Are you happy with your work? Last year Gallup released a study which showed if employees are “psychologically committed to their jobs”. The study revealed that only 13% of employees worldwide are engaged at work, that is approximately just one in eight people who are fully involved and enthusiastic about their jobs. Considering how much time most people spend at work it seems that most people spend a lot of time feeling demotivated. I can understand that, I’ve had a lot of jobs which I found myself feeling disengaged or where I felt that my work was not remotely appreciated, which in part can lead to the disengagement. I have also had jobs which feel like they take my entire day, even if the actual time at work is only 8 hours in a day. The long commute, the inconvenient schedule or work done outside of the official hours can all end up making you feel less than happy.
Although I am not a full time microstocker, I have enjoyed and still enjoy the earnings I receive from my photos. Earnings from something which you are passionate about is always something special. Earnings from microstock was my first income via the internet, as well as my first income without having an employer. I have also ventured into other avenues of making money online and have been much more successful, although it took some time. As with all the work that I do online I never seem to count the amount of hours I work, I never expect to earn money from all the work I do, often things I try take an age to get any kind of financial reward, or they fail completely. However when I see ideas that I had taking shape and then working it is very rewarding. The liberty of working online for me is second to none, your effort, your decision making, your talents and your perseverance determine your income. It doesn’t suit a lot of people because the financial reward takes time to gain momentum, people give up because they expect to see decent earnings soon after they start, but it doesn’t work like that, you need staying power.
With salaried jobs the financial reward is largely determined before your work begins, you can have days when you feel totally uninspired or disengaged but you don’t need to be inspired or engaged, the truth is you need only to do enough work in order to justify your position, not more or less. When I work for myself with my earnings dependent on what I do and how well I do it I work with more zeal, I don’t mind thinking about work when I am not working, plus I know those thoughts could turn into dollars one day. I don’t feel that my time is being wasted, I don’t look forward to the weekend I look forward to every day of the week. I don’t feel unappreciated or overworked, I appreciate my work and seeing the results.
I know that bills need to be paid, they need to be paid by all of us, how we choose to do that is up to us, the question is simply are you happy with your work? If you are not then why not, and are you going to work on changing things?
Komar, interesting article as always. It’s hard to find a way to make money doing what you love. I hope reading this might inspire someone to do it.