's okeish. I don't hate it either. I take it as a job. No more nor less.
Now, do you wanna meet up to paint landscapes? I pay the drinks!
I also worked on the industry a few times but it was quickly boring and I couldn’t care less about the profits for the wealth of the shareholders.
I'm not currently doing anything close to that in my current job, and it's very mentally draining. But there's a lot of toxic and abusive behavior in the video game industry too, and it pays a hell of a lot lower (especially if I were to try to switch back into it now).
If I didn't have to worry about my paycheck today, I'd probably work in board game industry (or just write novels and be a freelance game designer).
The board game industry has its own problems, but I think that would be the most fulfilling. But that would be an even greater paycut. I might have to take a job making 25% or less of what I'm currently making to go into that industry full-time, and that's not really doable for me right now.
I'm passionate about helping others succeed and this job allows me to do just that. It's very satisfying to watch my clients progress in their careers, knowing that I had a part in making it happen. Additionally, the team at CareerBands is amazing and we have a great time working together!
All in all, I'm very proud of what I do and couldn't imagine doing anything else.
There are definitely weeks where I want to set my head on fire.
But most weeks are good. I don't know that it gets much better than this.
Ask me next week and I may feel differently :)
I guess what I'm saying is I'm content with my reality and all the ebbs and flows between loving and hating work. It's not as binary as people make it out to be in conversation.
I am making relatively less money than I could be at other places doing this work, but the work environment is extremely chill (100% remote) and I have already taken two 2-week trips to travel to Europe and Japan since I started less than a year ago. My manager and team are also good people who I trust.
I suppose it’s not all about the work but the work environment/benefits as well.
However, I've had jobs that were really great and were very fulfilling for stretches of a few years at a time. Mostly because they were a stretch / challenging for me at the time, and allowed me to move to new cities and better my lifestyle, meet new people, etc - so it's not completely stupid to expect fulfillment from a job.
The problem is that whether a job is fulfilling or not isn't under your control, it only takes one bad reorg or boss or layoff to mess it up for the next few years.
Seek FI. Then you can “love your life”, and if that involves continuing to put your efforts into what you did before, great. You’re now a willing participant. The secret to loving your job is not needing it.
Are you happy with $65k a year for 9 months of work? That's with a Masters Degree, 20+ IT certs, and 20+ years of experience.
some parts are headaches, but a goodind headache.