Don’t look for a job, look for what you want to do
How to understand this? Does the job site suggest not working? It may seem so from one side, but in reality, the depth of my message is a bit deeper. That’s why it is sincere, and it conveys my feelings and thoughts in order to do something useful and better for others.
Go to work or you will have nothing to eat
We can have high dreams and try to achieve development, but every day we are “grounded” by material reality and everyday life: go to work or you will have nothing to eat. Of course, this means not only food, but also other aspects of our lives that depend directly on finances. Some people have a desire to earn money for some purpose, while others need money to support their families left behind in another country. But have you ever thought that even when we come to work in Poland, we remain the same as we were in our home country. Earning several times more, we still don’t become happy. Yes, the realization that you earn as much in a day in Poland as in a week in your country is initially satisfying, but you get used to it. At first, you buy things you dreamed of but couldn’t afford at home, like a car, branded sneakers, and then you realize that it doesn’t bring happiness in general. You go to the same job, and everything about it starts to bore you.
Prestigious work
Even if the average foreigner finds a job in Poland that he or she does not like, they will continue to do it. And not only because of a short visa, dependence on a temporary residence card, but simply because they get used to it. There is also an aspect when a person is afraid to quit his job because his family back home will not like it. There is also the so-called “prestigious work” aspect. It includes all types of office work that people do in Poland. For example, working in a bank, working in a Polish labor agency. But, as a good friend once told me, the concept of prestigious work is very relative, because if the fact that you work in Poland in a labor agency may make your family in your country happy, then for many foreigners who use the services of agencies you will be a common fraud, even if your agency is honest. The unpleasant experience of many foreigners who have been deceived by unscrupulous intermediaries will make you the same in their eyes by default. Accordingly, there is no question of prestige here. Rather, a “hard worker” employee will start to respect you when you work 12 hours a day at a factory somewhere, just like him. So everything is relative.
What can you do? You can’t please everyone? And is office work so bad?
First, don’t think about what others think of you. Close friends, relatives, your compatriots, it doesn’t matter. Everyone has their own skills, their own fears, their own vision of the world, which has brought them to where they are now. Office work is not bad by default either, but it has to satisfy you, i.e. bring you pleasure. And it’s not just about working in an office. Any job should be fun. So we come to the essence of what I wanted to say.
Work that brings pleasure
Is there something you dream of doing but are afraid to do because you think you won’t be good at it? You’re afraid that it won’t bring you money, it will be an unstable income, and so on. Another way to ask is: is there anything you would like to do without thinking about the financial side of the issue? For example, if you had everything you needed – money, food, clothes – so that you didn’t have to earn money to meet your and your family’s minimum material needs, what would you do? Something that inspires you, that you enjoy and brings you such a burst of energy and strength that you just can’t wait to do it. Another way to ask the question is: what would you like to do that you would even be willing to pay for it yourself? These are the questions that you can sincerely ask yourself, and these are the questions that will reveal your talent and your calling. Sometimes these may be things that seem to be meaningless at first glance.
I have an acquaintance in Poland with whom we used to work together in the same office. She worked for 5 years at the same company for a Union Citizen Card, and then she was able to change jobs. After receiving the card, she quit her job and came to our office. After working for two weeks, she quit. Then she worked for 4 days in another office as a freight dispatcher and after getting a solid dose of stress, she quit. We (other foreigners, men in the same office) were afraid to admit to ourselves what cowards we were. We didn’t like our work in the office, but we kept it because we thought it was “prestigious.” We also came up with other reassurances like “you have to be patient,” get used to it, it’s not that bad, at least not on the assembly line. So when our ex-colleague found a job as a salesperson in the household chemicals store across the street, we didn’t want to understand her. Behind our mask of an office worker, we hid our cowardice and continued to torture ourselves, while she had the courage to start looking for herself. She did not stay in the store. Being there and working for several hours, she was able to devote more time to her hobby of making beaded jewelry. At first, she gave them to her friends as gifts. Then her Polish friends started asking her if she could make something for them, for her friends. Then the owner of the store allowed her to exhibit her products in her store. Then she started posting photos of the jewelry online on Facebook and received offers to buy from there as well. She also started selling her jewelry on an international portal and receives orders from abroad. Now she is creating her own jewelry, doing it with inspiration and pleasure, and earning many times more money than we used to in that office. For me, she is one of the examples of inspiration – bright and open-minded people. Her example shows that you can find yourself if you don’t resist yourself and don’t step over yourself.
Another guy I know also worked in the same office. He is a lawyer by education, but he was mainly engaged in finding people for certain vacancies. He had a sustainable living card. But much more than that, he loved to help his fellow countrymen with various legal issues. He was so good at it that people came to him personally for help – the people he had once found jobs for. After 4 years of work, he rented an office and opened his own firm – legal assistance to Ukrainians in Poland. In addition, he runs his own website and publishes books that also help Ukrainians in Poland to understand various legal intricacies. He has also found himself.
What should he do, give up everything at once?
Of course not. More precisely, in no case. First, you need to understand what you would like to do. Even if it seems unrealistic, and try it if possible. It’s good if it can be combined with your current job. But your current job, if you don’t like it, should be a temporary springboard. You need to save enough money, to build up a financial cushion that will be able to keep you in Poland, along with rent and food, for at least six months. And if you feel a strong desire and inspiration to do something of your own, then start acting. This way your life will gain meaning and harmony, i.e. you will become happy, and this is the most important thing, and even more importantly, you will make other people happy. When doing your business, you need to keep a balance – mental and physical – in mind. You can’t just do one type of activity.
If you like, say, cycling, you need to devote time to it, and it’s also useful to meditate, read books, in short, to develop yourself. Have you ever wondered why so many Poles feel happy? Do you think it is only because of money and prosperity? Partly, yes, but this is only one of the conditions, and the main one is that they are doing what they wanted to do. Someone has a bakery, someone has a roller shutter installation company, and someone rents a house in the mountains. As one of my Ukrainian friends in Poland said, Poles who went to work abroad are divided into two types – those who stayed abroad and those who returned to Poland and invested in their country, or rather, in their business. They opened their own computer store, have a workshop for sewing backpacks or clothes, but they do their own thing.
Most foreigners often invest their hard-earned money in Poland in renovating their homes in their home country. They put up a fence with their hard-earned money, re-paper the walls or change the chandeliers, but this is not an investment – it’s money invested in nothing, especially if it’s done to show off to others, not for themselves.
Is everybody suited to their own business?
No, there are people who are better suited to work for someone else and are very successful in this. But if you’re not one of them, if you feel unhappy or dissatisfied in your work and life, you’re not doing what you need to do. You need to dare, prepare, and take a step into the middle of nowhere.
If you liked this article and think that the information can be useful, please share it on social media.
