{"id":5278,"date":"2021-01-05T22:07:45","date_gmt":"2021-01-05T20:07:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bornmillennials.com\/?p=5278"},"modified":"2021-02-01T10:35:19","modified_gmt":"2021-02-01T09:35:19","slug":"job-paradox","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bornmillennials.com\/index.php\/2021\/01\/05\/job-paradox\/","title":{"rendered":"The 9-5 Job Paradox"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Deciding which job to do is a painful activity because of the numerous options that exist. It’s also a paradox.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are told we should do something “we like” so that we will “never work again”. This initial advice reveals an important aspect of jobs: it’s not fun to do. This is why those that do it, receive a salary. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nonetheless, it is<\/strong> possible to find a pleasant activity. That comes at a certain “price” though, both literally and figuratively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, beyond the nature of the job stands something very powerful that, most often than not, we desire more than the job itself:\u00a0mOnEy.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As such, we end up stuck in solving the impossible equation to find something that simultaneously pleases us AND brings in a decent salary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, these two are almost always irreconcilable. That’s the job paradox.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Definition of a Job<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It must have been on a Sunday night, one of those you spend browsing YT videos selected for you by the algorithm instead of going to sleep (the bed is so far).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being the conservative-libertarian that I am, I ended up watching Jordan Peterson defining the concept of “a job”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These few seconds of videos changed my life. Here’s what he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“A job is something you get paid for because you wouldn’t do it voluntarily.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Damn. It hurt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having had the chance to grow up in an environment that was reasonably harm-free, I led my life avoiding any type of hardship and responsibilities because I didn’t like pain and loved freedom. That was the student life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, all student lives come to an end. Like everyone else, I had at some point, to assume responsibility. Everyone needs to become independent. And independence, on earth, in the 21st century, means getting a job, a housing contract, and paying taxes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Job to Get?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At 18, we are faced with the inevitable decision to choose studies. The general advice is “study something you like”. But is it actually good advice?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem with the human race is that we are quite similar. Everyone likes to laugh, needs attention, wants to please, and avoids pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As such, the nicest jobs out there have many contenders because they’re comfortable. The high demand enables the job offerer to decrease the amount perks, a compromise that whoever will get the position will have to deal with. “Everything has a price”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the beginning, it’s all good. The position is nice, the job is interesting and the colleagues are fun to hang out with, all nice arguments to justify a low salary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, this can only take you so far. Once you start looking at house ownership, a baby, or better vacations, you quickly understand you got a deal you no longer benefit from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So you go out and have a look at the jobs that pay well. There are many of them. The only problem is that they suck: they whether require you to learn a complicated and high-value skill like math, engineering, or computer science, or ask you to put out 80 hours a week which would take away your time to enjoy your hard-earned salary. Sometimes, they require both. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s the job paradox.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Society tells you to work at something you like, but what you like rarely makes any money, which is what you want and need. What does make money is a job you don’t like, which is what society tells you not to take.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both are almost never reconcilable because a job is something you get paid for since you wouldn’t do it voluntarily.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stuck, you need to decide what to choose: an activity you don’t enjoy, or an insufficient salary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Third Route: Escape the Paradox<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There is actually a third route you can take, a route “too dangerous” to travel according to friends, family, and the mainstream narrative. This is the route of entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Entrepreneurship enables you to do what you want, while simultaneously making a lot of money, provided you manage to come up with goods or services that both you and your clients find value in selling and buying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Entrepreneurs carry a fair share of risks and responsibilities but end up being a huge pay-off for those that succeed at it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The beauty of entrepreneurship is that it is not a zero-sum game like jobs. If you get the position, it means I won’t get it. There are only a limited number of a jobs. However, there is an unlimited number of possible enterprises. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bottom Line<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A recent article by Bloomberg <\/a>outlined that millennials are the least likely generation to become entrepreneurs in a century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This may be the chance of a lifetime, to design your own life and bring society value, while enjoying minimal competition doing so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You don’t have to choose between money and happiness. You can have both, as long as you accept to carry the risks attached to entrepreneurship. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everything has a price. Risk though, seems to be a small one compared to the freedom money can buy, and the satisfaction to do something you enjoy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more content, head to bornmillennials.com<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo by Nastuh Abootalebi<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Deciding which job to do is a painful activity because of the numerous options that exist. It’s also a paradox.… Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5281,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,27,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life","category-entrepreneurship","category-university"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bornmillennials.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/113.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bornmillennials.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5278"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bornmillennials.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bornmillennials.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bornmillennials.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bornmillennials.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bornmillennials.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5278\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bornmillennials.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bornmillennials.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bornmillennials.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bornmillennials.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}