For the past two weeks, I was home. Truth be told, the timing was perfect. It was in the middle of July when the cold is not yet at its peak but it is getting there. The skies were grey and the mountain wore the cloud cap that signalled the extreme coldness of the days. On days that were sunny, the sun’s heat was filtered by the cold winds that breezed through the air, grazing you with warmth that feels like a hug. This is typical home weather.
The weather evoked many memories which resulted in many emotions rising inside of me. But most importantly, it made one remember what is important in this world. At this age, I am pretty fortunate to have both my parents. I am pretty fortunate to have a place to call home. I am pretty fortunate to have brothers and sisters with whom I get along with.
As the last born, sometimes your family does not understand or fully comprehend your need to live without their guidance but it is when you sit back and realise the gift it is to have a family that loves you so much that their love aims to guide you to the best of what they think life can offer.
The reason that this hit me so profoundly is that it made me remember that this is what is important in life. You see, if you are like me, you probably read a book or two about how one should work hard. That the ones who succeed are the ones who are first in the office and the last in the office.
And yes, this narrative is somewhat true. But it is true if you are working on yourself. It is true if you are an artist performing two or three gigs a week. A-listed artists performing even more gigs. It is true if you are the owner of a small business where you are in the self-employed phase. Before you begin to hire two or more employees, you as the owner need to perform all the functions of the business for it to succeed.
This notion of working hard does not apply to the employee. Working hard invites more duties to your job description with a “good job solider” tap on your shoulder. There might be systems in place to assess one’s performance and so forth but the truth is, the employee who understands corporate politics better than you and does not mind kissing the shoes of supervisors from time to time, will end up with the promotion.
You, the hard worker, will remain the resource you are. The notion that one needs to work hard at the job robs them of their life. Because what happens, usually, is that in working hard, the extra work that you do will be outside work hours. You will begin to use an extra hour in the morning and use an extra hour in the evening. At the back of your mind is that notion that successful people are first in the office and last out. This false belief will make you work those extra hours.
Evidently, what happens is that those extra hours take the hours away from your life. From work taking 8 hours of your life, Monday to Friday, the “extra mile” results in robbing two extra hours. Now, work takes away 10 hours of your life, Monday to Friday.
And like a professional athlete who fully understands that anyone in the team is tradable, as an employee the same mindset needs to apply to how we conduct ourselves at work. At the workplace, you are a resource, not a human. They might call it human resources, but the emphasis is more on the resource than the human. Therefore, you too are replaceable at any given point.
You cannot dictate the mindset of management if they decide on a “new direction” and you as a resource, do not fit in the vehicle heading to the new direction. Your direct line manager might like you and try their best to help you in your career but chances are that they report to higher-ups that have never met you. Therefore, to those higher-ups, you are a faceless tool.
And truth be told, we cannot be upset about this system of employment. It is important to understand that by working for someone else, you are building their vision. And for your services, they will pay you what they think your value is. And if you produce below that value, you will be replaced with someone else who is worth that value. That’s the nature of employment.
I’m quite glad that my line manager has never said that we are family or some nonsense like that. He calls us a team and emphasis on being an A team. Because the notion to call a group of strangers family is far-fetched.
Family is a social bond that you do not create. And fortunate for you if your family is a social bond that is tied together by love. A family is a powerful social structure that aims to raise humans with values that can make them respectable members of society. A family is a powerful social structure that no workplace can mimic. No matter how hard they try.
Yes, not all families are perfect, but a family won’t fire you because you were depressed for a month and couldn’t contribute. It is quite interesting that the current generation is dealing with greater levels of anxiety and depression and yet the modern workplace makes no provision for employees in this regard. An employee cannot take a month out of the office to relax their emotions. They’ll need a doctor’s note. And when you think of it, if you earn about R6000 (what the average South African earn), how will you even afford the specialist care of a trained psychologist?
The workplace is not your mother’s house. And this is important to always remember. I read a quote once that said that a job should finance your dreams. It is in your dreams that your God-given vision rests. And if there’s one thing that the workplace has mastered to do, is to kill dreams.
My father once said to me that I was a person who had dreams. That one of those dreams was to be a millionaire. When he said that, it totally hit me. Indeed I used to dream. By 30, I envisioned myself wealthy enough to retire early. And not really retire but to be in a position to raise a family and enjoy every single moment with them. I’m 29 now and nowhere near that vision.
I sat back and asked myself, what happened to my dreams? And it hit me. Work. That employee mindset found a way to seep into my mind. Yes, I confess that my mind has been weak lately. You know, when you try and try and keep failing, it weakens you. When you hear about that friend who dropout living a comfortable life while you sit with your postgraduate degree yet live extremely frugally to make ends meet, that weakens you. When you look back at your life and begin questioning your choices, that further weakens you and you honestly begin to question your ability to pursue your dreams.
Thus, in that moment of weakness, the workplace fills that empty void. The workplace provides you with a sense of purpose. The workplace provides you with a reason to wake up in the morning. Slowly, the workplace provides a sense of being and a sense of belonging that the lonely mountain of your failures does not provide. And that’s how the workplace evidently ends up robbing you of your dreams.
Instead of saving that extra 1000 or 2000 for your dream or passion, you use that money to fund your studies. Because a better qualification can lead to a better job. A better qualification should lead to a better quality mind than a better job. I firmly believe that education should serve you personally and it should not be undertaken merely for a job. Education should feed your mind with the knowledge that will help realise your dreams. Unfortunately, most of us still hold the notion that a better degree will lead to a better job.
We live in a world where a matriculant is making twice as much with her TikTok account as compared to a Master’s graduate. We live in a world where a dropout is making twice as much with their YouTube account as compared to a PhD graduate.
We are living in a world where if one is comfortable in their skin and in their identity and shows the world who they truly are, they end up being the ones more successful than the individuals hiding behind a computer screen in an office or cubicle.
And to be honest, that’s my mindset this semester. I refuse to allow the workplace to consume my dreams. Not anymore.
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