What Happened to Work?

There’s a certain feeling of accomplishment that comes over us when we’re having a productive day.  Things are lining up, tasks are getting crossed off the list, and we’re feeling good.  I would argue that productivity is finding a balance between getting everything you want accomplished and making the most out of your finite amount of time.  I enjoy that feeling and I often seek out books and blogs and resources so I can get better.  I mentioned the book Systems Thinker by Albert Rutherford in prior posts.  I also thoroughly enjoyed The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss and took many tools and best practices from Tim’s book.  As I learned more, there was a natural progression to side hustling and then passive income.  If you have an Instagram account, there is no shortage of reels promoting how you can go from a desk job to reselling on Amazon and becoming a multimillionaire in less than a year.  Ads on YouTube routinely pop up where you can learn the secret tricks to have your website run itself and you sit back and become financially free.  You can spend your time with your kids or traveling the globe or both.  My question is, what the hell happened to work?

Coming from immigrant parents, work was instilled in my brothers and I from a young age.  Dad worked two jobs for decades.  Mom worked to manage us and the household so we would be raised the right way.  There was an unspoken understanding that work was important and we all understood it.  There was no resentment.  Resentment was replaced with appreciation.  Appreciation created an inspiration to be hard working ourselves.  Granted, we’re able to work better today than 40 years ago.  Technology and remote work  allow us to have more harmony between our work lives and personal lives but we have not let go of our belief that life requires hard work and sacrifice.  Any meaningful pursuit requires hard work and weekends do not get in the way of hard work.  There’s a great deal of fulfillment that comes from hard work.  A sense of accomplishment and confidence.  An increased risk tolerance.  Working hard on our goals also sets an example.  There’s no better example for children than to witness and share in the experience of hard work. 

At the moment, there is a growing sentiment that we can live the life we want without working hard.  Passive income, remote work, automation, being a content creator or influencer all create a false hope that one can live a fulfilling life without hard work.  This is far from the truth.  Ask any 10 – 12 year old and see how many of them want to be a “YouTuber” when they grow up.  The most common example is Mr. Beast.  Mr. Beast, or Jimmy Donaldson by his real name, was infatuated with YouTube and making videos.  He made no money in the beginning but it’s been documented that he spent 12 – 18 hours a day making videos, editing, and watching videos.  He would try all sorts of videos to see what people would watch.  It was laborious but meaningful to Jimmy.  At the age of 13 in 2012 Jimmy posted his first video but his first viral video came 5 years later.  Now 6 years after that first viral video he has hundreds of millions subscribers and billions of views.  If you assume 100 hours per week, Jimmy has spent 57,000 hours over the last 11 years working.  To put that into perspective, that is the equivalent of working a 40 hours per week full time job for 27 years.  The next generation is now witnessing the returns of his investment and work over the years and a great deal too many think it’s easy to do.  Mr. Beast now operates a large company with a staff of over 30 people and monthly expenses in the millions.  His dedication to making bigger and better videos has not subsided.  Rather, he regularly pushes himself to learn more and experience more so his content can expand and his videos remains relevant. He sleeps in his office and works 7 days a week.  Once he feels burnt out, he’ll take some time off.  Lest anyone think that being a successful YouTuber doesn’t require a copious amount of heavy lifting.  Which is probably the reason there is only one Mr. Beast.

YouTube was and is meaningful to Jimmy and hence fuels him to continue to work.  If it were considered a passive way of making money or a way to get rich, I would bet that it would have fizzled out a long time ago.  Any meaningful pursuit requires hard work in life.  Raising kids requires hard work.  Marriage requires hard work.  Careers require hard work.  We should encourage each other to work.  We need to demonstrate that hard work is important and that it feeds so many facets of your life.  Is it uncomfortable to work hard, yes it is but one does not grow if they are comfortable all the time.  Can it be disappointing and fall short?  Of course it can.  It also is the force behind getting up again and again until you reach your goals.  Will you miss out on things or go without from time to time?  Yes!  But meaningful pursuits will take priority and appropriate decisions need to be made.  This is sacrifice.  Any meaningful pursuit requires hard work in life. If there’s meaning behind it,  work is in front of it.