What Are You Working For?
What are you working for? It’s a question a friend of mine recently asked her friends on FaceBook. The answers ranged from the philosophical to very practical. Some people work for joy, others for money. Some work to challenge themselves and others work to pay off debt.
How people answered varied on how they saw the question. I tried to make my answer both practical and philosophical.
When I decided to go to grad school I made the decision between a dream job and a job that let me live my dream life. I work for many reasons, money being a big one, but also a chance to learn new things and challenge myself. A lot of my sense of self-worth is tied up in being good at my job.
In the end, I work for me, to live the life I want to be able to live.
What are you working for? And if you are working toward a specific goal (such as paying off debt), do you know what you will be working for once that goal is met? Or will you then stop working?
I was talking to a new patient yesterday who had moved to our area. She said her former optometrist was in his 80's and still working. I quickly said, without really thinking too much, that I hoped I wasn't still working at 80. She told me that she had asked him why he still worked and it was because he really enjoyed it. He didn't need money at that point. I think I would also enjoy work if I can get everything paid off and be able to work because it's fun, not because I have a mortgage to pay. Of course that would mean I could be really selective about who I see also. No whiny people for me!
I'm working to be financially independent. I already live the life I want mostly, but I would like to have enough money that the interest and rent income would take care of our bills, and I could use my time for blogging as a hobby and volunteer work full time.
What a great question and one I ask myself quite often. For me, it is a most obvious answer as I need to provide resources for my family to eat, provide medical care as needed and have a place of shelter. I would love to get to the point where I have enough income coming in to cover all of my expenses and I can answer this question differently. I am moving in that direction by cutting expenses and saving, saving, saving!