Bite Size Philosophy Lesson Three:
So Forbes in their infinite wisdom of lists have published the top ten happiest jobs and the top ten most hated jobs which churned up a few debate topics…
Top Ten
Happiest Jobs
1.
Clergy
2.
Fire
Fighters
3.
Physical
Therapists
4.
Authors
5.
Special
Education Teachers
6.
Teachers
7.
Artists
8.
Psychologists
9.
Financial
services sales agents
10.
Operating
engineers. (Boy toys i.e bulldozer and diggers.)
Top Ten Most Hated Jobs.
1.
Director of Information Technology
2.
Director of Sales and Marketing
3. Product
Manager
4. Senior Web
Developer
5. Technical
Specialist
6. Electronics
Technician
7. Law Clerk
8. Technical
Support Analyst
9. CNC
Machinist
10.
Marketing Manager
One of the aspect that stands out the most is the difference
in salaries; the majority of the ‘happy jobs’ are obviously paid a lot less than
the ‘hated jobs’ which generally seem to sit in higher pay brackets.
So what kind of question does this pose? Especially to us
young people finding our feet in the working world; that you can either have happiness
OR money? You can’t have both??
The number one happiest job is a clergyman which I’m sure
can be taken in many different ways; firstly that although I want to be happy, I
don’t think I want to be a nun to get there. (I’m not sure they’d have me to be
fair..) Forbes’ take on the matter is that “the least
worldly are reported to be the happiest of all.”
Ah. So believing in God makes you ‘less worldly’
now?
I suspect
the writer has missed the mark just slightly as people often do when the ‘G’
word is called into play. The point here is not a religious one; whether the
god the clergyman has devoted his career to exists or not, isn’t the pivot whereby his happiness is decided. Looking at that
happy list, you could argue happiness derives from actively participating in
making a difference, supporting a community, being in some kind of close contact
with others and most importantly- a point illustrated most noticeably with the
clergyman- happiness come from doing something you believe in.
That’s the bones of it- passion is the worthy
drive, you’ve got to believe what you’re doing is worth your time otherwise the
pay check becomes compensation, and compensation is spent on things to make you
feel good, because the job doesn’t quite hit the spot.
You have a class of young strong men and women, and they want to
give their lives to something.
Advertising has these people chasing cars and clothes they don't
need. Generations have been working in
jobs they hate, just so they can buy shit they don't really need.
~Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club
It’s worth noting that Forbes and their love of
lists isn’t law- i.e. you could easily have one on those top ten most hated
jobs and feel passionate about it, have total job satisfaction and happiness. You
can indeed have the whole package- I’m sure someone like Richard Branson would
agree. It’s not that you have to choose money or happiness, rather you have to choose how to navigate both into your life.
It’s an age old image that money is the root of
all evil and true wealth doesn’t have the queen’s head on it. Personally, being
a girl who is spiritual but essentially Essex, I disagree. Greed and
selfishness are ugly, but a banknote itself hasn’t the capability to be greedy,
it’s the hand clutching that does. What you decide to do with money and how you
decide to obtain it is the key thing here. And contrary to belief, you do decide how to earn your money.
The formula is simple enough. Follow your passion,
do something you actually like doing,
have an interest in, a flair for, and you’ll want to work hard at it, do it for
long hours, invest time and effort into it. You’re then likely to be good at it
because not only have you worked hard, if it’s a passion of yours then the spark
has come from somewhere, suggesting that underneath all that doubt, you’re probably
naturally quite good at it. If your good at what you do for all of the above
reasons, it’s more likely you’ll be successful and therefore make money if your
eye is on the ball rather that on the clock, praying to that God that makes you
‘less worldly’ to make 5pm come quicker.
So why aren’t we all off gallivanting doing the
things we love and being rich?
Painting/writing/talking/gaming/photographing/shopping/computing/
drawing… whatever it is in your life that would be too good to be true if you
got paid to do it- that won’t get you
that house deposit, it won’t let you get finance on a car, won’t get you a week
in Ibiza or store card. It’s hard to go against the grain when the apparent
route to happiness has already been laid down for you.
The trick is being brave enough to choose a different pavement.
And don’t worry if you look around and find you’re the only one walking down
it- it doesn’t mean you’re wrong, in fact it probably means you’re onto a
winner. The big gamers in this life, whether you want to go all Steve Jobs, Branson,
George Lucas or J.K Rowling here, they didn’t make money the same way Joe
Bloggs in cubicle B does, they worked with
their strengths and didn’t suppress or ignore them for not fitting into a more socially
appropriate box.
So what do? (Apart from become a clergyman…)
Take time to find out what you really love doing. This may
seem an odd suggestion, but it’s one we don’t tend to spend much time on as it
doesn’t seem justifiable in terms of time and finances out there in the ‘real
world.’ But the fact is you spend an insane proportion
of your time in the pie-chart of life at work, so actually its quite
wise to make an investment in figuring out what makes you tick, and even wiser
to ignore all those who are impatient for your choice. Don’t let anyone hurry
you into a conclusion. And when you think you’ve got there, remember there is
no law that says you have to pick one job, one career and then stick to it
faithfully until your 65. (Which is
lucky, as it’s a law I’ve joyful broken a fair few times already.)
An education’s value
when trying to weigh up consequent graduate employment rates or salaries might
not be much to look at, but to take that dive, exploring something you have an
interest and passion for- this is not time wasted, this is preparing the way.
The waste is to throw the graduation hat into the air and jump into the first
desk chair that slides your way for fear of missing the slip road onto the rat
race.
To any pending graduates, any long-lost graduates, old and
greying graduates, non graduates; sprint in the opposite direction of anybody
drilling into your bright mind that you must go get a job any job there aren’t enough
jobs be grateful for a job be responsible and never leave that job…
I don’t mean starve and not pay your bills. I mean don’t compromise.
Because never forget, it’s your life your compromising with.
You've got to risk it to get the biscuit as they say and i'm not suggesting i've got a mouthful of custard creams over here, but knowing where the biscuit tin is, that's a good start....
#Check it out for yourself
See the Forbes article here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2011/09/12/the-ten-happiest-jobs/
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