I’m currently based half the time in China, where two things always hit me when I come back:
The sheer joy of cycling or scootering as commute, without the burden of ownership
What “real” work is, when the 外卖/闪送 (delivery) people, ubiquitous on their scooters, have to run around the large city delivering food, parcels, pets, and random items, running up and down floors in unfamiliar buildings, knocking on doors, for a few yuan each time. (1 RMB ~ 0.17 USD)
A lot of them get stopped by traffic police (I have no clue what for, I don’t know traffic laws here), or have to wait for food or boba to be prepared, even though time is money. The orders can be incredibly small or nearby (e.g. $3-4 noodles to be delivered from 200m away), and the income disparity between drivers and receivers is stark. I bet none of the drivers would ever get food delivered for themselves.
Some of them are still incredibly polite and friendly, some are extremely resourceful and creative, and some are just constantly in a rush.
And I have to ask myself each time I’m bumping elbows in a sea of 外卖drivers - is it selfish to chase purpose?
Three different concepts of work and career
This article popped up one day, featuring people who undertook career changes for different reasons. For some, their employers expected them to be passionate about their work (hmmm…). For others, it was events close to home, or the pandemic, which made them re-evaluate their careers.
While a lot of it resonated, it also made me suddenly aware of how our thinking and values are shaped by certain influences.
Simone Stolzoff talks about how career became conflated with identity in the US, especially as religion became less central to American life through the 20th century and world wars.
This is a common theme I see with coachees and even peers - finding identity through work, and being lost without it. Hence, the importance of finding something meaningful, purposeful.
In contrast, in 2019 I was attending a global startup conference where the panel included CEOs of Chinese tech giants, which were still incredibly attractive to investors and employees then. When questioned about the 996 work culture (9am-9pm, 6 days a week), one leader answered: “Being able to work is a privilege. Never complain about working hard. If you have work, someone wants to employ you, you get paid well, that’s lucky.”
Things have changed a lot. In 5 years the hustle has moved towards disillusionment about the economy and job market, and questions about mental and physical health.
But his response was also a product of an incredibly competitive market, and where as recently as 50 years ago large parts of the population had barely enough to eat, or lived in fear.
As another contrast, nobody in the last two years when I lived in Australia ever spoke about their careers, unless asked. Two people apologized for talking about work.
When I met new people, I struggled to find anything to talk about, while everyone shared about the latest news in the community, politics, books they were reading, what they’d discovered in the past year, anecdotes about family.
Work wasn’t part of identity at all.
Not changing the world
Years ago, I started my career in environmental sustainability with a keen interest in conservation and animal rights. I still practise quite a bit of these in my personal life, and advocate to those I’m close to.
But 3-4 years in, I was disillusioned and frustrated at (well, many things, but specifically ~ ) how there could be so many people working on systemic problems, and still have them remain unsolved, with new problems every day? What was there to show for these few years work? Was this a built-in human or global defect? Why were tragedies and atrocities still ongoing?
Last year, I asked a friend who’s stayed in sustainability for over a decade, how she dealt with this disillusionment and kept going. She said: “I never expected that my work would make a big difference, solve problems, or change the world. I just knew this is what I could do, and so I did it.”
Ten years later, she’s still in this field, making a difference in her own way.
I found it hard to accept helplessness and despair.
But she found it hard not to do something to be part of the solution, however long it took, and however small or large the ripple was.
But what if something that fulfils you, also makes a little slice of the world better?
Everybody decides for themselves what matters to them, and there isn’t a right or wrong answer.
Maybe purpose is selfish, or a privilege. Maybe we should be thankful and stop making ourselves unhappy by pursuing something as lofty as passion or purpose.
But I do think that human needs exist in a hierarchy. If you’re able to survive and meet those basic needs, then it makes sense to want community, or self-actualization. We’re all different for a reason - the world can’t be full of bankers, doctors, lawyers, engineers, or even entrepreneurs. There has to be a mix.
I also think if you’re miserable, you’ll either make people around you miserable, or worried about you. Neither is good. Nor should you suppress your emotions for an extended period of time, if you have avenues to explore and resolve them.
If you’re not miserable, you’ll probably be more productive, be in the right headspace to be more thoughtful, kinder, and more self-aware.
If you’re in a position to, I think it could be a responsibility to become a better, more fulfilled person who knows how their strengths and passions can contribute. This has ripple effects on yourself, your relationships, and even at work.
So…I suppose my form of this little slice is through what I do now. Working with people to be less miserable, more fulfilled, more productive in their own way, more aware of possibilities and strengths they may not have known, to have fewer regrets later in life.
It won’t change the world, but if I have the chance to do it, I find it hard not to.
Bits and bobs this week:
Great summary of Morgan Housel’s The Psychology of Money (I’m about 30% through the actual book, and recommended a podcast last week on LinkedIn) - my own shortcuts as I finish the book on my own time
Bill Perkins on why people don’t live their lives to the fullest and enjoy the fruits of their labour:
“Culture, fear and biological programming. Culture is what has been programmed into us by our current society and previous societies beliefs passed down, (think great depression), baked into that is their fears. Also, we have our fears of running out of money, fear of failure and fear of humiliation etc. Ironically, we don’t fear wasting our lives until it’s too late.
I also believe this is biological. Animals are programmed to survive not thrive, so it takes a significant amount of mental energy (prefrontal cortex) to overcome these barriers to living our lives to the fullest.”