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Starting college this fall I have many decisions to make in the next few years that will affect my whole life. For many years now I have heard over and over again that when I choose a career I should choose something I love even if it means not getting paid as much. I'll be doing it for 40 years or more for 40 hours a week so make sure I like it.
I was having a conversation the other day with an older friend who disagreed with this. His opinion is, what good is loving your work when you go home and you and your family can't do anything because you have no money. That it is a lot worse worrying about debt and money problems then it is to have a job you don't like. He admitted you can't completely hate your job, but money is his main concern.
Obviosly the ideal situation would be something I love that pays well, but if you had to choose loving your job and barely getting by, or disliking your job and being ably to easily support you and your family which would you choose or have choosen?
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I think that even if I did something I loved, the fact that I have to do it for 40 hours a week would make it so that I don't like it so much.
Posts: 16551 | Registered: Feb 2003
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A job you like a lot. You don't have to love it, but you do have to like it.
Think about it. There are 168 hours in a week. You spend 40 or more working. Lets say you sleep 8 hours a night or 56 hours a week. That leaves 72 hours. I would guess that most careers, once you factor in commuting and overtime would be more like 50 hours a week so that leaves 62.
That means that nearly 1/2 of your waking life is spent working. I think that to have a fulfilling, happy life it is necessary to enjoy yourself during that time or you will end up not enjoying the other time. When working a job you don't like, you take more time to wind down from work, you are more irritable and negative and I don't think that money will necessarily eliminate it.
Of course there is a line where the money can be too little to justify the work. Especially when providing for a family.
Posts: 1336 | Registered: Mar 2002
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Then there's the "For Love AND Money" plan where your business slowly drives your family deeper and deeper into debt.
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
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a bit of both. The job needs to be something you enjoy...or you will hate your life...however, it needs to provide some source of income or you will be broke and hate life anyway.
If you had to pick between a job that paid 30,000 that you loved and a job that paid 40,000 that you hated, I would choose the job you loved. However if you had to pick between a job that paid 15,000 a year that you loved and a job that paid 30,000 a year that was OK, I would take the job that paid 30,000 even if you don't like it as much as the other job.
You just have to find that balance between the ability to make a living and the ablity to enjoy your job.
Posts: 1901 | Registered: May 2004
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If you don't live within your means, no job pays enough. I know someone who makes 90k, which I think is pretty good, but they don't live within their means either.
I think we have a pretty good balance of underearning and overspending in place.
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Love is too strong a term. You need to find a job that you can do without undue stress (or that you like) that you can do for 40 years.
Posts: 1621 | Registered: Oct 2001
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Or you can find something that you love and do it, and hae a second job to make ends meet.
It depends on how much you like the job, and what you mean by good paying.
A lot of it depends on where you live, and what your priorities are. There are ways of making most things pay somewhat, if you are really good at it.
If I could have sang or played flute professionally, I would have done it, even though I would have never made much doing it. It would have been worth it to me.
If you can make your interests pay, it is the best of both worlds.
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Dude, stay in college. I'm serious. If I had to work 40 hours on the job I'm on I'd hurl myself off a cliff. I seriously should just go to college again and study something I'm fascinated by... I just have no clue how to escape from depending on this dull, boring part-time job. Definetly go for something you love, but have the discipline to stick with it! It's like a serious relationship or friendship. You must be willing to put your all into it!
Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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It really depends on what you love. If that is something that people will pay you to do, then study that. If nothing really fits that, go for the cash.
Posts: 1364 | Registered: Feb 2003
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My dad has that problem. It's not that he doesn't love what he does, he loves being a broker. He gets paid well also. But the people that he works with are unbearable. I think that a work environment has a lot to do with wether or not you take a job. It could be the opportuity of a lifetime, but if hitler is running the office i wouldn't reccomend it.
Posts: 1401 | Registered: Jun 2004
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