Comments on: You’ve got to find what you love, don’t settle http://blog.mountunion.edu/blog/you%e2%80%99ve-got-to-find-what-you-love-dont-settle/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=you%25e2%2580%2599ve-got-to-find-what-you-love-dont-settle Where Exceptional Begins Tue, 23 Apr 2013 08:27:40 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 By: Nastea Beef http://blog.mountunion.edu/blog/you%e2%80%99ve-got-to-find-what-you-love-dont-settle/#comment-354144 Nastea Beef Mon, 18 Feb 2013 18:44:04 +0000 http://blog.mountunion.edu/?p=5738#comment-354144 Even if Steve Jobs' words were good advice, it's possible that we don't realize what we love until we are 10, 15, 20 years into our careers, let alone right out of college. Most of our decisions are made based on expected financial or lifestyle returns, not love for work. Steve Jobs on the surfaces seems no different, considering he lived in a palace. I'm not saying that he shouldn't have lived a life of luxury or built a huge house, but if he did his work out of love he may have used his money in other ways, like continuing to solve the problems that his companies faced. It's important to remember that most people hope to work less in life. We built tractors to help farmers do more with less. We created the internet to send documents faster. When technology makes us more productive and efficient but the policies that govern work remain the same (e.g., full-time employment = 40 hours), the more we create strange jobs to fill the time, decreasing the likelihood that we will love those jobs. I think that most people working a general office job with a computer has about 15-20 hours of true work in a 40 hour week, with the remaining time spent trying to look busy/playing solitaire. People tend not to love this because they'd rather be playing solitaire at home, or spending that time to do something else productive. Also, some we need some people who are good at their jobs, regardless of whether they love it or not. I'd rather have a surgeon with the best outcomes than one who really loves his work but does a shitty job. There's also a lot of waste in switching jobs multiple times to find something that you love. Anyway, we probably latch on to Steve Jobs' words too much. He said this while addressing the Harvard Student body, a group of people who are high achievers but probably have a pile of debt in their diapers. Maybe he said this so that they all don't pursue Wall St., medical, or law careers just to repay the bills? Even if Steve Jobs’ words were good advice, it’s possible that we don’t realize what we love until we are 10, 15, 20 years into our careers, let alone right out of college. Most of our decisions are made based on expected financial or lifestyle returns, not love for work. Steve Jobs on the surfaces seems no different, considering he lived in a palace. I’m not saying that he shouldn’t have lived a life of luxury or built a huge house, but if he did his work out of love he may have used his money in other ways, like continuing to solve the problems that his companies faced.

It’s important to remember that most people hope to work less in life. We built tractors to help farmers do more with less. We created the internet to send documents faster. When technology makes us more productive and efficient but the policies that govern work remain the same (e.g., full-time employment = 40 hours), the more we create strange jobs to fill the time, decreasing the likelihood that we will love those jobs. I think that most people working a general office job with a computer has about 15-20 hours of true work in a 40 hour week, with the remaining time spent trying to look busy/playing solitaire. People tend not to love this because they’d rather be playing solitaire at home, or spending that time to do something else productive.

Also, some we need some people who are good at their jobs, regardless of whether they love it or not. I’d rather have a surgeon with the best outcomes than one who really loves his work but does a shitty job.

There’s also a lot of waste in switching jobs multiple times to find something that you love.

Anyway, we probably latch on to Steve Jobs’ words too much. He said this while addressing the Harvard Student body, a group of people who are high achievers but probably have a pile of debt in their diapers. Maybe he said this so that they all don’t pursue Wall St., medical, or law careers just to repay the bills?

]]>