I was channel surfing this past weekend and came across an old movie I enjoy a great deal and not just because it’s by Mike Judge or was filmed in Dallas – “Office Space.” It’s a fun and funny movie that when watching, one can’t help but identify with the trials and tribulations of the main characters in a “comedic tale of company workers who hate their jobs and decide to rebel against their greedy boss.” Rent or download the movie if you haven’t seen it already, you’ll be reminded of the mid-90 tech hay days and will get a kick out of the ending.
In the movie the main character Peter Gibbons, played by Ron Livingston, is accidentally hypnotized to stop stressing and start enjoying life. With his change in priorities his work life improves. The solution in the movie may not be the solution for those of us ‘stressing’ over work or the lack of it, but it is a gentle reminder that getting our priorities straight can be a good thing.
I identified with the movie because I recently changed my priorities. I went from tech entrepreneur where I felt the need to do something huge with a big payoff to creating a lifestyle platform I can control and work at for the next 18 years. My goal is to work as an executive recruiter until I’m 70 and then be able to look back and see 50 years dedicated to the recruitment industry. My goal is to round out my career with the knowledge and feeling of accomplishment being my payoff, believing that as I attain, everything else will just work out.
I get a lot of positive head shakes when I describe a lifestyle platform.
Boomers like me have been living to work while working to accomplish, keeping score. Maybe a change in priorities is in order and we need to work to live acknowledging the jewels everyday life has to offer. And who knows, like it did for Peter, maybe everything will just take care of itself. I have faith it will.
Next week more on lifestyle platforms…
