When work is what you do to pass the time between weekends
We can only celebrate our freedom if we are following our passions
SOUTH Africans celebrated the 22nd anniversary of the first national democratic elections on Freedom Day this week. As the nation commemorates this critical moment in its history, I could not help but wonder if we are living in the freedom we all deserve or merely enjoying the illusion of it.
There is much debate on whether we have achieved what the majority of South Africans were hoping for when they were awarded their freedom. These debates often lead to a long list of promises that our economy, our institutions and our leaders are yet to deliver.
As much as these discussions are worthwhile and necessary, we should also challenge ourselves at an individual level on what we can do to make the most of the freedom that was fought for so passionately.
One of the ways to influence your freedom at an individual level is to be mindful of how you spend your time — the majority of which is spent doing everyday work. As an estimate, we spend about 40% of our waking hours at work during a typical week. This is assuming the typical nine-hour work day and excluding about eight hours of sleep per night. This percentage changes to about 47% if you account for the fact that you spend one to two hours each day commuting to and from work — almost half the available waking hours in a typical week.
As such I find it puzzling to accept that there are people who spend their days doing work that they are not passionate about. This is evident in the sad faces you see on Monday mornings as people commute to work — or the excited faces that emerge on Friday afternoons as people look forward to yet another weekend. This poisonous cycle of despising the week and craving the weekend has been accepted as a norm, instead of an anomaly that is potentially crippling a free society.
If we choose to spend 40% to 47% of our time doing something that does not make us happy, are we really free? I sincerely doubt it.
Surely, in a free country, those who are unhappy should be giving themselves the freedom they deserve and break away from the chains of jobs they do not desire to do.
After all, we are in this world for a limited time and we might as well spend that time on activities that bring us joy and fulfilment.
The most obvious way of awarding yourself with the gift of freedom is to follow your passion.
An ancient quote attributed to Chinese philosopher Confucius reads, “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”
Many people can define the kinds of innovative ideas that they are passionate about, but are unlikely to be pursuing them. I notice this especially among those who are unhappy with their jobs or even those who remain unemployed. Their faces light up when they discuss their passions — eyes gleaming with the hope that “one day” the timing will be right for them to follow their passions.
That “one day” will only come for those who take ownership of their freedom — by developing their passions actively. This is far more beneficial
Many people leave the option of flexible work hours unexplored because they are too scared to ask
than collecting press clippings of role models who have achieved the same milestones that you hope to achieve “one day”.
Some people claim to be stuck in an unhappy work situation because they are waiting for their passion to present itself to them. This passive approach can be replaced with actively experimenting with different things until the right one comes to light. This can be as simple as rotating across different departments within the same company to experiment with a variety of roles and activities.
Of course, not everyone can pack up their desk and follow their passions tomorrow — especially when you have real-world financial responsibilities. It is possible that your chosen passion might have lower-than-ideal income prospects, so it might be worth engaging your passion part time until you can pursue it full time. Some employers would rather have you work at 60% to 80% of your capacity than lose you altogether. Many people leave the option of flexible work hours unexplored because they are too scared to even ask.
We are all building something when we work — so you might as well build what you are passionate about. After all, this will make us a much more productive society. A society that employs energies into what we love instead of always eagerly awaiting lunchtime, off time or even tea time a few times a day.
Life coach Tony Gaskins often says, “If you don’t build your dream, someone will hire you to help build theirs.”