Samin Jahan

Professor Mark

FIQWS 10108

FINAL

The Compass to My Career

Since the beginning of mankind, humans always have questioned their existence on earth and created theories about life. Just like everyone has their own view on life, they also have their own view on work. More than half of workers in the United States take work as a burden and just can’t wait until it’s Friday. This feeling of burden results from the failure to bring together their view of life and work. In the book “Designing Your Life” by Bill Burnett and David J. Evans, “Building a Compass” is essential to help guide readers to the right path in order to design a life that they want. The book divides our view of work and life into two different categories. They state, a view of work and life must cohere in order to know if you’re heading in the right direction. I believe a lifeview is larger than a workview because it holds all the ethics, morals, and logics of every action we do. Work is only a fraction of our life, however, our views on life reason everything we do including work.

Like most Americans, work takes up the most hours of their day. Work is a person’s duty, every worker having a different drive towards working. Some people work because they love it and feel a part of them is missing without it while others see work more as having no other option, to make money and survive. The condition of work currently involves doing something daily or almost daily, regardless of whether the person enjoys it or not, to make money. I believe work should be taken as a passion and not for money. Choosing a work is more of dedication to yourself and to show society that the work I do displays one of many abilities/characteristics that make me unique. I understand many people don’t have the luxury to choose their complementary work and must do what pays enough. But for those who can choose, using money as a drive most likely won’t lead you into a field where you can shine and perform your best.

Work is an important part of our society whether we like it or not. The good news for those who hate their job is that without work our society wouldn’t be as efficient as it is today. The millions of people working every second around the world gives us many advancements that affect our daily life. For example, having affordable cell phones with computer capabilities, getting items delivered to your front door, safe food products, and everything else that’s a product of workers. Work brings our world of workers together into one place and to accomplish one goal, which is to get the work done. A good example of this network is how scientists communicate with others to discovers new phenomena’s that lead to advancements in technology, medicine and life which eventually benefit the mass population.

Unfortunately, not everybody finds a satisfactory career. One quality or sign of a worthwhile work would be where someone always accomplishes something during their working time. This quality isn’t exactly associated with the type of career. For example, if you’re an engineer and you don’t like your job, then most likely you would pay more attention to what time you’ll get home instead of designing something effectively. The accomplishment doesn’t have to be big, they can be small goals that you set for yourself during your work time. Without having a sense of accomplishment at work means you’re not enjoying your time and progressing. Although some people may enjoy failure as a sense of learning experience, nothing feels better than accomplishing a task you’ve put days and nights into. There are also others who accomplish the task but still aren’t happy because it’s not one the things that reflect their desires. Another quality of worthwhile work would be some work that pays high with low working hours and nothing that really bothers you about the job. Money shouldn’t be the main drive for work (unless it’s extremely high). Having the mentality of finding a work by pay instead of the uniqueness of the task leads many people into a trap. But if the situation comes to a point where you can’t survive, then in this case money should matter.

The Environment is a big factor to consider while seeking a worthwhile job. Everybody has a different taste of their perfect environment. Usually, the mass people in the setting are the ones who define the environment. So, the friendliness and how you get along with your peers greatly define a worthwhile work.

If you enjoy the work, you also don’t need much prior experience. Experience should arise from you enjoying your work. Growth is a big factor in work because in work you won’t always accomplish the goals you have set. Without failure, there is no growth or improvement.

A worthy work has many great qualities but if it’s missing a big attribute, then it’s not worthy enough. And that is if it’s too time-consuming. Besides work, there are many other important necessities, one of which is love. “make sure that employees understand how their own everyday actions contribute to that goal” (What Makes Work Worth Doing?” Amabile and Kramer), is a claim some authors make towards a worthwhile work. But I still don’t think it’s as significant as a work that gives you no free time for your mental health. If you think you found the perfect job for yourself, but the required hours are too long then the job isn’t worth keeping. Sometimes it’s hard to define what exactly bothers you about work, and you start to question, which may lead to looking deeper into your views which is the lifeview.

Since the beginning of mankind, humans always have questioned their existence on earth. The main division in society about the start of life is between believing in God or believing in a chance which uses science (Evolution, Big Bang, etc.) to back up that belief. There are also many, like me, who believe in both. Science and religion propel each other forward, they coexist if you ask me. For some, like me, this is an amazing aspect of life when you have a great interest in science and are a devout believer in God.

Based on my observations of the universe I believe we are here only because God has given us a test by creating us, the earth and space, and everything in it. I believe the purpose of life is simply to just be kind to nature and the rest of mankind by sharing the earth we all live in and struggle to be righteous in the eyes of God.  Righteous actions are something you believe is the right thing to do in your heart unless clearly not accepted by God. I believe we must follow this way of determining good and bad because the human species just isn’t capable enough to justify. We have no source to refer to besides religion which lays out the ethics and morals for us. That is why I believe God/religion is the ultimate judge of good and evil. But if the situation isn’t clear sometimes, then you go with what your heart believes is right.

A lot of people today live without believing in any spiritual beings. “Almost certainly God does not exist” (“The God Delusion” Dawkins) is a claim by Richard Dawkins based on an imperfect genetic mutation he observed. However, for those who do believe in spiritual beings, the belief can have a big impact on their mental health and lifestyle. Devout believers in an Omnipotent being are greatly impacted by religion because to them at the end of the day, everything you do and think relates back to religion.

Aside from that, I think the most important components of our life is intelligence, happiness, and love. Intelligence is what gives us free will and distinguishes us from animals. Love brings our world together, making us do actions that logically don’t make sense but simply just to make each other happy. And the parts of life that aren’t so great; well that’s just life. We can’t make the world perfect because we just aren’t perfect ourselves. The relationship between individuals and others is to share the earth with each other. Family and the rest of the world are meant to be loved and helpful towards one another.

This world is full of many different perspectives on life and work. Every day, I am able to live and work among my peers by respecting other’s views. In my workview, I stated what defines a good worthwhile work, but I also gave the view some conditions. Which are that no matter how much of a perfect work you find, if you’re working 12 hours a day and 7 days a week, then the job isn’t worth keeping. A time-consuming job can be mentally harmful leaving you no time for anything else and especially no time with family or people you love. So, love is complementary and prioritized among both the views.

The people we spent most of the time with have a great unconscious impact on us. We start to act like them, think like them, be like them unconsciously. It’s pretty clear that our peers are important to us, just as we are important to them. Another complimentary view between my workview and lifeview was having helpful peers. Because our friends are important to us in our daily lives, they must also be important to the ones we make at work.

The final similarity among the views of my workview and lifeview is happiness. I stated in my lifeview that if you’re not happy about something or life, then you’re doing something wrong. This statement also applies to my workview.

My lifeview seems to dominate the aspects of my life more because I take my spiritual beliefs very seriously. The dominance of my lifeview is how both views drive one another; my views of life are established. And from there, I develop my views on work based on my views of life. If there is a disturbance between the two views, then I would change my work views but not my life views.

 

 

Works Cited

“The God Delusion” by Richard Dawkins

 

“What Makes Work Worth Doing?” by Steve Kramer and Teresa Amabile