The Rat Race

[SleeperAccord]

I wanted to ask around to guage feelings about corperate America.

I know a lot of us work in Overland Park or the city. Sometimes it can feel like we're on a disconnected sanitized island where we only touch the real issues of life with proverbial clean white gloves.

Share your thoughts.

[LTe]

I would rather be sitting on a beach, watching the sunset.

[jwdb1fish]

I could type for hours on that subject.

Anything specific you are wanting to hear about?

[SleeperAccord]

Originally Posted by jwdb1fish

I could type for hours on that subject.

Anything specific you are wanting to hear about?

I just want to hear how people feel about it. Any thoughts or directions you want to take is up to you. I'm all ears.

I am aware that we have no real choice in it. I am also by no means bitching about my circumstance. I am very thankful to have a corperate job to begin with.

[Keboh]

Don't let your job run your life.

F'real, I'm 28, live a healthy life in general (eat well, work out 4-5 times a week, run distance races)... My job has gotten more and more stressful, it eats more and more of my day, and has thrown any work-life balance I have out of wack. I get ulcers, have developed anxiety and deal with depression, and my blood pressure is through the roof.

Working on getting my ass into a better situation, but I never thought work could have such an impact on you.

Take care of yourself, put yourself first. It's a safer assumption to assume your work doesn't fucking care about you, so act accordingly to not end up in a situation like I'm in.

[xXSTi-lynXx]

Originally Posted by LTe

I would rather be sitting on a beach, watching the sunset.

This is why I moved to Florida and work for myself now.

[jwdb1fish]

Originally Posted by Keboh

Don't let your job run your life.

F'real, I'm 28, live a healthy life in general (eat well, work out 4-5 times a week, run distance races)... My job has gotten more and more stressful, it eats more and more of my day, and has thrown any work-life balance I have out of wack. I get ulcers, have developed anxiety and deal with depression, and my blood pressure is through the roof.

Working on getting my ass into a better situation, but I never thought work could have such an impact on you.

Take care of yourself, put yourself first. It's a safer assumption to assume your work doesn't fucking care about you, so act accordingly to not end up in a situation like I'm in.

You ready to make a career change? I can teach you how to work in a fast paced environment that's fun, challenging, and financially rewarding


OP- Work/life balance means something different to everyone. In my line of work, at least at the start of your journey, you just get used to working when everyone else is having fun. That's what it means being in the service industry. My weekend off was always Mon/Tues my first decade in the industry, and then once I made GM that changed to Sun/Mon off each week.

Now I'm off most weekends and have a more traditional schedule 75% of the time, but I still get into my restaurants in the evenings and weekends on a regular rotation because that's when it's busy and I need to see what's going on.

Work/life balance to me means that I'm working hard enough, and for the right company that allows me to meet my financial goals.

As a general rule for your rat race efforts I would ask myself if I see growth opportunity within the organization I'm working for, and if not my current employer should a least be providing me the experience I need to move on and acquire an opportunity at the next level soon.

If you're not with a growing company that's in an industry that should continue to thrive and grow in the coming decades then you may want to rethink where you've planted yourself.

Other than that, find something you enjoy doing to make a living. It's not that hard really, and if you wake up every morning dreading going to work then it's probably just not worth it...assuming you're a positive person in general. Some people are just negative nancies and are going to hate life regardless of the situation

As a 45yo man I can tell you that 20 years will go by in a flash for you. Enjoy your free time, but also invest yourself in your career enough that you can be comfortable both now and in retirement. If I want to buy a new sports car when I'm 65, I don't want to have to look at 300K in my retirement accounts and social security as my only means of support.

Time is currently on your side. Get a financial advisor and start saving now.

[DanenGraham]

There is a reason lots of people move to the country and try to start a farm and live off the land and hard work. Its rewarding and with solar and wind you can almost live off the grid. Might take 5-10 years to become fully self sustaining though and requires some capital so you do have to work and save to even get to that point.

My sister and her husband are currently trying to do this with a small organic farm. I do think about moving out there with them and just getting away from it all. They both quit their jobs this year and are going all in on the farm.

I love my job, but it gets old and boring. Lots of room for advancement though and can be a great career. Just seems like there could be a much more rewarding life even if the money is less.

Kind of depends if your a people person and want to be around more or less people and the interactions they bring. But going to the farmers market and seeing how happy your customers are and how much they love what you produce can be a huge reward just in itself.

[DIYAutoRepair]

Originally Posted by Keboh

My job has gotten more and more stressful, it eats more and more of my day, and has thrown any work-life balance I have out of wack. I get ulcers, have developed anxiety and deal with depression, and my blood pressure is through the roof.

Really.... the only thing I've seen you do at work is carry that coffee cup around (Walley).

I thought you were happy over there.

I hope you can find something better for you.

[torqueburner]

I love my job.....that's all I have to contribute...

Serious though, if your not happy at your job it most likely won't get any better. You know the old saying, if you do something you love, you never work a day in your life? It's true. I've worked for a couple of BIG companies and made good money, but I just wasn't happy ever. Fuck that working 60+ hours a week. That's for zombies. I'm not here to make "the man" money his whole career while I waist all my time doing it for him, and miss out on my own life and family just to have a cushy retirement for maybe 10 years.
You're young. You'll figure it out if you keep your head on your shoulders.��

[Keboh]

Originally Posted by DIYAutoRepair

Really.... the only thing I've seen you do at work is carry that coffee cup around (Walley).

I thought you were happy over there.

I hope you can find something better for you.

It's a heavy cup... but someone's got to carry it

[mild83]

Save early, Sleeper.

I sure as hell wish I would’ve saved more, earlier.

Dabble in real estate. Best decision I ever did financially was buying a duplex with my best bud and lived in one, rented out the other. I didn’t get Rich, but made a few bucks off it and lived in it for 7 years. Cheap. Instead of saving some of that money, I traveled the country, blowing money and spreading seed.

[torqueburner]

Originally Posted by mild83

Save early, Sleeper.

I sure as hell wish I would’ve saved more, earlier.

Dabble in real estate. Best decision I ever did financially was buying a duplex with my best bud and lived in one, rented out the other. I didn’t get Rich, but made a few bucks off it and lived in it for 7 years. Cheap. Instead of saving some of that money, I traveled the country, blowing money and spreading seed.

Nudes of said seed recipients?

[mild83]

Originally Posted by torqueburner

Nudes of said seed recipients?

My man, this was long before everyone had a camera in their pocket.

And about 90% of them ain't anything special. I always took quantity over quality, and every once in a while got lucky.

[jwdb1fish]

Originally Posted by torqueburner

I love my job.....that's all I have to contribute...

Serious though, if your not happy at your job it most likely won't get any better. You know the old saying, if you do something you love, you never work a day in your life? It's true. I've worked for a couple of BIG companies and made good money, but I just wasn't happy ever. Fuck that working 60+ hours a week. That's for zombies. I'm not here to make "the man" money his whole career while I waist all my time doing it for him, and miss out on my own life and family just to have a cushy retirement for maybe 10 years.
You're young. You'll figure it out if you keep your head on your shoulders.��

I'm curious what this "good money" is that you are referring to? I know it's asking a lot for you to post that up, and I try to be private too with that info, but I will say that once I got to a certain income level it was life changing to a great degree.

At 45 years old I'm able to sock away 50k/yr and still live quite comfortably....ok I waste a shitload of money because can't take it with you

I agree that working 60 hours/week isn't what I'd be looking for in a forever job either, but I've done it in spurts along the way to get where I am today.

As far as retirement goes, I plan on hitting that around 65 years old. My parents are in their mid-70s and healthy, and all of my grandparents lived into their late 80s-late 90's. That's telling me I need to be able to support myself at the lifestyle I've become accustomed to for possibly 20+ years.

Even though I'll be debt free the day I retire, it's still going to take a lot of money for me to enjoy 20yrs of retirement, and that means I need to earn and save a lot of money along the way to get there.