As I look at the job market, I realize it’s all the highfalutin’ positions that are a rat race to snatch up. Do I aim for those high positions just because the American Dream taunts in my ear that I am some listless loser if I don’t? The pressure from growing up in a neighborhood of upper-middle class families who struck it rich after years of slaving away at the 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. sits on my shoulders, pointing out the path it feels I should follow. But how could I enlist in the corporate climb if I have not yet formed my own ideas about this perplexing world?
Walking the line straight from college into the workforce means molding some of my freshly forming ideas to fit into the company’s mindset. I will be caught in the sticky web of the social design, cocooned by paychecks and pats on the back for my overtime. Meanwhile I give up the right to free thinking at the tail-end of my brain development (which reportedly stops short of age 25).
I am reminded of a thought from a Peruvian “cargador” (or baggage carrier) expressed in the award-winning documentary film “Solo un Cargador” in which he reflected on his life to tourists, saying: “They hired me so I cannot speak my mind.” So, before you must edit your mind and language for the sake of a job, take the time to chill at the bottom and form your own ideas based on what unadulterating life experience has to offer. That’s right, do a less demanding job in order to have the time to learn more about this world.
Since I am determined to make even the slightest impact while here on earth, I believe that seeking truth — rather than being spoon-fed information — is critical. This may seem like a confusing concept. If I want to be a catalyst of change someday, how dare I “waste” one moment of post-degree time and work in a job that does not appear to be a stepping-stone toward my career? While it may sound like my appetite for power is slipping, one must have faith that the side streets will also get you to the destination. To push the metaphor even further, the main avenue may be a straight shot, but the sights from the side streets will give far more meaning to the experience.
In plain English: When one changes motivations but maintains the same task, the result is often a similar outcome, just achieved from a healthier mindset. While my current aspiration is not power, it may be a result of my efforts to seek truth and form my own unsullied opinions.
Yoga is another useful example of the rewards of intention. Western media, which calls for the skinny minny, deceive the public into thinking yoga is an exercise which works toward strengthening, lengthening and leaning out the body to look lanky and swanky in those Levi’s. But the true point of practice is to place oneself in a challenging physical situation and give up the desire to escape, sinking deeper into that moment instead. That’s right, the true point of practice is to be fully present, and the RESULT is strength and flexibility. All the pressure to be toned and flexible is a way we have been conditioned to think, as “being present” is a valuable trait that is tougher to market. Similarly, as you go about life motivated by knowledge (another tough sell) guarantee, the power will come. So how does this relate to the debate over the dash for the American Dream, again?
Well, once you start the climb to the top — especially if you are working under someone else — it is difficult to be present in your own moment. You are asked to do tasks that are compatible with the organization’s mindset, serving as a worker progressing someone else’s vision. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that once you have served your time seeking truth. Certainly, the rewards of our education are for us to be qualified enough to get jobs. But with the humility to recognize that we as young adults only have half-baked values, simply due to inadequate experience; there is a high chance that fresh out of college we could mistakenly stumble into an organization which could threaten to mold us into the wrong shape. So, while that American Dream weighs on our shoulders and tries to propel us toward inner-organizational fame and fortune, keep in mind that the society we build is strengthened by our knowledge, not our ignorance.
Keeping in mind that many of us are chomping at the bit to get out there and tackle independence, we should take a while to chill at the bottom of the corporate ladder in order to gain power driven by purpose. See, the busier you are, the less time you have to tend to the things outside of tasks with deadlines. Think about it: With increasing responsibilities, something always suffers. With fewer deadlines at the bottom, you will find that, much like the ocean floor, a little bit of everything falls to the bottom for one to collect. So shift your inspiration — to seek knowledge over power — and your power will come from the knowledge you accumulate. Driven by critical thinking, blaze your own trail, and you will get the respect you deserve.
