My Meaning of Life at Work

This highly complicated chart aims to show a simple concept. There is a "good" area where the amount of free time is adequate as is the amount of spare cash. This, however, is only a small area of the total possible spectrum.

Indeed most people find themselves in an area where the amount of free time is sorely inadquate - as is the amount of spending money. Other bad areas are when there is lots of spare time but maybe even less than zero free cash (unemployed and in debt), or too much money or spare time (yes, these are, I assume, problem areas too).

The thing to note is that career pressures from your boss, your wife^†, society etc. tend to push you through the good zone (into stress etc.) but many people either disqualify themselves before they enter it, or - after entering it - forget about the meaning of life at work and continue into an area of heart attacks, worries and excessive stress.

But having seen this chart you will now surely never lose your peace of mind...
 

^† not yours or mine, of course
 

The Tactic

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!
 
 

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The General Principle

Exampe 1

"To Win without Fighting is Best", Sun Tsu The Art of War, 6th cent. B.C.

The superiour militarist foils enemies' plots; next best is to ruin their alliances; next after that is to attack their armed forces; worst is to besiege their cities

Exampe 2

"An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations", Adam Smith, 1776

The "invisible hand" with which human happiness is maximised and leads to a free market, forces people to think about what other people want etc.

However quite considerable structure is required in society before the invisible hand mechanism can work efficiently. For example, there must be widespread adherence to moral norms, such as prohibitions against theft and misrepresentation. Theft was, to Smith, the worst crime of all, even though a poor man stealing from a rich man may increase overall happiness. He even went so far as to say that the purpose of government is to defend the rich from the poor. quote