There has been a lot of discussion lately about the increase of the minimum wage to $15 in Seattle. There were many points on both sides of the argument, but I don't want to get into that here and time will tell who was right or wrong. I will just point out one argument below for the purpose of outlining my thoughts here.
One of the arguments against raising the minimum wage was that these types of jobs were never meant to be a long-term solution or a career and I agree with that argument.
However, people are so focused on the amount of money a job pays and benefits that the company offers that they seem to ignore or at least dismiss whether or not it brings value to their lives.
Of course we all want a job that pays well so we can support our loved ones, have money for emergencies, etc. That is certainly a huge factor in job satisfaction. But our jobs are temporary. People switch jobs every few years these days. A job also needs to provide progress, upward or lateral movement, either through a promotion or through cross-training. Your job needs to fit your goals. It needs to teach you something new on a regular basis, challenge you, and bring you closer to the next level.
Note that I used the term 'goals' above instead of 'career path' because I don't think that is how the world works anymore. A certain career goal is not the only thing a job can bring you closer to. If you have read the 4 Hour Workweek, you have an idea of what I am talking about.
We tend to think of our jobs and our careers as linear.We tend to pay more attention to the status and pay of a job than to the knowledge, joy, learning, and fulfillment it brings to our lives.
If you are stuck in dead-end office job at a large company with no way up or out, are you really better off than someone working at a fast food joint while working on their online business on the side? Or someone working as a bartender because they want to learn about wine so they can open their own tasting room some day?
It's not the job you hold that makes you successful, it's what you are going to do with what you learn, every day.
Now you may say that most people working minimum wage jobs probably do not think this way and have no such aspirations. If you're still focused on 'them' instead of 'you' right now, you're missing the point.
Is YOUR job giving YOU what you need long-term or are you just flipping burgers to make a buck? That is the question, whether you work at McDonald's or at Microsoft.
Let me give you a quick personal example of a decision I recently made. I am a skilled professional working at a big company. There are many things I do well, but selling isn't one of them, especially myself and my own product. I wrote a children's book (www.schmittyandfelix.com) that encourages kids to do chores and you could put a family with 5 children in front of me and I would say something like: "So I wrote this book, it's really cool, it's about doing chores...you might maybe perhaps like it... but you probably don't need it.. I mean, it's really awesome, but.. never mind... it's not for you... probably" (sadly that is not an exaggeration).
I have gone through many training sessions about selling and overcoming hesitations as a by-product of my job, but that hasn't helped me with overcoming my fear of selling. So I have decided to do something that sounds as scary as sky-diving to me: I am going to stand on a mall parking lot with a box of my books in my car and sell them to people passing by.
Now just typing that out gave me the creeps, but I will do it. If I can do that, get through the discomfort, ignore the stigma it brings, deal with the rejection, I will be able to move past that lacking skill set and most importantly that fear. I will have conquered it. While I am not quitting my job to do this, it is an example of what may seem like taking a few steps back (or in this case like hitting rock bottom) to advance myself and grow.
So when you think about your job, ask yourself: Which new skills am I acquiring? Which fears am I overcoming? Who am I meeting? Am I doing something I love? Where is it taking me?
Hopefully you will find that you are in the right place and are growing on a daily basis whether you work at McDonald's or at Microsoft. If you're not, read quote below and let it sink in:
“Someone once told me the definition of Hell: The last day you have on earth, the person you became will meet the person you could have become.”
- Anonymous
