Ask anyone. The stock answer you’ll get is “to pay the bills”.
Regardless of job, level or salary. That’s always the answer.
Some will say to further their career, climb the corporate ladder.
Myself included, so no judgement here. In my case, it was because I’d outgrown my role, suddenly making wording changes on a website wasn’t enough.
Of course, the money and kudos of your job title, and charging round the office feeling important is great for the ego.
And that’s what fat-tongued Andrew Tate/redpill/alpha bro bullshitters scream into their spit shields.
They masturbate over bank balances and Lambos like they solved the greatest existential question, why men exist.
According to them, a man’s monetary success is his ultimate and only value.
But it exists for only one reason, to impress other men.
This goal is subjective, transient and fragile (and anti-intellectual but that’s a different post).
A Lambo may turn my head, but in the words of the great philosopher, Shania Twain, it don’t impress me much.
It may make others salivate with envy. Until the next time they see it. Then it’s shrugged off like yesterday’s chip paper.
I find people talking about their designer clobber and Surrey pile vacuous and meretricious.
If you pin your value on something that impresses for a short amount time – it’ll never be enough.
You’ll constantly chase the next “wow, you’re [enter material asset] goals” dopamine hit.
It’s the same with influencers and anyone on social media really (again, guilty) we post, share and respond to stuff to get validation from our peers.
Is this our ultimate goal?
We’re saying superficiality is the zenith of our being.
When I was teenager I learnt about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Since then, self- actualisation has been my priority.
Or enlightenment, as it’s called in Hindu philosophy.
I travel. I learn. I experience. I invest.
In people. In places. In perception.
(Okay, I mean knowledge but I wanted alliteration. Please comment with suitable alternatives below).
Anyway, Maslow’s pyramid starts with basic (psychological) needs like food and water and builds up to its fifth-level summit, self-actualisation.
That’s right – success, job titles, money, material wealth isn’t the ultimate goal.
It’s the penultimate goal, esteem, described as prestige and feeling of accomplishment.
And, along with belonging, is part of our psychological needs.
Meaning psychologist, Abraham Maslow, didn’t think chasing the Kardashian lifestyle would lead to fulfillment but doing things that are good for your soul will.
This is mirrored in many ways in Hinduism with the chakras.
The blue layer in the pyramid corresponds with the blue Vishuddhi point, also known as the throat chakra.
So communication, whether it’s a thumbs up on social media and words of sycophancy, provides the dopamine hit that boosts self-esteem.
The purple crown chakra, Sahasrara, is the point of universal consciousness, wisdom, empathy and self-knowledge.
Unlike the chakras, don’t need to align all five levels of Maslow’s pyramid to reach its corresponding purple level of self-actualisation.
You could, in theory, self-actualise without having a sense of belonging or high self-esteem like charity work, activism, crafts, writing a book, painting, skydiving or whatever you find is good for the soul.
But it is a privilege. And one that can only be enabled by getting paid to work.
As these generally need investment, in both time and money.
Both these are our most precious and fragile resources.
Hence why it’s a privilege and your career goal should be self-actualisation by earning more and working smarter.
This is a roundabout way of saying, improve productivity by paying a living wage, not a surviving wage. And introducing shorter working days and shorter working weeks.
Let’s not chase the bag, let’s give life.
