Is Your Work Your Passion Or Is It Just A Mean To An End? Is It Possible To Separate What You Do From How You Earn? The Tim Ferriss And The 4 Hour Work Week Hypothesis
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ThePeopleAlchemist Edit: Love what you do or do what you love?
The N1 New York Times Bestseller The 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss presents the concept of lifestyle design as a replacement for the traditional model of multi-staged career planning to enjoy and test different lifestyles. NOW rather than wait until retirement.
With a tagline of 'Escape The 9-5, Live Anywhere And Join The New Rich', you can understand why this book has been and continues to be an international best-seller.
I've been reading and re-reading it over and over again in the last couple of years. Underlined almost every page, made notations, tried a couple of things. But I think, fundamentally, there is one phrase in the book that challenged my old paradigms to the limit, and that's when Tim says: 'How can I possibly explain that what I do with my time and what I do for money are completely different things? That I work less than four hours per week and make more per month than I used to make per year?'.
DO WHAT YOU LOVE?
This postulation is completely detached from societal rules, the career concept, job-linked-to-status-and-money-thing. And self-actualisation/following your passion. I must admit perhaps the thing that I have struggled with the most in the book.
If you look around at a very successful entrepreneur, they all seem to have followed their passion. And worked hard to get where they are now. So you can easily identify them with what they have done work-wise.
Influencers/Bloggers (the new celebrities) are turning their passion (fashion, beauty, fitness, etc.) into profitable businesses. And even though, on the surface, they project a glamorous jet-setting lifestyle, in reality, they are working 24/7. Creating content, editing etc. With social life not being actually social but work.
STATUS AND SELF-ACTUALISATION
Throughout the centuries, what people (men) did gave them status in society. And now women have joined the rat race coveting the same status/positions. So heck, I wrote a book to help women in their quest to climb to the top/ or to get whatever they want.
I have divided my time between consulting/project management and interim work for the past few years. Plus, writing a book and blogging after a career climbing THAT ladder. They are all part of my identity.
If we are not our job, who are we? Can we define ourselves beyond what we do? What do you think?
What camp are you on:
- do what you love?
- love what you do?