Staying positive during a bleak timeline for workers
I’ve been struggling with something: Should I be optimistic about my career growth, or just say "Screw the system—it doesn't care about me, so why should I bother?"
Obviously, you want to be optimistic. I’m certainly optimistic about my career growth, and I want to continue to be optimistic. But there’s a work crisis happening, and there are a lot of people who aren’t optimistic, for good reasons.
There’s been a lot of discussion about overworked employees, toxic company cultures, and the sentiment that employers value profit over their employees. This has led to movements like “Quiet quitting” (which I still hate that it’s called that). A lot of people are pessimistic about their careers, and understandably so—just take a look at the r/Antiwork or r/WorkReform communities on Reddit.
I’ve been embroiled in these discussions and have found a lot of truth, but I’ve also witnessed a lot of toxicity and unrealistic viewpoints in these communities. That said, I wanted to dig deeper into that and figure out how I can keep seeing the bright side of my career without completely ignoring the problems that general work culture is experiencing.
For starters, I’d describe myself as very career-focused, but what does that mean? For some people it could mean they find purpose and meaning in their career. They might work 60-80 hours every week voluntarily, because it’s their number one priority in life—perhaps they own a business or just really enjoy their work.
On the flip side, I know people who are career-focused but set strict boundaries. They don’t work excessive hours and aren’t afraid to make a change if they feel exploited or aren’t getting what they want. At the same time, their career is important to them, and they want their work to be rewarding.
I definitely fit into that second category, and I think it’s where most people want to fit into as well. If that describes you, then you’re already well aware of the problems that can arise in a toxic work environment. But at the same time, you’re likely optimistic about your career and where it’s taking you.
If this doesn’t describe you, or if you’re having trouble balancing the optimism and pessimism of work, there are a couple of things you can keep in mind.
First off, you have to decide what you value. Accept the fact that the exchange of your labor for an income is needed, but then decide what level of income is needed for the values that you have.
Secondly, just because one company is toxic and doesn't value your efforts, doesn’t mean that every company is like that. In fact, there are a ton of companies you’ve probably never heard of that have excellent work cultures and treat their employees fairly.
No company is perfect, obviously—every company has its shortcomings—but don't let the idea of a perfect company prevent you from finding a great or good company to work for. These are companies that are aware of their shortcomings and are actively working to fix them.
After that, find a company that (1) wants to buy your labor at the price and conditions that you want, and (2) has people you’re excited to be around every day. Maybe you have a third or fourth item to add to that, but those first two are critical.
But even if you're optimistic about your career growth, it’s important to keep having these discussions about worker exploitation and employer corruption.
Keep that optimism about your career, but stay educated on labor laws, keep true to your values, and know your worth.
Overtime
Other work-related stuff I want to talk about without dedicating an entire newsletter to it.
I've shit on ChatGPT before, and I still think it's morally wrong to use in certain situations, like writing news articles. But recently—and for the first time—I was truly impressed by it. I told it to write a simple Python script, and it passed with flying colors. I also told it to write a Google Apps Script. It didn't return a perfect script, but I was able to point out the mistakes, and ChatGPT corrected them. What a time to be alive.
Happy Hour
Fun things I’m doing, TV shows and movies I’m watching, games I’m playing, music I’m listening to, and other neat stuff I want to share.
We took our cats to the vet earlier this week, and I probably hate it more than they do. They get super stressed out, which stresses me out. Anyway, the appointment went well overall. There are a couple of minor issues, but we're hoping a change in diet will help. I'm just telling you this so I have an excuse to post a cat pic here—Opal stole the focus:
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