We can get our dis-satisfaction...

WHAAAAAT?

Sorry, it's just one of those days. We all have them and at least this one will be over soon - 1 hour and 15 minutes to be exact as I write this.

So where were we? Yes, last time I mentioned a person who's written a book on the human condition and the surprising level of dis-satisfaction there appears to be in life for many out there.

His name... ah yes... Alain de Botton. He wrote "Status Anxiety" a few years ago in which he suggested that many people derive a significant amount of anxiety from their perceptions of their own status. He asked why it mattered so much to people and suggested how to better manage this.

So what? Does it matter? How much do you think it affects your life and the lives of those around you? I think we'd be lying to ourselves if we said it didn't matter to us at all. But it is interesting to observe ourselves and others and consider the impact of this single but perhaps significant element of our lives. A revealing question is to ask, if we didn't care at all about how others perceived us or we discovered that others didn't really care would we really spend our time and efforts exactly the way we do now? I'm sure for most it would be no. The degree of which it would change would obviously vary significantly.

For myself, my thoughts are that my life and time I spend would change. Perhaps not significantly, but it would in all likelihood change. I am committed to having a successful career and the motivation for that is primarily to provide myself and family with a good lifestyle and perhaps to some degree earn respect of those close to me. I spend a lot of my waking hours making sure this happens. At this point, even if the respect component were not there, I probably would still spend the same time. This will probably change later as circumstances develop.

Until next time...

Shove your job Japanese style

Hi there,

While doing a but of net surfing, I came across this...

"Take your job and shove it!"
In essence, that's what the younger generation in Japan is saying as they drift from company to company, in search of their version of the promised land. Aera (12/10) makes the case that in these post-bubble days, workers in their 20's and 30's place less importance on strategic career moves than they do on finding a congenial work place. It's not the salary or the work that they treasure, so much as pleasant coworkers and amicable bosses, and if they encounter difficult human relationships, instead of working it out, they just bail out.

Source: Mainichi Interactive

While this was back in the early tech bust days and things may have changed a bit since then, it shows that dissatisfaction in the workplace doesn't just happen in corporate America or the British Isles. It can happen anywhere.

Now here's an interesting thought... I don't know the precise statistics, but I remember reading or seeing something that says that people seem to be more unhappy today than they ever have been despite general standards of living being higher than any time in history.

Why? No one knows the real answer but one theory I considered was the multitude of options available now... which while seemingly making life simpler also leads to disproportionately higher expectations amongst people. We want the best life for ourselves and those dear to us. The best education, the best clothes, the best house... we all want it, whatever that means. Now, if expectations are higher, it's also more of a challenge to get there which results in a significant gap between expectations and experience. From that we get frustration, unhappiness and in extreme situations desperation.

If we take a leaf out of the Star Wars playbook and think darkside for a moment, you might think that this is a self-perpetuating, clever plan to rule the world. Huh? Maybe we're sucked in by the machine of business. We're programmed through the media and those around us about the dream, the promised land of happiness. So the cycle begins... we see and hear about the dream, so we want more, we work harder, we get more, others get more, we want even more, we work even harder!!! And who benefits from all that? Hmmm... we think we do, because perhaps for a second or a minute we can have that victory, but it doesn't end there does it? Next week, next month... something better, someone better comes along... recycle. So who's the mouse running around the wheel now? And who's the master of the cage...

Your challenge and everyone else's for that matter??? Get out of the friggin wheel and own the cage! The first step is to see the cage for what it is. Awareness and admission of where you are is the first step in any change for the better. Sounds like an AA meeting right? Well, we're most of us are addicted (to chasing the cheese) and we don't even know. That said, I'm not suggesting the cheese is not good, but there are better ways of finding it and owning it.

Up in the next episode is a man who put together a tv show and a book on human existence and its seemingly disproportionate levels of dissatisfaction. He also had an idea as to why people seem so unhappy.

Hmmm... seems like we're focusing a little too much on why and not how doesn't it? I promise we won't get bogged down in too much of the why... because for most it's not what you want to really know about is it?

As an aside, I don't really like this template - the font seems like it's for the visually impaired which is great for people who are, but for most reading this, we're sitting so close to the screen, you'd have to be almost legally blind not to be able to read this. So I'm going to switch it, when I get around-tuit :-)

Slice of Paradise

Your picture of paradise may look different, but when you're up against it, 30 seconds picturing your paradise can make the situation a little more bearable.

Thought for the day... what's YOUR picture of paradise?

(Pic courtesy of www.bigfoto.com)

Dismembering your JOB...

Hi,

Welcome to our inaugural posting on Take Ya Job and Shove It!

What's it all about?

Well, I've heard time and time again from different people how they hate their jobs and how they'd much rather be doing something else... so this blog is dedicated to YOU! From where I sit, life is a short journey and it shouldn't be spent doing something you don't like... that would be such a huge waste.

This blog is where you will find all kinds of notes, ideas, inspiration to Take Ya Job and Shove It... now you know how we came up with our breakthrough, death defying, magical name... :-) join us and discover your way to a happier existence, the one you really want.

Thanks for reading - see you real soon

Your guide,
Brian