What do you do to work that little?
Understand things, i.e. Quality Assurance. It's something I happen to be good at. Not by study, just a natural aptitude for simplifying workflows and procedures, and then selling people on the idea of doing something new. In fact I'd say the second part is harder, as you are working against ingrained procedures and a '
but we've always done it like this!'-mentality.
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My philosophy is always to work smarter, not harder. Which is why I choose not to pick up too many projects at once. I do a few very well, and within the deadline. My predecessor did dozens simultaneously, worked her ass off every long day, had an incredible depth of knowledge on virtually anything within the company -- and never finished anything. Guess which approach is more appreciated by the people that pay the salaries...
I went to Aruba last year and those locals have it nailed. There was a guy there with a fishing boat, couldn't have cost more than 3grand tops. He spent the day in the beautiful Sun while us tourists paid him 20dollars a time to be pulled on one of them blow up sofa things for 15 minutes.
I asked him if he ever got bored and enjoyed the job because it seemed amazing to me, he had his two kids on the boat who would either be fishing in between rides, snorkeling or taking pictures for tourists (free).
He said I live on a beautiful island the weather is perfect, I get to spend the day with my children and I do it making others happy. My friend I don't lie when I say this is paradise.
Definitely. I have recently seriously considered becoming a forester. I love the outdoors, I spend a lot of free time there anyway. So if I could get paid enough (not a lot, just enough) then I'd seriously consider it. The trappings of wealth really hold no attraction for me. Funny thing: almost everyone, including in this topic, talks about bigger houses like it is a logical result of earning more. But my current house is smaller than my first apartment, and my next house will most likely be smaller still. I can only be in one place at any given moment, so why buy a house where I need GPS to find the bathroom? Give me one practical and nice combined living room/kitchen over a palace any day.
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Not saying hard work will kill anyone. Yes, I worked 60 hours per week packing boxes, loading and unloading trailers, moving washing machines and fridges, those jobs. But when you have other skills besides 'being strong', why not use them effectively? Now I make three times what I did then, and in half the hours.