Finding the Job You Love

Balancing Money, Fun, and Free Time

Everybody seems to be obsessed with landing a six or seven-figure job, getting a monster equity compensation package, or founding their own billion-dollar startup. And, I mean, I totally get it. We all have to pay for the mortgage, the bills, education for our kids and retirement. We all want to maintain a decent lifestyle — holidays, restaurants, gadgets, a nice car. And, let’s be frank, we all fall for the allure of the rich-man lifestyle. I personally don’t fancy cars that much, so I am not one of those who see themselves driving a Lamborghini… But boats!? Cruising around the Balearic Islands on my boat? Azure skies, deep blue sea, gentle breeze? Oh man, oh man, oh man! I’d die for that! 😅️

So, again, I totally see why people are obsessed with money. But I think focusing too much on money completely blinds us when it comes to finding the right job for us. Because financial wealth is only one part of the equation.

In his newsletter, James Clear talks about four types of wealth:

1. Financial wealth (money) 🤑️

2. Social wealth (status) 🤝️

3. Time wealth (freedom) ⏳️

4. Physical wealth (health) ❤️‍🩹️

And about those, he says:

“Be wary of jobs that lure you in with 1 and 2, but rob you of 3 and 4."

The truth is, finding the right job is a multi-dimensional optimisation problem or, to put it in a more “poetic” way, it’s a balancing act. There are myriad different wants, needs, and desires fighting against one another, all pulling in different directions. Finding the right balance completely depends on your priorities, your background, your culture, and where you are in this precise moment in the arc of your life.

If we had to take into account each and every one of those aspects, the problem would be impossible to solve. But, to slightly simplify matters, when it comes to finding the right job, it ultimately boils down to three fundamental dimensions:

1. Money — how much financial gain you get out of it

2. Fun — how much you like and enjoy what you do

3. Free Time — how much time you have left to do everything else

I was originally introduced to this idea by my dear friend Francesco Termine in one of our lunchtime conversations at work. I think it makes for a simple yet powerful framework through which to assess our current working situation and decide which dimension we should be optimising.

Looking through this lens, you can think of finding the “right job” as finding the right point in a three-dimensional space. This simplifies matters quite a lot. The good part is that there is no single “right job for you”; there are many.

Maybe you are at a cool AI startup. You might find yourself working long hours and the money situation might be ‘meh’, but what you work on gets you so excited you hardly sleep at night. That’s the right job for you.

Or you’re at some random company, working on totally normal stuff. Nothing too exciting. You have have a decent salary and decent colleagues. You might be asking for more, but you realise your 9 to 5 job is perfect because it gives you the time and peace of mind you need for your hobbies, your family and your friends. That’s also the right job for you.

The “right” job and the “right” balance constantly shift and change as we change, and our priorities and our values change. So it’s a good practice to periodically assess our situation and see how far we are from our “right” balance.

Every time I feel frustrated by my current situation, think about a change, or I find myself evaluating a new job offer, I always try to apply this framework. I find it extremely useful and it has helped me many times in the past.

Hope you enjoyed this post! If you did, consider sharing it with a friend or colleague who’s struggling with finding the job they love.

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See you in the next one! 👋️😊️

Cheers,

Fusco.