I started craving comfort and a career from a very young age but as you grow, you realize comfort might not solve the bills and being comfortable might not make you live that luxurious life you silently crave but career might.
Sometimes I wonder if we would rather suffer ourselves or kill ourselves slowly in an environment we never get to enjoy. Environment is subjective, could be your place of work, your home, your house, family, and anywhere is your environment.
I was thinking about all these in bed one morning when it occurred to me that I wasn’t comfortable, I didn’t enjoy my job (except my little business which I got to enjoy), I didn’t really enjoy living with my parents (this is confusing, I enjoyed some parts of family moments, food etc. but that part about me living it with them wasn’t enjoyable), not even the environment. Most times I needed to be alone, in my own space, space designed by me and for me.
Choosing comfort over career is a very complex decision, I should relax right? Find a better job with a better pay but was that wasn’t the issue, I needed a place that won’t eat me up. (When I listen to my favorite band ‘of monsters and men’ I felt imprisoned and drowning).
So it was basically my comfort or money.
Look at a similar predicament as mine.
“I had realized that money was absolutely central to having a job, because without money the activity could only be considered a social service. And comfort had to exist in a job, to permit any productivity at all, but that high levels of comfort would severely limit my output.
Still lying in my bed, I considered the importance of the people around me. Certainly as a group, we could accomplish much more and produce a greater profit, than I could alone. If, of course, we were not too comfortable.
At the same time, those people could be a substantial impediment. When working with a group, there has to be communication. And most likely, some amount of socializing, to keep everyone feeling good about everyone else. Both communication and socialization take time away from working, thus limiting output.
Eventually, I concluded that in any job I have to have some amount of money, some comfort, and some involvement with other people. Not excessively much of any, but certainly not omitting any. Striking some kind of balance.
Pretty soon I recognized that I need some brainpower, a decently functioning heart, lungs with adequate capacity to absorb oxygen, and a fair supply of blood circulating at not too high nor too low a pressure.
So I got out of bed, pulled on my pants, stepped into my shoes, and decided to start working.
Now that I had decided that everything in life is important, and must be in some way sensibly balanced. Not too little, not too excessive.
Then I decided that it had been rather foolish of me, trying to prioritize things which are quite different but all quite essential. Kept me from doing anything actually useful”
At the end of the day, it’s all balance and stepping out of your comfort zone.
Ask yourself if your goal in life is to work and advance your career or is your goal to enjoy life doing other things or stay put in a comfortable environment doing things you want?
Lol someone says this “I’d stay put. Screw work. I can find challenges on my own time that are interesting to me. Flexibility at work is worth more than anyone will pay you. I’d rather come and go as I please instead of being told I WILL be working 60 hours a week for the foreseeable future” this still boils down to comfort and working at your own time.
If you’re starting to feel bored at work now, cos that’s how it’s going to be eventually. I would imagine that within a year or two, you’re going to be more bored, and you’re really going to regret not trying out other opportunities when they present themselves. I’d say take a chance and go for the unknown. The additional challenges it presents you will probably alleviate your boredom, and having extra money in your pocket isn’t a bad thing either.
Someone else added this “Why do we work? Money. That’s it. Get as much as you can. Maybe 10 years from now you’ll have the cushy job again except with much more cash”
But in truth we should ask…
1) Which is more important to me: money/advancement or stability/comfort?
2) Will a job change significantly affect family/Significant others, etc?
3) Am I willing and able to handle unemployment should I go to the other job and in the worst-case scenario, not work out?
4) Does the current comfort/certainty outweigh the other job’s better pay and more uncertainty?
If you considering all these, environment is another major factor to consider.
Comfort and working in Lagos is story for another day (lmao)
