3 ms·

Why should I be more concerned about what's best for an abstract concept than what's best for me?

• masmullin 15y ago
  Because the abstract concept pays your mortgage.
  • nknight 15y ago
    No, I pay my mortgage. (Or I would, if I were stupid enough to buy real estate in this part of the country.) If my physical and mental health are trashed from overwork, I can't pay my mortgage, because I can't work for anybody. Me and my family first. Company second or lower. Always. The company is replaceable, my life and health are not.
    • masmullin 15y ago
      Sorry I misread your original post as "why should I be concerned about an abstract concept's wellbeing." Yes of course you and your family come first. But you still have to care about the health of the place that gives you money.
      • Retric 15y ago
        If my company dies tomorrow I can easily find new work or try to start a company for a year and then look for a job if that fails. I basically think of the company as a client who I get stuff done in exchange for money and I think that's far more healthy than the alternatives. PS: I live well below my market rate and toss the extra into savings. Living pay check to paycheck when your location or skills make it hard to find a new job is simply poor planing.
    • j45 15y ago
      Agreed, thanks for the clarification :)
• j45 15y ago
  (If) What's best for you is making the most money you can. and .. if you want to achieve this by doing the least work possible, and creating work for others, they will not help you be more successful at your job. A real successful team, person, and company will all believe in getting more work done with less collective effort. So, if I make my job easier, it shouldn't make your job harder. Sadly, too many people in management don't get team building, team development, but instead narrow minded views and babysitting everyone through it. Edit: Added the word If at the beginning, I was examining what I interpreted the previous commenter to be saying.
  • nknight 15y ago
    > What's best for you is making the most money you can. I can't even begin to fathom that mindset. No amount of money is worth my health. None. I walked out on a great-paying job that turned into a clusterfuck and voluntarily did nothing for a year for exactly that reason. I worked way below market for quite a while for that reason. I'm working somewhat below market even now for that reason. I keep score in happiness and satisfaction, not dollars.
    • mattgreenrocks 15y ago
      > I keep score in happiness and satisfaction, not dollars. The only way to win at society's collective pissing contest is to opt out. I believe that this is the secret of work: find the work that gives you more satisfaction than pain, and become the very best you can at it. The money will follow, and it will no longer control you. What controls you now is a sort of purpose that you find through your work. Mind you, it doesn't negate the fact that there will be unpleasant/unsexy things to do at work. (That is one reason why you're getting paid for it, after all.) And it may even make it harder, as you now have a greater emotional involvement in your work. Purposelessness will suck you dry. I think people instinctively know this when they choose salary over happiness, they just believe it to be inevitable.
    • doktrin 15y ago
      No amount of money is worth my health I wholeheartedly agree. Time is the most valuable asset any of us have, with money at best a distant second.