Titanic tilt
- At January 29, 2011
- By Nathan
- In Career Planning
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As you pursue a career that is more of a fit with who you are, aim to produce something that others will value and genuinely need. Wood to build a home might come in handy. Gas to drive a car would seem to qualify. Grain to bake some bread might be nice. Steel for a sturdy office building, windmills to produce electricity – use your imagination, but make sure that you produce something.
Meeting your own needs is an essential part of the career equation, but being obsessed with your own needs is counterproductive and even destructive in terms of your career or your country’s success.
Imagine a societal ship plowing along through the sea of world history that is tilting more and more towards consumption (meeting your own needs) and away from production (meeting your own needs by meeting the needs of others). Eventually the whole thing is going to capsize and sink.
An economy is complicated, but just take a gander across the pond at Greece. There they are, drowning in their own debt.
Commenting on the sad state of the USA’s economy, Conrad Black warned of the danger of living in a “white-collar fools paradise.” For accountants do not drive the economy. Neither do judges, lawyers, pastors, teachers, doctors, politicians, professors, software engineers, or even aspiring writers. All of these professions are important and provide an essential service, but they are secondary.
They serve and are subsidized by the millions of ordinary and average people, who get up in the morning each day and determine to produce something of value – something they have found or shaped from the earth – and present it to someone else.
© Career & Life Direction 2011. All rights reserved.
