Purpose of Paid Employment
In Step 6 we focused on minimizing spending – reducing the flow of money out of your life. Now we’ll look at the flow of money into your life. Most people live off the income they receive from working at a job. In this chapter you will find some activities to help you better evaluate your employment income. Later in the chapter you will also consider other sources of income.
People often go to work for reasons other than simply supporting their material well-being. For many it’s not just about a paycheck; they have all sorts of emotional needs wrapped up in their jobs.
Which statement best describes your purpose for paid employment?
· For prestige, status, power and respect
· To express my creativity
· To be successful in the world
· Because of duty or public service
· For enjoyment, stimulation and learning
· Because of social or family expectations
· Because it’s my role/identity
· To interact with others, to have social connection and a sense of cooperation
· To give me a sense of purpose and contribution
· So I don’t have to stay home and take care of the kids
· To have something to do, to structure my time
· For the benefits (health insurance, life insurance, and other)
· To earn money (to pay creditors, save for the future, sustain my current lifestyle).
If you checked off reasons other than the last two on the list, consider this: You could do that for free, without getting paid for it! Any perceived benefits, other than financial, of a paying job can be obtained from non-paying activities such as volunteer work, caring for family, community activism, playing sports… the list of options is endless.
The Only Purpose of Paid Employment
This program proposes a radical notion:
There is only one purpose of paid employment: to get paid.
Does that surprise you? Reflect on your real hourly wage calculation. In terms of what you get from employment, what really “counts” has monetary value. (Even benefits like health insurance really come down to the monetary value they bring you).
This idea does not mean to devalue the work that you’re doing. Your work may be good, valuable and useful. It’s not a question of WHAT you’re doing; it’s a question of WHY you’re doing it.
Sometimes we’re attached to our jobs for emotional reasons, and that can cloud our vision. Clarifying the purpose of employment helps to bring consciousness to the realm of earning and income.
Separating Income and Work
The idea of separating money from work can be very useful. When we break that seemingly inseparable connection between our income and our work, we can look at our job and ask:
Is this really what I want to be doing with my life?
Check to see if your job supports or hinders the following areas of your life:
Area of life Hinders Supports
Personal relationships (family, friends, neighbors)
Personal growth (emotional, intellectual)
Health (Physical)
Inner peace (spiritual)
Contribution to society (community, planet)
Case Study: Chris’ Career
Chris decided, as a young adult, to be of service to people by working in the health-care field. She also hoped to have a family and wanted to ensure sufficient income for that, so she took a position as a public hospital administrator.
After 20 years of dedicating her life to that work, she started to notice that she spent more time doing paperwork and dealing with administrative bureaucracy than “helping sick people”.
At the same time, Chris spent much less time actually being with her family than she spent earning money for them. The stress was affecting her health, her motivation was starting to wane, and she began to feel like her performance was decreasing, even as her income slowly climbed each year.
When stress-related arm pain resulted in increasing grouchiness, both at home and at work, she realized it was time to re-evaluate her employment situation. She had to question, at age 40, whether or not she (and her family) were willing to continue in this situation for 25 more years until she reached official “retirement age.”
People often go to work for reasons other than simply supporting their material well-being. For many it’s not just about a paycheck; they have all sorts of emotional needs wrapped up in their jobs.
Which statement best describes your purpose for paid employment?
· For prestige, status, power and respect
· To express my creativity
· To be successful in the world
· Because of duty or public service
· For enjoyment, stimulation and learning
· Because of social or family expectations
· Because it’s my role/identity
· To interact with others, to have social connection and a sense of cooperation
· To give me a sense of purpose and contribution
· So I don’t have to stay home and take care of the kids
· To have something to do, to structure my time
· For the benefits (health insurance, life insurance, and other)
· To earn money (to pay creditors, save for the future, sustain my current lifestyle).
If you checked off reasons other than the last two on the list, consider this: You could do that for free, without getting paid for it! Any perceived benefits, other than financial, of a paying job can be obtained from non-paying activities such as volunteer work, caring for family, community activism, playing sports… the list of options is endless.
The Only Purpose of Paid Employment
This program proposes a radical notion:
There is only one purpose of paid employment: to get paid.
Does that surprise you? Reflect on your real hourly wage calculation. In terms of what you get from employment, what really “counts” has monetary value. (Even benefits like health insurance really come down to the monetary value they bring you).
This idea does not mean to devalue the work that you’re doing. Your work may be good, valuable and useful. It’s not a question of WHAT you’re doing; it’s a question of WHY you’re doing it.
Sometimes we’re attached to our jobs for emotional reasons, and that can cloud our vision. Clarifying the purpose of employment helps to bring consciousness to the realm of earning and income.
Separating Income and Work
The idea of separating money from work can be very useful. When we break that seemingly inseparable connection between our income and our work, we can look at our job and ask:
Is this really what I want to be doing with my life?
Check to see if your job supports or hinders the following areas of your life:
Area of life Hinders Supports
Personal relationships (family, friends, neighbors)
Personal growth (emotional, intellectual)
Health (Physical)
Inner peace (spiritual)
Contribution to society (community, planet)
Case Study: Chris’ Career
Chris decided, as a young adult, to be of service to people by working in the health-care field. She also hoped to have a family and wanted to ensure sufficient income for that, so she took a position as a public hospital administrator.
After 20 years of dedicating her life to that work, she started to notice that she spent more time doing paperwork and dealing with administrative bureaucracy than “helping sick people”.
At the same time, Chris spent much less time actually being with her family than she spent earning money for them. The stress was affecting her health, her motivation was starting to wane, and she began to feel like her performance was decreasing, even as her income slowly climbed each year.
When stress-related arm pain resulted in increasing grouchiness, both at home and at work, she realized it was time to re-evaluate her employment situation. She had to question, at age 40, whether or not she (and her family) were willing to continue in this situation for 25 more years until she reached official “retirement age.”