Pretty much no matter who you are work is going to take up a large portion of your life. Sure there are a couple exceptions but they are few and far in-between. The vast majority of us are going to spend a whole lot of time working to produce income to live the life that we want. Since work is something we’re going to spend so much time doing it makes sense to look at ways to balance income with fulfillment.
When most people set out to look for a job or are deciding upon a career when young the number one factor that they take into consideration is income. Now obviously income is a very important factor but I wouldn’t say that it is the most important. I would say fulfillment is, granted that with that fulfillment you can still make ends meat of course.
For example some people are completely filled by being a teacher. Probably very few men (especially in the Western education system) but who are in love with what they do and wouldn’t trade it with a job that paid twice as much. There are others who are completely content with creating art of some form, paintings, music, books, carpentry, masonry, and so on and so forth. Who have a craft that they hone.
Finding Fulfillment
I would say that for the vast majority of people clues at to what will ultimately fulfill them can be found in childhood to things that naturally drew you in and what you enjoyed. There will be exceptions as some people are not exposed to things until later but for a lot of people what brought them fulfillment they generally had an idea of when young. For example when young (and well today) I was outdoors a lot. I loved feeling the wind, the sun, and seeing the green of the trees (I get restless in the suburbs where they cut down all the trees and take all of the life/soul out of the environment).
But when I was indoors I was usually reading or writing. Creating worlds or getting lost in them. Now obviously no one makes a living by wandering outdoors but it helped to explain why doing an inside office job (even though the pay was nice) drove me absolutely insane. I literally felt like (because I was) a caged animal about to go mad.
Whereas when I worked other jobs like landscaping even though the pay was worse and the job much more demanding I felt a lot more fulfilled and was less stressed then before. Now I do copywriting because I enjoy creating things (even though a sales piece is not the same as a novel) and more importantly it frees up my time to live my life as I please without taking too much out of me.
I can write copy on my deck deep in the woods surrounded by trees, wind, and animals and be perfectly content.
Working Towards Fulfillment
Now I share this with you to get your brain going and thinking about what might fulfill you and how to work towards finding that fulfillment and peace. If you have a family that will obviously play a big role in what you can or cannot do but do not feel like you are completely limited because of that it’ll just take more time and effort than if you were single. Again think back to childhood and things that brought you happiness or that you have an aptitude for.
Making money is important, absolutely. But if that’s all you focus on you’ll end up unfulfilled and sometimes miserable. There are rich people who commit suicide and money is not the answer to all things despite thoughts to the contrary. You absolutely need money but need to factor in other factors as well.
Remember you only get one life and there’s a good chance your kids and wife aren’t going to care that much that you worked a job you hated to put a roof over their head or put them in school.
Also I’d strongly suggest staying away from the Western corporate world is man has any nobility left in him that world will be done away with sooner rather than later.
If anything I said here interests you I’d highly recommend you check out The Ultimate Alpha Collection which is a compilation of 16 of my books for the price of 5. It covers everything from being a man to making money to getting the right mindset to getting girls to fighting and more and is a resource no man should be without. Pick up your copy today!
-Charles Sledge
