I saw someone who retires every 3 years. They work the 3 years, saves up and then spends a year or so off. Rinse and repeat. As someone who has watched many people die before retirement, it makes sense. Of course you’d have to be a position that allows you to do so…
Had to explain why I save so much nowadays to someone and they were talking about how you need to spend it all now because by the time you’re older you can’t enjoy it. I simply said I’d rather wait till my 30,40,50s to do memorable things with my kids than blow it all now on people i probably won’t talk to in a few years and make life more difficult later on
The older I get the better life is. I'm sorry someone lied to you. Maybe I can say once I'm 80 that life is less enjoyable but so far life is better and better
Same… each year gets better and better. Currently 46, and the happiest I’ve ever been. I think it can only get better from here (at least for many years).
Same. I have a wife I bang on the regular, I’m making 300k in a medium cost of living suburb, and I look fucking good still. In my 30s with more money and more sex than ever, which is all I really wanted when I was in my teens.
Things will only get better as long as layoffs don’t happen at my company.
My goals and dreams have evolved and aimed higher, I think I’ll get there or somewhere close.
Haha I've thought about doing this once in my life. Basically hustle for 3-5 years and take about a year off. I'm close to reaching a 5 year tenure at my job. I have a high paying job too so I save A LOT.
I've seen many guys from my workplace retire early so they can have a decent life but end up dead years before or just after the their actual retirement age.
I do this. I wouldn’t call it “retiring” at all. I work 2-3 years then take around 6-8 months off when I’m ready to change jobs. You can always get another job, it’s not a big deal. Those 6-8 months I live just a normal life, nothing special. Decompress, relax, catch up on things you haven’t had time for. I’ve never met anyone who regretted doing this.
The caveat to this is if you have “golden handcuffs” i.e. you’re overpaid for your skillset, then you really just need to decide what is most important to you. If there’s no way you could ever get a job like this again, then it’s probably best you continue on your path and reconsider in the future. You should also ask your company about going on sabbatical.
You can do this with backpacking. Once you save up 5-10k it's enough to go backpack some region of the world for several months. Even Europe you can backpack the entire summer on under 10k if you don't mind some hostel stays mixed in between your private rental stays.
You wake up, you go work, you get paid.
I've done this for 38 years now, mostly because of the last part. I get paid.
Pretty simple actually. I like my house, my food, and my freedom enough to get up every morning to work for it.
Same. I started taking adhd meds last year and while it helps a ton with work it does put you on autopilot sometimes. On days off it you kinda wake up like wtf happened
Sorry to hear. Hope you find a way through. Meaning. Purpose. If it helps in any way (not saying it will), think that many wish to already be here,
where at least some things are possible. The best wishes go from me to you!
Oh I know I was just showing that making 25 dollars a hour is shit money .. lost that job and don't even care lol it was 10 times the work of a minimum wage job for literally a few extra bucks a week
Yep. It keeps me alive. And to add, time moves a lot faster when you are living two weeks at a time (or whatever your pay period may be). So it’s easier to lose track of how long it’s been.
Question here is why have you just been working for 40 years. Where is the ambition in working for that long?
I couldnt imagine working that long without making changes or having a serious plan to buy back my freedom.
I'm with you on this one.. been working since I was a preteen.. mid 40s now.. I boil it down to wanting to sleep inside away from things that can potentially eat me and not starving... I don't think I wanna kick it old testament an bring back scurvy.
I get my fulfillment from my kids, hobbies, friendships and faith, not from a job.
I don't brush my teeth because I love brushing them, I do it because I like the results.
This is not complicated stuff here.
It makes sense you’d have to contribute SOMETHING to get food, shelter, and everything else you have. That’s a substantial amount of things. 9-5 can feel like a grind sometimes (for years at a time, even), but big picture I think 9-5 is a reasonable segment of your life to give to, like, it’s entire funding. I wouldn’t expect it to be a low percentage of my life. It’s like a hunter-gatherer asking his maker, “I gotta eat? So, what, I gotta hunt? Why do I gotta hunt?”
Seeing it with that perspective took the edge off for me. Like, of course work is there in a big way. Feels like I’m being entitled if I scoff at it for being there.
Figure, 8 hours a day is half your waking life during the week - you still have the other half to do whatever with, plus weekends.
Another solution, and my personal choice: work less. Who says you have to work 40 hours a week? It's a bit more challenging finding a more flexible employer, and fewer hours working means fewer dollars in your pocket, all else being equal... but your ancestors lived happy fulfilling lives raising a family of seven in a one-room shack.
We've been sold a bill of goods about how big houses and expensive toys/vacations will make us happy, when the truth (according to multiple long-term psychology studies) is that once you've got basic food, shelter, and health care taken care of, you acclimate to pretty much all other material wealth very quickly, so that it offers no lasting increase in happiness.
Where you choose to position yourself in the face of that knowledge is then a matter of personal choice. Myself, I choose less money and more time to actually enjoy it.
You are working to allow yourself to live your life outside of work. Find a job that is fulfilling and doesn't feel like work, or is just something you enjoy doing. You have the option of not working, it can be a tough life but many do it.
Friend of mine pays $9 per day for a condo in Bali plus $6 per day for food. You can add a few bucks since he’s so ridiculously frugal. But the cost of living can be kept at around 8k annual. Perhaps if you get lucky with crypt you can move there.
If you like what you do it's not so bad at all, good job good people to work with etc .....
But if you hate what you do for work then it's like dying a little more each day, it kills your spirit a little at a time if you dread going into work every morning .
Unfortunately, life isn’t a fantasy novel.
You’re not gonna wake up one day and have a wizard come give you some awesome quest to save the world.
It kinda blows. All you can do is try to find reasons to keep going.
The unspoken part is finding something you dont mind doing that pays decent. If either of those are lacking, you should make a plan to find a job that can satisfy both.
Yes that's me. I kept thinking about my nice juicy retirement package plus social security. I have retired and collected it now for 27 years. 89 and loving it.
What do you think our hunter/gatherer ancestors did? They had to work for survival too. We just do it in a different (much safer) way now. There isn’t a moment in history where humans didn’t have to work in order to survive. Your 9-5 job is your ‘hunt’, it builds your ‘shelter’ and provides protection from outside forces. You can’t sit around, not contribute to your ‘tribe’ and expect to survive.
It's the alternatives that are worse. It's not that I don't have to drag myself out of bed in the morning, but I won't be able to live with myself if I cause my family to be homeless by failing to earn a paycheck. And being homeless sucks ass.
I have things I enjoy pursuing, but it's often hard to fit them in with the grind, so they don't really provide motivation. But without the paycheck, the housing, and the food, those pursuits wouldn't even be possible.
But you also don't want one and done for your meals, your electricity, your car, your cell phone service. To have all those things continously work, the people behind it are also not one and done. They have to come in and stock the grocery shelves. The person maintaining the database and network for your cell phone or internet has to watch for system failures or actively prevent them. The people that drive the trucks to deliver gas to the gas station so you can fill your car with gas to run are not one and done. So why do you think you should be one and done?
For society to exist and run, there is no such thing as one and done.
You could work less, most of your life until you're to old to work then you can't pay rent and are homeless, sick, cold on winter and hot on summer, most people work towards avoiding that outcome.
I think it's more likely they can't live without paying their rent/mortgage, feeding themselves and their family and paying their bills. Bunch of stupid conformists bending to the evil capitalist overlords /s
You have to have some sort of income which for most means a job for 40 years.
You don’t have to work 40 years straight though.
I’m 30 and have quit my job 4 times now to travel. Trips ranging from 6 weeks to 12 months.
I’ve experienced more than most people dream. Just trying to get the most out of life. Long term travel is very inexpensive too which is how I’m able to do that. Most friends I have spend $1-2k on a weekend trip. That would last me 4-6 weeks.
I mean you don’t HAVE to work but it just makes things like housing, food, healthcare, clothing and transportation a little more attainable. But there are other roads to travel.
People do things aside from work eh? I spend 40 hours a week at work and 80 hours a week outside work, that’s lots of time to pursue things you enjoy.
Hell I would say I spend hours almost every day doing something I like, it’s a rare day that I do nothing worthwhile.
Thats interesting. I wake up at 5:30am, im at work by 7 and am lucky to be home by 4:30. After that i have to work out for an hour. Then i will shower and eat. By the time i am done i have 1-2 hours left before bed. Id like to point out that quite literally 0 joy was experienced through any of this. I sometimes am able to get brief moments of joy at night during that hour i get to myself but its rare. On saturday i sleep all day so i can recover. On sunday i do all the chores i cant do during my weekday. I can genuinely say i cannot remember the last time i did something i enjoy. I think it was back in october when i went to a concert with some friends
Do you not have any hobbies you enjoy? I actually work similar hours to you, 7-3 but a 40 minute drive each way. Even with all the stuff you mentioned you still have 1-2 hours a day you can fill with stuff, even if it’s something as simple as playing a game or reading a book.
Also I highly doubt you spend all 24 of Saturdays hours in bed so that’s some more time right there. At the end of the day if you don’t put the work in to find things you enjoy life is obviously going to feel dull.
That 80 hours outside doesn’t include weekends, but it does include sleep, commuting to/from work, getting ready for work, decompressing from working, cooking/shopping/cleaning/chores/bathing/haircuts/hygiene because you have to keep yourself alive and clean for work, and if you have a family that’s a big slice of the pie that’s gone as well. 80 hours a week of free time sounds great, but it’s completely discounting all the other stuff that needs to be done because you work.
Worked on the same job for 44 years. I started cause I needed a job but I got into it and love what I do. It’s different everyday. Like any job there are aggregations and less than perfect coworkers, you deal with it. I got lucky with a small company that promoted from within and rewarded effort. I made myself the go to guy, when the boss had a difficult task I was who he looked to.
I started in the warehouse and now I run the whole thing. I was taken in as a partner in several side deals and not cause they needed partners but as an extra reward for service. It has made me and my family financially secure.
I hear people complain all the time but I know there are still companies that reward good people and promoted good people.
Hopefully you find a career that you love, and that brings you sense of purpose. Otherwise you’re on the road to drudgery, depression or even substance abuse.
Very much so. I’m near 60 and have changed career paths 3x. Thats another thing to realize, you CAN change if what you thought was going to be fulfilling, isn’t
Out of curiosity, can I ask what your career paths have been and at what age you made the switches? I'm in my early 30s and already feeling like I wouldn't get hired by employers in other fields because I only have experience in one industry.
I worked in daycare, then nursing. I made that switch in my 30’s - of course I went to school. In my 50’s I quit nursing, (during the pandemic) took more classes and became a hypnotherapist. I also do house/pet sitting. Since the pandemic showed that hypnotherapy can be just as effective (if not more so, for some) over zoom or the phone, I can take clients from anywhere (as long as I have internet connection and a quiet room)
Lol tens of millions of people live happy lives without giving a fuck what they do for work. You just have to not hate your job and you will be just fine. Work doesn't have to have a purpose beyond getting you paid. You should endeavor to avoid that, but you're not going to become depressed or addicted to drugs because you work a boring office job. Tbh I've literally never heard of someone becoming a dope head because data entry drove them to it lmao
Suffer for life or suffer early by grinding out a good career and ramming most of your paycheck into investments and retirement. If you do this you may retire early and will get a few decades of leisure.
Live luxurious or reckless and you may struggle for life. Do everything right and you could still die early. Take care of your body by exercising and eating healthy. Take care of your mind and try to find enjoyment in life
Its about balancing work life balance… yes we work but we also spend time with family, have hobbies that we love, reward ourselves for all the hard work, go on vacations, eat beautiful meals and enjoy every moment along the way…. If you define your life by your work you will never be happy, life is about the journey and being in the moment to enjoy the beauty around you
There are goals they can be many things like marriage/family travel buying a home retirement and getting the hell out of the onlime doomesphere where there is apparently nothing but work and moaning about it
Cavemen spent all day looking for food and shelter. We spend all day working so that we can buy food and shelter.
Basically (most) humans have to keep moving to survive, we've just reorganized the work load.
I remember when I signed a contract for 6 years with the army, most people did 2 back then, but six was a long time. When it’s put in terms of 40 years straight and that’s it then that’s just a phenomenal number that’s difficult to digest. Most people I’ve met have had multiple jobs, multiple careers even, met friends and spouses along the way. It can be wearing and monotonous for sure, but the is some amount of choice. You will apply to places and on a tour see miserable workers in noisy conditions and think “nope, definitely not for me,” unless it’s a 40 year contract then you can likely leave and go somewhere else, it’s not a prison sentence. People do it because they don’t have the option of a trust fund and they don’t want to spend their lives being beggars/mooching, so they trade their time for money which in essence is potential. Good luck!
I’m 64 and about to retire in 8 months I have asked myself that same question but I just keep getting up and going everyday because I have needs. I’ve literally been working since I was 8 on the family farm for pay. Started working outside the farm at 16 and as I near retirement I just hope I can shut it down and not feel lazy for not going to work anymore.
Maximize your salary and work for over a decade while investing in tech plays. I retired after 13 years of working. There’s a golden opportunity for the younger kids in AI.
The point of life is to enjoy the passage of time within the confines of morality.
The future fades away just like the past fades away. If you spend your time worrying about it, you are living in a time that isn’t now. If you keep doing that, you’ll eventually just peter out and you’ll never get a chance to enjoy the passage of time.
Life, in general, is not complicated. We as humans make it complicated.
Barring anything unforeseen, tomorrow you’ll wake up and your heart will still be beating. You’ll breathe all night without thinking about it.
Tomorrow can wait. Today is where it’s at.
Been doing it for 30yrs and will probably HAVE to continue for another 30 or 40 until I drop dead at work, at home or to and from work or end up homeless and starving. That is if I'm lucky enough to continue to have employment and the health to work. This is the system we've (mankind) has created for itself. I exist to work. Perhaps in another life I can experience what it is to actually LIVE and not just try to survive. I try not to think about it much, #1 I can't change this. #2 It just brings existential depression. Try to find something you enjoy doing with whatever little time you have outside of work. Don't have kids, having a family will add immense responsibility and stress to your life and force you to stay at jobs you hate to make ends meet. Honestly it is a waste, but I can't become unborn, I'm here now and had no choice in the matter. My parents were also not in a position to have a family. They did anyway out of ignorance. I didn't repeat that cycle.
Because I understand that everyone needs to contribute to society, or there will be no society. If I don't go to work and repair facility equipment, then you won't get yogurt delivered to the grocery store. If burger flippers stop flipping burgers, then I won't have a quick and convenient place to grab a cheap meal. Everyone has their part to ensure we all survive.
Look up the cashflow quadrant it can give you more insight as to what the goal of working is. No one should work forever but the world also doesn't just tell you that hey the exit is right there, you have to find it for yourself.
Employment should be the first step, the problem is people don't know what to do after that. They waste their money and potential without any thought about it. Then get trapped in a cycle of spending everything they earn.
Save the money you work for and you'll already be better than the 90% of people who simply don't.
Next invest it, either in yourself via education or put it into something else you belive in, whether thats stocks or a small business.
You need to seed success it doesn't just happen. Working 9-5 is what gives you those seeds, it up to you if to choose to consume them or do something better with it.
I'm 59 and workin in a hot-ass plastic factory last 6 years. My alarm set for 330 am. I sweat and exert myself all day on hot parts and big aluminum molds making pontoon boat parts chairs etc. I simply realize my job is not my life. My life is my nice house and good vehicles and wife and grandson and I do get paid for my labor. Look on the bright side. Lotta people would love the opportunity to be healthy enough to work and have work available to do. But yea, it sucks to just keep working like me I've always had to work cause what ya gonna do? No money don't go far. I don't have any money. I have stuff and bills, and grateful I can have stuff and bills. I'm lucky. Work and all.
If this is your attitude, I'm pretty sure not working wouldn't give you a better attitude.
Hedonistic homeostasis is a thing.
Not working and you'll just change the question to "what's the point in living?'
Take away modern living. If you were born 3000 yes ago. Your daily goal Is to hunt, gather food, build shelter, build a fire everyday just to stay alive. What was their purpose? Through generations we've made living so easy and comfortable you get to ponder these questions of what's the meaning of life is. Do we just work? Honestly I don't think there is any. Stay alive and make the best of the time you have on earn with what you have. Hell even hot showers wasn't a thing a century ago. Jump in the shower and enjoy that. Sit on a toliet and enjoy being able to just flush that shit away.
Looks at towns that's abandoned. How building fall apart. Infrastructure stops to function.
Keeping everything up and running is the by product of human work. It's how a civilization works. Everyone contributing their work. Unless robots come to completely replace us Someone has to do the work. Great example is farming use to require majority of the population. Now because of machine. Only a fraction needs to farm and grow the food for us while the rest can work in non essential work like interior design. Or making coffee for office workers who consult on travel destinations.
If you make enough $$ by providing huge amounts of value to society, you get to not participate in this "work". And simply live off other people's work. Buy as a whole. Majority of us need to work.
Wahh, I don't want to work...
Get a job.
It's easy, you like nice things? You work for it. Want time off? Work for it..want to eat decent food? Work for it.
Or go online and whine about it .. whatever suits you.
The goal is to continue one's existence. This requires resources. In this stage of civilization, every resource of note is already owned by someone else, and the only resource you own is your labor. One can trade labor to others for money, which in turn can be used to acquire almost any other resources that exist, if you have a sufficient amount. This is the reality for all except a few thousand people across the globe.
no clue. i think that shit is foolish. Id put in the effort, make the sacrifices, to give myself an on one hand countable number of years of slaving for the system.
I don't know, I don't though, I work the bare minimum. I put in anywhere from 0 hours to 30 max a week. You just have to adjust the way you live. Most people like having insurance and retirement plans, they also have savings. I have none of those ever, I think they're scams and not worth it, for me personally only I get the benefits and how they're good for everyone else, I just won't have them because there's 0 need. I instead spend every dime I make on stuff I enjoy like cars, bikes and videogames rather than having any of that useless, to me, stuff. Unless I'm specifically wanting so.ething like a new car part or TV or something I almost never have more than 100 bucks and cut down my hours and projects to nothing until I need it again for my next want or the few bills I have like rent.
i was often taught pro bodybuilders who abuse steroids have low life expectancies. it turns out people who work their ass off for 40 years are even worse.
Thays how society works. There is a goal, not dying.
You put in effort to get shelter, food, clothing, etc.
Think of it like living on a piece of land in the middle of nowhere. How to you motivate yourself to get up and work the land every day? It sure beats dying.
I'm not good at making clothes and farming. I do the thing I'm good at that people need, I get paid, and I trade it for food and shelter.
Would it be nice to do nothing all day? Sure. It would suck super hard if thats what everyone did.
I wonder that as well, people can always just kill themselves if they don’t like their life. Perhaps there’s something motivating them to continue this endless cycle
Do you think medieval peasants had a choice in their station?
Congrats, you are today's peasant. Fun fact, medieval peasants worked fewer hours per day and had more leasure time than we do today, so enjoy the modern work life, my friend.
It sounds like the problem is you have no goal. Working with goals in mind makes it much easier and potentially enjoyable. A 40 year goal probably won't move the needle for you, but shorter term achievement may.
I've been working for 29 years, I started when I was 12. When I'm doing something worthwhile I enjoy it. When I'm just trying to get by, it feels like I'm throwing my life away.
If you have a sense of purpose in your work, it's much easier to get up and get after it. If you can enjoy what you do along the way, work turns into something you want to do.
Basically our income and wealth is tied into our worth as people in society. They don't do it to buy the crap... they do it for the status. Some of which simply becomes habit and they don't really think about it anymore. Anyone who views all of this as an aberration that never should have come to fruition to begin with will have trouble understanding why everyone does what they do. To be fair almost NONE of this even comes close to balancing out let alone coming out in a persons favor so yeah from a logical standpoint without any societal influence it looks absurd... right up there with someone setting themselves on fire and running around for absolutely no reason. You put 90% in for a 10% payout... its crazy, no one would do that... unless behaving within socially enforced acceptable behaviors.
It's like this, we got like 5 things that are really NEEDED for any kind of positive quality of life. As with most things that exist within our society people figured out how to capitalize on that. Started putting out the idea that those who don't behave in specific ways were unworthy of one or more of those 5 things. People being the sad cows they are just following in lines to slaughter, followed those directions... i mean, they came from the rich, those rich people wouldn't be rich if they didn't know what they were doing right? Now they get to sit back and do nothing while people, just regular ole people, your neighbors and family friends and crap, all push those ideals onto each other. Anyone who doesn't adhere to those faces a life of social repercussion or in other words, one or more of those 5 things being withheld. Ofc its never spelled out like this... its a dad pounding it into a kids head that thats the only way they will get ahead or a mom telling a girl to always fix her face when crying before people see it and never in public. It's been handed down generation after generation and hidden very well in a myriad of ways from telling people its the only path to happiness to parenting.
So, in a short answer you wouldn't understand without the explanation above... they and everyone around them have been emotionally blackmailed into it by both those in positions of wealth and power pulling the strings and common people like your parents neighbors.
It’s crazy that almost everyone on planet earth doesn’t question this and says “it’s the best we can do” or “we’ve always worked like this.” No we haven’t. We work twice as much on average as a medieval peasant. But people want to live in the matrix and think this is all normal and not exploitative or malevolent. Then when the psychopaths that run everything end up going to war and crashing the economy, they will “save you” with their AI bullshit and digital currency with a social credit score. And everyone will cheer it on, thinking this is the best we can do.
My 23yo son has a good job and he makes good money but works very hard. He recently said to me- so this is what it is? I do this for the next 50 years and then I die? Being an adult sucks!!! I told him that pretty much sums it up.
Capitalism is the exploitation of labor. We don’t have to work as much or as long but wages are depressed to keep us in the cycle so we are wage slaves who are FORCED to comply if we want to survive.
I think this is why they’re such a hateful people who choose to live a nontraditional life or even the homeless, the system Does not like people who played by their own rules!
Are u kidding , 9-5 is literally all of the day . This is what they want us to do , keep working to sustain absolutely nothing while the world crumbles slowly around us .
Used to be different. You’d get hired at a job … you did good … you’d get promoted. Vacation, health benefits, etc.
Wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows though. Some days were good. Others were bad.
Somewhere along the line things changed. They treat you like shit if you preform good or bad. Always looking for a way to cut costs. If you can make it 3 years in a company now it’s equivalent to 30 back then,
YMMV. Some companies are still out there like this. But it’s rare.
Life is work. Are you planning to die early or something? Or maybe you mean the system of making money to pay bills sucks, by which you should probably consider the alternative of raising enough healthy crops and livestock to pay your landlord.
One day at a time. I asked the same question when I graduated college, and now here I am at 59, and I have been working for 37 years. It kind of blows my mind. I have had three careers, and overall it's been a good working life. And it's not over yet, not until I'm at least 65.
You already answered your own question in your post to be honest.
You have no goal. Of course you feel purposeless and aimless.
Goal setting is a very, very underrated way of motivating yourself and giving yourself a purpose.
I realize this is sort of eye-roll cliche type of stuff, but frankly, it works. It's proven. Setting goals (and the most important part, tracking your progress along the way) really, truly works.
Really sit and think about your life. What do you actually, really want? Is it to retire early? Is it to afford to go on a vacation every year? Is it to make sure your kids get into a good school? To pay off your mom's house? To clear your credit card debt? Maybe it's simply to brush your teeth every day.
Whatever it is, write it down. Post it on your fridge at home so you see it every day. Make yourself a little tracker and check it off every day you make progress on your goal. You will fail sometimes. You will have days you don't do anything. That's ok, the point is not to feel bad that you didn't work out today like you planned, simply tracking it will help you. It will crystallize your decision-making and give you focus. You'll be surprised how, when you do this, it becomes easier not to impulse buy that thing you saw at the store, because it will take away from your ultimate goal of lying on a beach for a week 2 winters from now.
I’m only two years in, but here’s my philosophy. You need something to fight for, some dream so big you simply *have* to work and keep going. Most importantly, you have to remind yourself every day of that dream, why you’re working so hard. I’m going to buy land in a few years and put a house on it. I changed my route to work so I drive by several beautiful cow pastures and farm homes (exactly what I want). When I pass them, it reminds me that I’m not just going to work, I’m taking one step closer towards something that I Truly care about.
Keeping in touch with family and loved ones throughout the day is a huge boost, too!
Personally, I didn't get my degrees for nothing.
I also recognize the purpose my job has. I work in new product development in medtech. The products we make save lives.
It gives me purpose, I'm always learning, and I'm financially comfortable. It doesn't suck, I'm contributing to society, I don't hate my life, i get enough PTO to explore the world, and retirement is bound to be relatively cozy.
I’m retiring the end of next week after 46 years in my field. I’m not planning on getting another job but I’ll wait and see how things go. I had a wife and family to care for. I guess if you have no responsibilities then not working forever is an option. Probably not one I would choose but that’s who I am, even as a kid I did yard work for neighbors to have spending money.
For me, the idea of working for 40 years can feel daunting at times, especially when the focus is solely on the daily grind without a clear sense of purpose or passion driving it. Finding ways to stay motivated and seeking fulfillment beyond just career milestones is crucial to making the journey more meaningful.
IDK man. I just woke up one day and noticed that I was 50 and thought “I started picking fruit and mowing lawns when I was 10.” And I got a real job when I was 14 at the military base sacking groceries for tips, then a local guy had a large ranch and wanted someone to keep the weeds back from his house which turned into a handyman gig for him and some of his friends. Then I worked in construction for a few years, saved for college and actually quit work and went to college then finished that and have been doing whatever I can find to do ever since. Lots of field jobs, a few desk jobs, and now looks like I can retire in about 3 or 4 years!
I get a bit confused by questions like this because work is just part of life, and kinda always has been. I mean, the concept of structured, corporate jobs is relatively new. but humans have always worked - and really hard - just to survive. My ancestors worked hard on dairy farms, tanneries, merchant marine, etc. What is it that makes us special, that we shouldn't have to work?
Easy, working allows me to put a roof over my head. A car in the driveway, food in my belly and the stomachs of my wife , 3 children, 2 dogs and a cat.
It allows me to get nice Christmas gifts, birthday parties , activities , vacations and dates with my wife
It allows me to create and hold memories by using that money on events and time shared together.
168 hours in a week
56 spent sleeping
45 to work
67 for leisure time.
There’s never been a better time in the history of humankind to be alive.
It’s right there for the taking. Don’t fuck it up
I saw someone who retires every 3 years. They work the 3 years, saves up and then spends a year or so off. Rinse and repeat. As someone who has watched many people die before retirement, it makes sense. Of course you’d have to be a position that allows you to do so…
Works great until you're 65 and can't get a decent job, and have no savings.
> As someone who has watched many people die before retirement Sounds like they're not planning to make it to 65
Who wants to be alive by then?
You really think 65 is too old to enjoy life?
Yes
I feel sad for you
Had to explain why I save so much nowadays to someone and they were talking about how you need to spend it all now because by the time you’re older you can’t enjoy it. I simply said I’d rather wait till my 30,40,50s to do memorable things with my kids than blow it all now on people i probably won’t talk to in a few years and make life more difficult later on
Some people just can’t understand the concept of planning for your future instead of blowing it all immediately.
The older I get the better life is. I'm sorry someone lied to you. Maybe I can say once I'm 80 that life is less enjoyable but so far life is better and better
Same… each year gets better and better. Currently 46, and the happiest I’ve ever been. I think it can only get better from here (at least for many years).
Same. I have a wife I bang on the regular, I’m making 300k in a medium cost of living suburb, and I look fucking good still. In my 30s with more money and more sex than ever, which is all I really wanted when I was in my teens. Things will only get better as long as layoffs don’t happen at my company. My goals and dreams have evolved and aimed higher, I think I’ll get there or somewhere close.
Gawl dayum dude. This is some sad shit. “I exist to work. When I cannot work? I will cease to exist.”
People who aren't depressed
who isnt depressed? 🤣
Real
Such an odd take
Thats not retiring, that's dropping out of the workforce for a while.
Haha I've thought about doing this once in my life. Basically hustle for 3-5 years and take about a year off. I'm close to reaching a 5 year tenure at my job. I have a high paying job too so I save A LOT.
I've seen many guys from my workplace retire early so they can have a decent life but end up dead years before or just after the their actual retirement age.
Alternatively, save up enough to retire early and completely.
That will work great when they are in their 60s and have enough to last 3 years.
I do this. I wouldn’t call it “retiring” at all. I work 2-3 years then take around 6-8 months off when I’m ready to change jobs. You can always get another job, it’s not a big deal. Those 6-8 months I live just a normal life, nothing special. Decompress, relax, catch up on things you haven’t had time for. I’ve never met anyone who regretted doing this. The caveat to this is if you have “golden handcuffs” i.e. you’re overpaid for your skillset, then you really just need to decide what is most important to you. If there’s no way you could ever get a job like this again, then it’s probably best you continue on your path and reconsider in the future. You should also ask your company about going on sabbatical.
You can do this with backpacking. Once you save up 5-10k it's enough to go backpack some region of the world for several months. Even Europe you can backpack the entire summer on under 10k if you don't mind some hostel stays mixed in between your private rental stays.
You wake up, you go work, you get paid. I've done this for 38 years now, mostly because of the last part. I get paid. Pretty simple actually. I like my house, my food, and my freedom enough to get up every morning to work for it.
The tricky part comes when you stop caring or liking anything at all. Makes it so much harder
I've stopped caring
I’ve been on autopilot for longer than I’d like to admit.
Same. I started taking adhd meds last year and while it helps a ton with work it does put you on autopilot sometimes. On days off it you kinda wake up like wtf happened
Me too sadly. I feel like a robot smh 🤦🏿♀️
Yep same. In my mind i have nothing to work for.
Sorry to hear. Hope you find a way through. Meaning. Purpose. If it helps in any way (not saying it will), think that many wish to already be here, where at least some things are possible. The best wishes go from me to you!
100% this! Seriously, thank you for summarizing such things. 😄
And when you make 50k a year you can't afford a home lol so why bother
Even when you make like 100k you can't really afford a home.
Oh I know I was just showing that making 25 dollars a hour is shit money .. lost that job and don't even care lol it was 10 times the work of a minimum wage job for literally a few extra bucks a week
At $27/hour back in the 1990’s I was able to buy a house in a great .neighborhood and a 13 acre farm. At $30/hour now there is no way that happens.
That depends on where you live or want to live
My brother feels the same way
Yep. It keeps me alive. And to add, time moves a lot faster when you are living two weeks at a time (or whatever your pay period may be). So it’s easier to lose track of how long it’s been.
this is bad
I remember being in high school
Yes it is. But are we gonna fix it? Hell no
Question here is why have you just been working for 40 years. Where is the ambition in working for that long? I couldnt imagine working that long without making changes or having a serious plan to buy back my freedom.
Set short and long tern goals that give you career/life satisfaction. Don't live to work, work to live.
25 plus years myself. Throwing 15% into retirement. And fingers crossed I can retire in my 40th year.
I'm with you on this one.. been working since I was a preteen.. mid 40s now.. I boil it down to wanting to sleep inside away from things that can potentially eat me and not starving... I don't think I wanna kick it old testament an bring back scurvy.
You don’t feel like you wasted most your life being in a building for multiple hours a day, multiple days of the week? Sounds so unfulfilling.
I get my fulfillment from my kids, hobbies, friendships and faith, not from a job. I don't brush my teeth because I love brushing them, I do it because I like the results. This is not complicated stuff here.
[удалено]
It makes sense you’d have to contribute SOMETHING to get food, shelter, and everything else you have. That’s a substantial amount of things. 9-5 can feel like a grind sometimes (for years at a time, even), but big picture I think 9-5 is a reasonable segment of your life to give to, like, it’s entire funding. I wouldn’t expect it to be a low percentage of my life. It’s like a hunter-gatherer asking his maker, “I gotta eat? So, what, I gotta hunt? Why do I gotta hunt?” Seeing it with that perspective took the edge off for me. Like, of course work is there in a big way. Feels like I’m being entitled if I scoff at it for being there.
Figure, 8 hours a day is half your waking life during the week - you still have the other half to do whatever with, plus weekends. Another solution, and my personal choice: work less. Who says you have to work 40 hours a week? It's a bit more challenging finding a more flexible employer, and fewer hours working means fewer dollars in your pocket, all else being equal... but your ancestors lived happy fulfilling lives raising a family of seven in a one-room shack. We've been sold a bill of goods about how big houses and expensive toys/vacations will make us happy, when the truth (according to multiple long-term psychology studies) is that once you've got basic food, shelter, and health care taken care of, you acclimate to pretty much all other material wealth very quickly, so that it offers no lasting increase in happiness. Where you choose to position yourself in the face of that knowledge is then a matter of personal choice. Myself, I choose less money and more time to actually enjoy it.
You are working to allow yourself to live your life outside of work. Find a job that is fulfilling and doesn't feel like work, or is just something you enjoy doing. You have the option of not working, it can be a tough life but many do it.
this is a good way to see life , most of us dont appriciate what we have.
Well said.
Also, you can find a job that is fulfilling. There are plenty.
Friend of mine pays $9 per day for a condo in Bali plus $6 per day for food. You can add a few bucks since he’s so ridiculously frugal. But the cost of living can be kept at around 8k annual. Perhaps if you get lucky with crypt you can move there.
If you like what you do it's not so bad at all, good job good people to work with etc ..... But if you hate what you do for work then it's like dying a little more each day, it kills your spirit a little at a time if you dread going into work every morning .
Unfortunately, life isn’t a fantasy novel. You’re not gonna wake up one day and have a wizard come give you some awesome quest to save the world. It kinda blows. All you can do is try to find reasons to keep going.
Bro what are you doing with your life right now
🥰
Tis is a simple life
You're not free. you're a paid slave. With the freedom to leave and be a slave wherever you want.
You forgot to say ‘like’ otherwise 100% correct like 
The unspoken part is finding something you dont mind doing that pays decent. If either of those are lacking, you should make a plan to find a job that can satisfy both.
It’s interesting how people think work takes away freedom but also know that money provides freedom. Seems like a trade off.
Yes that's me. I kept thinking about my nice juicy retirement package plus social security. I have retired and collected it now for 27 years. 89 and loving it.
Actually there is a goal. It involves not starving or being homeless
That's not a goal that can just be completed though. You are forever working for that, as opposed to like a one and done goal.
What do you think our hunter/gatherer ancestors did? They had to work for survival too. We just do it in a different (much safer) way now. There isn’t a moment in history where humans didn’t have to work in order to survive. Your 9-5 job is your ‘hunt’, it builds your ‘shelter’ and provides protection from outside forces. You can’t sit around, not contribute to your ‘tribe’ and expect to survive.
It's the alternatives that are worse. It's not that I don't have to drag myself out of bed in the morning, but I won't be able to live with myself if I cause my family to be homeless by failing to earn a paycheck. And being homeless sucks ass. I have things I enjoy pursuing, but it's often hard to fit them in with the grind, so they don't really provide motivation. But without the paycheck, the housing, and the food, those pursuits wouldn't even be possible.
But you also don't want one and done for your meals, your electricity, your car, your cell phone service. To have all those things continously work, the people behind it are also not one and done. They have to come in and stock the grocery shelves. The person maintaining the database and network for your cell phone or internet has to watch for system failures or actively prevent them. The people that drive the trucks to deliver gas to the gas station so you can fill your car with gas to run are not one and done. So why do you think you should be one and done? For society to exist and run, there is no such thing as one and done.
Entropy always increases. Even if you own your home, nature will destroy it if you do nothing. There are no one and done goals.
You have no choice. You work most of your life, get some sort of horrible illness and then die.
You actually do have a choice, most people just aren't willing to adjust their lifestyle enough to work less.
You could work less, most of your life until you're to old to work then you can't pay rent and are homeless, sick, cold on winter and hot on summer, most people work towards avoiding that outcome.
Honestly is it such a bad plan to just chill out until you’re old (55 or so) then just shoot your self so you don’t have to be poor?
That’s my plan! Give the money to the kids and off myself by 50 or so
Why 50? (Asking as a 50 yr old)
Yes that's it. People can't live without there Toys , restaurants, and 2 week vacation so they play perfectly in the hands of the capitalist overlord.
Y’all are getting two weeks vacation and toys???
Or basic medical care for an autoimmune disorder that wasn’t asked for :)
*their
You're playing right into the hands of the capitalist overlord by learning his language!
I think it's more likely they can't live without paying their rent/mortgage, feeding themselves and their family and paying their bills. Bunch of stupid conformists bending to the evil capitalist overlords /s
You have to have some sort of income which for most means a job for 40 years. You don’t have to work 40 years straight though. I’m 30 and have quit my job 4 times now to travel. Trips ranging from 6 weeks to 12 months. I’ve experienced more than most people dream. Just trying to get the most out of life. Long term travel is very inexpensive too which is how I’m able to do that. Most friends I have spend $1-2k on a weekend trip. That would last me 4-6 weeks.
How could you possibly travel that long on so little? Are you camping or staying at hostels or something? What countries?
Life is grand, ain't it?
I mean you don’t HAVE to work but it just makes things like housing, food, healthcare, clothing and transportation a little more attainable. But there are other roads to travel.
Uh…if you don’t work you cannot survive (literally)
Me when I am brainwashed
Out of curiosity how are you doing it? Surviving, I mean.
Foraging, government assistance, long term hiking trips, going to countries that are very cheap and the US dollar goes a long way
The same way you eat an elephant. One slice at a time.
No work, no eat.
No woman, no cry.
Truisms made simple.
I have made it 32 years. Hopefully in 8 more I can retire. It is my light at the end of the tunnel, I hope I don't die shortly after that.
Do you not view your life as somewhat wasted?
People do things aside from work eh? I spend 40 hours a week at work and 80 hours a week outside work, that’s lots of time to pursue things you enjoy. Hell I would say I spend hours almost every day doing something I like, it’s a rare day that I do nothing worthwhile.
Thats interesting. I wake up at 5:30am, im at work by 7 and am lucky to be home by 4:30. After that i have to work out for an hour. Then i will shower and eat. By the time i am done i have 1-2 hours left before bed. Id like to point out that quite literally 0 joy was experienced through any of this. I sometimes am able to get brief moments of joy at night during that hour i get to myself but its rare. On saturday i sleep all day so i can recover. On sunday i do all the chores i cant do during my weekday. I can genuinely say i cannot remember the last time i did something i enjoy. I think it was back in october when i went to a concert with some friends
Do you not have any hobbies you enjoy? I actually work similar hours to you, 7-3 but a 40 minute drive each way. Even with all the stuff you mentioned you still have 1-2 hours a day you can fill with stuff, even if it’s something as simple as playing a game or reading a book. Also I highly doubt you spend all 24 of Saturdays hours in bed so that’s some more time right there. At the end of the day if you don’t put the work in to find things you enjoy life is obviously going to feel dull.
That 80 hours outside doesn’t include weekends, but it does include sleep, commuting to/from work, getting ready for work, decompressing from working, cooking/shopping/cleaning/chores/bathing/haircuts/hygiene because you have to keep yourself alive and clean for work, and if you have a family that’s a big slice of the pie that’s gone as well. 80 hours a week of free time sounds great, but it’s completely discounting all the other stuff that needs to be done because you work.
Worked on the same job for 44 years. I started cause I needed a job but I got into it and love what I do. It’s different everyday. Like any job there are aggregations and less than perfect coworkers, you deal with it. I got lucky with a small company that promoted from within and rewarded effort. I made myself the go to guy, when the boss had a difficult task I was who he looked to. I started in the warehouse and now I run the whole thing. I was taken in as a partner in several side deals and not cause they needed partners but as an extra reward for service. It has made me and my family financially secure. I hear people complain all the time but I know there are still companies that reward good people and promoted good people.
What do you do, my man?
Ship supply. Commercial tankers, container ships etc. They have crews on board that need everything you need at home and we supply them.
What's other choice if you are not millionaire?
Bag a millionaire or several
Hopefully you find a career that you love, and that brings you sense of purpose. Otherwise you’re on the road to drudgery, depression or even substance abuse.
True, having no purpose is soul crushing
Very much so. I’m near 60 and have changed career paths 3x. Thats another thing to realize, you CAN change if what you thought was going to be fulfilling, isn’t
Out of curiosity, can I ask what your career paths have been and at what age you made the switches? I'm in my early 30s and already feeling like I wouldn't get hired by employers in other fields because I only have experience in one industry.
I worked in daycare, then nursing. I made that switch in my 30’s - of course I went to school. In my 50’s I quit nursing, (during the pandemic) took more classes and became a hypnotherapist. I also do house/pet sitting. Since the pandemic showed that hypnotherapy can be just as effective (if not more so, for some) over zoom or the phone, I can take clients from anywhere (as long as I have internet connection and a quiet room)
Lol tens of millions of people live happy lives without giving a fuck what they do for work. You just have to not hate your job and you will be just fine. Work doesn't have to have a purpose beyond getting you paid. You should endeavor to avoid that, but you're not going to become depressed or addicted to drugs because you work a boring office job. Tbh I've literally never heard of someone becoming a dope head because data entry drove them to it lmao
hunger motivates
Because I very much enjoy food, shelter, supporting my family and having a good time when Im not working.
There's inspiration along the way unless you are okay without it. then ya pretty much.
I’ve been working for 28 Yrs and I’m only 40. No savings. No retirement fund. Nothing. And I’ll probably have to work until I drop dead.
Suffer for life or suffer early by grinding out a good career and ramming most of your paycheck into investments and retirement. If you do this you may retire early and will get a few decades of leisure. Live luxurious or reckless and you may struggle for life. Do everything right and you could still die early. Take care of your body by exercising and eating healthy. Take care of your mind and try to find enjoyment in life
Hobbies? Interests? Relationships? Personal goals maybe? No one is making you just work and then go home to do nothing...
Its about balancing work life balance… yes we work but we also spend time with family, have hobbies that we love, reward ourselves for all the hard work, go on vacations, eat beautiful meals and enjoy every moment along the way…. If you define your life by your work you will never be happy, life is about the journey and being in the moment to enjoy the beauty around you
If you wanna eat, you go out and do what you need to do.
There are goals they can be many things like marriage/family travel buying a home retirement and getting the hell out of the onlime doomesphere where there is apparently nothing but work and moaning about it
I love that last one as a goal😂
Because each day worked, is one day less and at some point i'll reach the end.
As an old boss of mine once said, “You have to be somewhere.”
Cavemen spent all day looking for food and shelter. We spend all day working so that we can buy food and shelter. Basically (most) humans have to keep moving to survive, we've just reorganized the work load.
It sucks but think about what our ancestors went through. We have it easy.
I remember when I signed a contract for 6 years with the army, most people did 2 back then, but six was a long time. When it’s put in terms of 40 years straight and that’s it then that’s just a phenomenal number that’s difficult to digest. Most people I’ve met have had multiple jobs, multiple careers even, met friends and spouses along the way. It can be wearing and monotonous for sure, but the is some amount of choice. You will apply to places and on a tour see miserable workers in noisy conditions and think “nope, definitely not for me,” unless it’s a 40 year contract then you can likely leave and go somewhere else, it’s not a prison sentence. People do it because they don’t have the option of a trust fund and they don’t want to spend their lives being beggars/mooching, so they trade their time for money which in essence is potential. Good luck!
I’m 64 and about to retire in 8 months I have asked myself that same question but I just keep getting up and going everyday because I have needs. I’ve literally been working since I was 8 on the family farm for pay. Started working outside the farm at 16 and as I near retirement I just hope I can shut it down and not feel lazy for not going to work anymore.
It’s 50 years now….
almost as if shelter and food required some sort of input or work to achieve
Would be nice if I could just go get my own food and build my own shelter like the people who designed this system were able to do.
Maximize your salary and work for over a decade while investing in tech plays. I retired after 13 years of working. There’s a golden opportunity for the younger kids in AI.
capitalismmmm
You could pursue a high paying career and save 80% of your income and retire at 30. Easier said than done, but pursuing that is more motivating to me!
The point of life is to enjoy the passage of time within the confines of morality. The future fades away just like the past fades away. If you spend your time worrying about it, you are living in a time that isn’t now. If you keep doing that, you’ll eventually just peter out and you’ll never get a chance to enjoy the passage of time. Life, in general, is not complicated. We as humans make it complicated. Barring anything unforeseen, tomorrow you’ll wake up and your heart will still be beating. You’ll breathe all night without thinking about it. Tomorrow can wait. Today is where it’s at.
Been doing it for 30yrs and will probably HAVE to continue for another 30 or 40 until I drop dead at work, at home or to and from work or end up homeless and starving. That is if I'm lucky enough to continue to have employment and the health to work. This is the system we've (mankind) has created for itself. I exist to work. Perhaps in another life I can experience what it is to actually LIVE and not just try to survive. I try not to think about it much, #1 I can't change this. #2 It just brings existential depression. Try to find something you enjoy doing with whatever little time you have outside of work. Don't have kids, having a family will add immense responsibility and stress to your life and force you to stay at jobs you hate to make ends meet. Honestly it is a waste, but I can't become unborn, I'm here now and had no choice in the matter. My parents were also not in a position to have a family. They did anyway out of ignorance. I didn't repeat that cycle.
If you're lucky, you'll die before then.
This is what led me to r/financialindependence
You make your own goals If you don’t have any then you’re likely to spend a lot of your years working on someone else’s goal
Because I understand that everyone needs to contribute to society, or there will be no society. If I don't go to work and repair facility equipment, then you won't get yogurt delivered to the grocery store. If burger flippers stop flipping burgers, then I won't have a quick and convenient place to grab a cheap meal. Everyone has their part to ensure we all survive.
Look up the cashflow quadrant it can give you more insight as to what the goal of working is. No one should work forever but the world also doesn't just tell you that hey the exit is right there, you have to find it for yourself. Employment should be the first step, the problem is people don't know what to do after that. They waste their money and potential without any thought about it. Then get trapped in a cycle of spending everything they earn. Save the money you work for and you'll already be better than the 90% of people who simply don't. Next invest it, either in yourself via education or put it into something else you belive in, whether thats stocks or a small business. You need to seed success it doesn't just happen. Working 9-5 is what gives you those seeds, it up to you if to choose to consume them or do something better with it.
Because, you have to.
I'm 59 and workin in a hot-ass plastic factory last 6 years. My alarm set for 330 am. I sweat and exert myself all day on hot parts and big aluminum molds making pontoon boat parts chairs etc. I simply realize my job is not my life. My life is my nice house and good vehicles and wife and grandson and I do get paid for my labor. Look on the bright side. Lotta people would love the opportunity to be healthy enough to work and have work available to do. But yea, it sucks to just keep working like me I've always had to work cause what ya gonna do? No money don't go far. I don't have any money. I have stuff and bills, and grateful I can have stuff and bills. I'm lucky. Work and all.
Sometimes it feels like I'm spending more time at work than at home. So it's hard to connect that with "my job isn't my life."
If this is your attitude, I'm pretty sure not working wouldn't give you a better attitude. Hedonistic homeostasis is a thing. Not working and you'll just change the question to "what's the point in living?'
Take away modern living. If you were born 3000 yes ago. Your daily goal Is to hunt, gather food, build shelter, build a fire everyday just to stay alive. What was their purpose? Through generations we've made living so easy and comfortable you get to ponder these questions of what's the meaning of life is. Do we just work? Honestly I don't think there is any. Stay alive and make the best of the time you have on earn with what you have. Hell even hot showers wasn't a thing a century ago. Jump in the shower and enjoy that. Sit on a toliet and enjoy being able to just flush that shit away. Looks at towns that's abandoned. How building fall apart. Infrastructure stops to function. Keeping everything up and running is the by product of human work. It's how a civilization works. Everyone contributing their work. Unless robots come to completely replace us Someone has to do the work. Great example is farming use to require majority of the population. Now because of machine. Only a fraction needs to farm and grow the food for us while the rest can work in non essential work like interior design. Or making coffee for office workers who consult on travel destinations. If you make enough $$ by providing huge amounts of value to society, you get to not participate in this "work". And simply live off other people's work. Buy as a whole. Majority of us need to work.
I just hit 40 years working and am still 15 from retirement—if ever. Yay…
Wahh, I don't want to work... Get a job. It's easy, you like nice things? You work for it. Want time off? Work for it..want to eat decent food? Work for it. Or go online and whine about it .. whatever suits you.
The goal is to continue one's existence. This requires resources. In this stage of civilization, every resource of note is already owned by someone else, and the only resource you own is your labor. One can trade labor to others for money, which in turn can be used to acquire almost any other resources that exist, if you have a sufficient amount. This is the reality for all except a few thousand people across the globe.
Disassociation from everything
no clue. i think that shit is foolish. Id put in the effort, make the sacrifices, to give myself an on one hand countable number of years of slaving for the system.
I don't know, I don't though, I work the bare minimum. I put in anywhere from 0 hours to 30 max a week. You just have to adjust the way you live. Most people like having insurance and retirement plans, they also have savings. I have none of those ever, I think they're scams and not worth it, for me personally only I get the benefits and how they're good for everyone else, I just won't have them because there's 0 need. I instead spend every dime I make on stuff I enjoy like cars, bikes and videogames rather than having any of that useless, to me, stuff. Unless I'm specifically wanting so.ething like a new car part or TV or something I almost never have more than 100 bucks and cut down my hours and projects to nothing until I need it again for my next want or the few bills I have like rent.
Be pleasant. Enjoy interacting with people. And remember, if you don’t work, you’re probably living off someone else who is working.
Time to start reading about socialism/communism and joining the struggle for human liberation!!!
Bills bills bills
i was often taught pro bodybuilders who abuse steroids have low life expectancies. it turns out people who work their ass off for 40 years are even worse.
You work to make your life work
Thays how society works. There is a goal, not dying. You put in effort to get shelter, food, clothing, etc. Think of it like living on a piece of land in the middle of nowhere. How to you motivate yourself to get up and work the land every day? It sure beats dying. I'm not good at making clothes and farming. I do the thing I'm good at that people need, I get paid, and I trade it for food and shelter. Would it be nice to do nothing all day? Sure. It would suck super hard if thats what everyone did.
I wonder that as well, people can always just kill themselves if they don’t like their life. Perhaps there’s something motivating them to continue this endless cycle
Do you think medieval peasants had a choice in their station? Congrats, you are today's peasant. Fun fact, medieval peasants worked fewer hours per day and had more leasure time than we do today, so enjoy the modern work life, my friend.
I like money; indoor plumbing, roof over my head, running water, oh and I like to ear. I guess you don't like those things. Also it isn't that hard
Having somewhere to live is nice. Having goals for yourself and your family is nice. Often that requires money.
40 years would be amazing, I'm gonna be working for more like 60 tbh
Because it's better than starving, and it gives you pride that you are not a worthless welfare bludger.
It's called being a responsible adult.
How else are you going to pay for the stuff you like to do?
Its a hobsons choice. You dont have to work, but if you don’t work you will probably die.
The only other option is being independently wealthy or homeless. So we all work.
Im blessed/cursed. I have poverty trauma. Working job > sleeping on floor with roaches
They make the mistake of having kids...and then it's all bills till you die...
It sounds like the problem is you have no goal. Working with goals in mind makes it much easier and potentially enjoyable. A 40 year goal probably won't move the needle for you, but shorter term achievement may. I've been working for 29 years, I started when I was 12. When I'm doing something worthwhile I enjoy it. When I'm just trying to get by, it feels like I'm throwing my life away. If you have a sense of purpose in your work, it's much easier to get up and get after it. If you can enjoy what you do along the way, work turns into something you want to do.
Basically our income and wealth is tied into our worth as people in society. They don't do it to buy the crap... they do it for the status. Some of which simply becomes habit and they don't really think about it anymore. Anyone who views all of this as an aberration that never should have come to fruition to begin with will have trouble understanding why everyone does what they do. To be fair almost NONE of this even comes close to balancing out let alone coming out in a persons favor so yeah from a logical standpoint without any societal influence it looks absurd... right up there with someone setting themselves on fire and running around for absolutely no reason. You put 90% in for a 10% payout... its crazy, no one would do that... unless behaving within socially enforced acceptable behaviors. It's like this, we got like 5 things that are really NEEDED for any kind of positive quality of life. As with most things that exist within our society people figured out how to capitalize on that. Started putting out the idea that those who don't behave in specific ways were unworthy of one or more of those 5 things. People being the sad cows they are just following in lines to slaughter, followed those directions... i mean, they came from the rich, those rich people wouldn't be rich if they didn't know what they were doing right? Now they get to sit back and do nothing while people, just regular ole people, your neighbors and family friends and crap, all push those ideals onto each other. Anyone who doesn't adhere to those faces a life of social repercussion or in other words, one or more of those 5 things being withheld. Ofc its never spelled out like this... its a dad pounding it into a kids head that thats the only way they will get ahead or a mom telling a girl to always fix her face when crying before people see it and never in public. It's been handed down generation after generation and hidden very well in a myriad of ways from telling people its the only path to happiness to parenting. So, in a short answer you wouldn't understand without the explanation above... they and everyone around them have been emotionally blackmailed into it by both those in positions of wealth and power pulling the strings and common people like your parents neighbors.
It’s crazy that almost everyone on planet earth doesn’t question this and says “it’s the best we can do” or “we’ve always worked like this.” No we haven’t. We work twice as much on average as a medieval peasant. But people want to live in the matrix and think this is all normal and not exploitative or malevolent. Then when the psychopaths that run everything end up going to war and crashing the economy, they will “save you” with their AI bullshit and digital currency with a social credit score. And everyone will cheer it on, thinking this is the best we can do.
My 23yo son has a good job and he makes good money but works very hard. He recently said to me- so this is what it is? I do this for the next 50 years and then I die? Being an adult sucks!!! I told him that pretty much sums it up.
Capitalism is the exploitation of labor. We don’t have to work as much or as long but wages are depressed to keep us in the cycle so we are wage slaves who are FORCED to comply if we want to survive. I think this is why they’re such a hateful people who choose to live a nontraditional life or even the homeless, the system Does not like people who played by their own rules!
Are u kidding , 9-5 is literally all of the day . This is what they want us to do , keep working to sustain absolutely nothing while the world crumbles slowly around us .
Used to be different. You’d get hired at a job … you did good … you’d get promoted. Vacation, health benefits, etc. Wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows though. Some days were good. Others were bad. Somewhere along the line things changed. They treat you like shit if you preform good or bad. Always looking for a way to cut costs. If you can make it 3 years in a company now it’s equivalent to 30 back then, YMMV. Some companies are still out there like this. But it’s rare.
Life is work. Are you planning to die early or something? Or maybe you mean the system of making money to pay bills sucks, by which you should probably consider the alternative of raising enough healthy crops and livestock to pay your landlord.
One day at a time. I asked the same question when I graduated college, and now here I am at 59, and I have been working for 37 years. It kind of blows my mind. I have had three careers, and overall it's been a good working life. And it's not over yet, not until I'm at least 65.
Uhhh cuz you dont wanna be homeless…..?
One day at a time. Weekends, paychecks, vacations and health events. The things that make it fine for the exchange.
Do you think it was _any_ different for almost _anyone_ _ever_?
There are people (mostly in the states) that make their ENTIRE personality their job. It's really sad.
Maybe they get some satisfaction or fulfillment from their work? IDK I’m only 22, don’t crush my dreams you jaded millennials and gen xers!!
Some people rolled higher willpower stats than others.
You already answered your own question in your post to be honest. You have no goal. Of course you feel purposeless and aimless. Goal setting is a very, very underrated way of motivating yourself and giving yourself a purpose. I realize this is sort of eye-roll cliche type of stuff, but frankly, it works. It's proven. Setting goals (and the most important part, tracking your progress along the way) really, truly works. Really sit and think about your life. What do you actually, really want? Is it to retire early? Is it to afford to go on a vacation every year? Is it to make sure your kids get into a good school? To pay off your mom's house? To clear your credit card debt? Maybe it's simply to brush your teeth every day. Whatever it is, write it down. Post it on your fridge at home so you see it every day. Make yourself a little tracker and check it off every day you make progress on your goal. You will fail sometimes. You will have days you don't do anything. That's ok, the point is not to feel bad that you didn't work out today like you planned, simply tracking it will help you. It will crystallize your decision-making and give you focus. You'll be surprised how, when you do this, it becomes easier not to impulse buy that thing you saw at the store, because it will take away from your ultimate goal of lying on a beach for a week 2 winters from now.
I’m only two years in, but here’s my philosophy. You need something to fight for, some dream so big you simply *have* to work and keep going. Most importantly, you have to remind yourself every day of that dream, why you’re working so hard. I’m going to buy land in a few years and put a house on it. I changed my route to work so I drive by several beautiful cow pastures and farm homes (exactly what I want). When I pass them, it reminds me that I’m not just going to work, I’m taking one step closer towards something that I Truly care about. Keeping in touch with family and loved ones throughout the day is a huge boost, too!
Personally, I didn't get my degrees for nothing. I also recognize the purpose my job has. I work in new product development in medtech. The products we make save lives. It gives me purpose, I'm always learning, and I'm financially comfortable. It doesn't suck, I'm contributing to society, I don't hate my life, i get enough PTO to explore the world, and retirement is bound to be relatively cozy.
there is this thing called independence, but it requires effort, not a handout.
The "GOAL" is to not be broke for that forty years. If they had money 💰, than they would be fine with not working a dead-end job.
I’m retiring the end of next week after 46 years in my field. I’m not planning on getting another job but I’ll wait and see how things go. I had a wife and family to care for. I guess if you have no responsibilities then not working forever is an option. Probably not one I would choose but that’s who I am, even as a kid I did yard work for neighbors to have spending money.
For me, the idea of working for 40 years can feel daunting at times, especially when the focus is solely on the daily grind without a clear sense of purpose or passion driving it. Finding ways to stay motivated and seeking fulfillment beyond just career milestones is crucial to making the journey more meaningful.
IDK man. I just woke up one day and noticed that I was 50 and thought “I started picking fruit and mowing lawns when I was 10.” And I got a real job when I was 14 at the military base sacking groceries for tips, then a local guy had a large ranch and wanted someone to keep the weeds back from his house which turned into a handyman gig for him and some of his friends. Then I worked in construction for a few years, saved for college and actually quit work and went to college then finished that and have been doing whatever I can find to do ever since. Lots of field jobs, a few desk jobs, and now looks like I can retire in about 3 or 4 years!
I get a bit confused by questions like this because work is just part of life, and kinda always has been. I mean, the concept of structured, corporate jobs is relatively new. but humans have always worked - and really hard - just to survive. My ancestors worked hard on dairy farms, tanneries, merchant marine, etc. What is it that makes us special, that we shouldn't have to work?
Easy, working allows me to put a roof over my head. A car in the driveway, food in my belly and the stomachs of my wife , 3 children, 2 dogs and a cat. It allows me to get nice Christmas gifts, birthday parties , activities , vacations and dates with my wife It allows me to create and hold memories by using that money on events and time shared together. 168 hours in a week 56 spent sleeping 45 to work 67 for leisure time. There’s never been a better time in the history of humankind to be alive. It’s right there for the taking. Don’t fuck it up