Is there a reason to work beyond "just enough not to get fired?"

[JEDI]

I work damn hard at my job and most of the time I enjoy it. I'm passionate about food and good service. I work hard for me and I don't give a damn about management's expectations because my standards have always been higher than theirs.

i want to hire you. I'll pay you a loaf of bread, and some beads, and whore you out at a billrate of $250/hr aka $500k/yr.

deal?

 

[JEDI]

I'm really hoping for a $1.00 raise when I get my review in the next couple of weeks. In light of these layoffs though, I'm not sure if that's realistic.

taps sarcasm meter. do i need new batteries?

 

[chusteczka]

Yes I think I have reached a similar conclusion now so all that is left is finding the courage and motivation to break the complacency, get up off my ass, leave my comfort zone and do something about it. It will be easier said than done but do it I must. I've talked about it like this for too long now with no action and I've always prided myself on being a man of my word. Thanks for the confirmation.

It can be difficult to take that step. To put a resume together, spend your personal time sending resumes, getting a couple interviews, with no calls back. It is not easy. This is why we allow ourselves to get comfortable. This is also why I never think of myself as settled with any one position. Even when hired full time, I consider myself as a temporary contractor. When my needs are no longer fulfilled with my current company, it is time to go.

Once you obtain an offer for a new position, you can always bring this offer back to your current employer and see if they want to keep you. However, it seems that once this step is taken, the effort and excitement blocks out my old position and pulls me into the new position.

 

[Modelworks]

now, i do what i enjoy. i'm not exactly making enough money to support myself doing that alone so i supplement it with some contract work. while i don't particularly like it, i don't dislike it either. that and i get to choose how much i work and when i work. sure, i can't afford to drive a fancy new car or spend $100 on dinner, but i have very little to complain about. for me at least, it's all about the simple things.

I feel the same way. I don't make $300K a year now, sacrificed it for $40K. Some people say to me that is crazy if I could get a job making all that money..... That is when I cut them off and say all that money and dead in a box 6ft under ground , what good is it ? I would rather be poor for the next 10 years and be stress free than work stressed out for the next 30 years in the hope that I live long enough to retire and enjoy what I worked for.

Somewhere in the past century or two people started confusing wants and needs. It was no longer about I need clothes to wear and shelter to live in and became I need $100 jeans + $50 shoes + $500K home. I see people all the time stressed over making payments on a house that takes all their income to make the payments. They could get a house with just as much room but not as extravagant and it not take a tenth of what they pay, but they will not because they perceive their expensive home as a need.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

same here at old job.

laptop + analog phone line FTW!

Reminds me when I was an IT manager a few years ago. One of my employees had been caught surfing porn on the company network and got in trouble for it. So instead, he got the bright idea to use the analog phone line in his office and surf porn that way. He might have gotten away with it except for the fact that he went to the bathroom and when I walked into is office, he had the laptop tethered to the phone and a naked girl with her legs spread as the wallpaper. Needless to say, his porn surfing days were over then.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I feel the same way. I don't make $300K a year now, sacrificed it for $40K. Some people say to me that is crazy if I could get a job making all that money..... That is when I cut them off and say all that money and dead in a box 6ft under ground , what good is it ? I would rather be poor for the next 10 years and be stress free than work stressed out for the next 30 years in the hope that I live long enough to retire and enjoy what I worked for.

That takes a lot of courage to do something like that. In the past, I was backed into a corner at my last job and I could either stay at the company for a good amount of money (and a crappy 'new' position) or I could leave, take a new position, and start over elsewhere with less money. I took less money and left, and it was the right decision. Now I am almost back to what I was making at my previous company and my current company is much, much better.

Somewhere in the past century or two people started confusing wants and needs. It was no longer about I need clothes to wear and shelter to live in and became I need $100 jeans + $50 shoes + $500K home. I see people all the time stressed over making payments on a house that takes all their income to make the payments. They could get a house with just as much room but not as extravagant and it not take a tenth of what they pay, but they will not because they perceive their expensive home as a need.

It is all about keeping up with the Joneses. I think I am guilty of that sometimes -- not in terms of possessions, but in terms of benchmarking where I am in life compared to others. This thread has given me a lot of great advice that I will take to heart and I think that in the end, I just need to be happy with where I am at and enjoy life.

 

[Fenixgoon]

i like what i'm learning in school and what i'll end up doing at least for the first year out of school (sponsored MS project FTW) but i really do like the idea of getting my hands dirty working on stuff - fixing cars and motorcycles. I'd really love to take some mechanics classes. I'd also like to try my hand at car/motorcycle racing.

 

[Bignate603]

They may not fire you but good luck ever getting a raise or promotion.

 

[Sadaiyappan]

I think you should if you care about getting a better position.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

They may not fire you but good luck ever getting a raise or promotion.

I got plenty of raises, which I was thankful for, but eventually, in order to make a big leap in salary and responsibility, you have to get a promotion. Throwing money at good employees is nice, but most good employees also want challenges. It is often easier to get a promotion within a company rather than jump to another company, particularly if maybe you don't have tons of experience and you have a good reputation at your current company.

I recently accepted a new position at my current company. I didn't get a raise for it, but I will get lots of free training and in time, may be able to turn it into much more money.

 

[cutenfit]

It is always the best policy to work honestly and hard for anything you receive. I've paid consultants for various tasks and I have always given more business to those that went above and beyond.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

It is always the best policy to work honestly and hard for anything you receive. I've paid consultants for various tasks and I have always given more business to those that went above and beyond.

Sometimes, working hard and kicking butt gets you nothing more than more work since you work faster than everyone.