What's your career priority?
Everyone has a career priority. Whether you have consciously planned your career priority or not you have a career priority. Not everyone has the same career priority though.
For some people that career priority is money. For some it's having benefits (health care, vacation & sick time, retirement savings). For some it's career fulfillment/ satisfaction. For some people it's a combination of two.
For better or worse I've always been in the fulfillment/satisfaction camp. Most of my jobs weren't high paying and didn't have benefits when I was a young adult but I had plenty of jobs that were unsatisfying and ill-suited to anything I was good at or wanted to do in a job. From the time I started working at 18 I only ever cared about enjoying what I do/ using the skills I am good at.
It mattered of course that I made enough money to survive, but having a job/career where I can use my interests and skills, where a job was interesting and I cared about it mattered more. Many people including people in my life didn't understand or agree with my priority. People insisted that other priorities (usually money) matter more.
I understand the arguement that money gives you the freedom to do what you want. Honestly, I get that. If you have money you can choose to spend your money and free time however you want, that our hobbys will be enough.
Here's the thing; we spend a minimum of 40 hours a week, 4 weeks a month, 52 weeks a year for 50 - 60 years of your life, working. If your going to spend that much of your life working then you shouldn't go to work everyday thinking and feeling like you're wasting your skills, time and life in a job (or series of jobs) that are ill-suited and unfilfilling to you.
I am fairly confident that people don't want to look back in middle ago or retirement age disappointed by and regretful of their work life. I am also confident that for many people their career priority will change throughout the course of your life.
When you're young it could be paying off student loans or making money, as you head toward middle age it might be benifits because you have a family, and as you age into your later working years it is retirement.
It's ok that your career priority changes throughout your life just know what is important to you and don't let other people tell you that shouldn't matter to you.
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