The Dirty Little Secret About Taking on Personal Responsibilities/Debt - You Have to Work and in the 21st Century More and More

"... the way this society is set up, you have to work." - Excerpt from the comments on Reddit Career Guidance, February 2023. Here is the thread.

So what does "the way this society is set up" mean for this responder to a post about a professional feeling like a "loser" because they don't want to chase money? Essentially it refers to the financial pressure having a family, mortgage, and the build-up of debt imposes on those in America as they go about our lives. 

Before that we could pick up work, mostly low-paying here and there, and feel okay about ourselves. 

How I loved the contract job I had as a security guard in an inner-city big box. At the door I verified the correlation between what was on the receipt and what was in the bag. 

There was no work to bring work home. 

There was no competition among other security guards. 

There was solidarity. When management tried to stick me with too many hours, a co-worker stuck up for me. Never had that or has that happened in the kind of work which sucks in the big bucks. Monkey no see. It takes a hero like David Sanford of law firm Sanford Heisler to nurture whistleblowers.

Eventually, no matter how much we enjoyed simple work, the "R" word - "Responsibilities" – tends to grab us by the values. Yes, we have to work. And it has to be at a well-paying job or by setting up a very successful business. Preferably those with solid brandnames. 

Lifestyle creep locks in the same "have to work." With all the ranting on professional anonymous networks such as Fishbowl Consulting and Reddit Big Law about the stress, few seem to take the exit ramp. They have gotten used to what the large compensation can finance.

It's not unthinkable to unravel history and wonder how capitalism's major successes would have fared had they not taken on Responsibilities.

Take co-founder of financial empire Apollo Leon Black. Sure, his family background includes that his father Eli M. Black founded major corporation United Brands Company.

But before Black married Debra Ressler and produced four children to rear in the pricey New York City area he could have ducked the way society is set up. He could have gotten by with odd jobs. We boomers might have run into him at a youth hostel when we hitchhiked throughout Europe. Maybe I could have gotten him a gig at a big box.

But Black didn't seek an exit ramp out of tradition. According to one calculation his net worth is $9.499 billion. That is despite the brand tarnishing through his association with Jeffrey Epstein. 

Possibly he could go for reputation restoration by delivering free lectures how those with Responsibilities can learn to love that financial sweat-box. Capitalist leaders might turn forgiving. Enough of this quiet quitting or dropping out all together out of pursuing those highly paid positions. 

As an intuitive career coach I am an evangelist for choice in work. Not all of you want or are emotionally equipped for extreme work. Some of you do and you can land it and even hold onto it. Here on  Reddit Big Law we read about the equity partner who was forced out of a large law firm.

Together we sort out what you really want and can put together even if you have Responsibilities and debt. Or especially if you have those.

I  had those, ranging from a house on the Gold Coast of Connecticut to a beach cottage at the Jersey Shore. 

I took the exit ramp from 55% of that in 2003. Here is that story, which has had more than a million downloads. 

Believe it or not, we do have choices about our work.

Intuitive career coaching about your present and your next. Shut down the noise from that committee in your head and open to possibility.  In addition, Jane Genova is an award-winning writer on Human Resources issues.

Whether you need guidance or that your organization’s story be told, please make an appointment for a complimentary consultation at janegenova374@gmail.com or text 203-468-8579.