The downsides of a toxic workplace are obvious to everyone — but sometimes the real danger lies precisely where everything seems perfect.
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The difference between a bad workplace and a good one is that in a bad workplace, we at least know the price it extracts from us, and we think about how to escape.
A good workplace, on the other hand, can quietly lull our dreams to sleep with a generous paycheck, a company car, and bonuses — and by the time we realize it, it may be too late to change course.
A good workplace gives us the feeling that we're on top of the world — managing people and systems, meeting colleagues from other countries, making decisions — when in truth, we're still just a cog in a machine that isn't ours.
Sometimes what drives us to fight is precisely the fact that our backs are against the wall, armed with nothing but willpower and no other choice.
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Our life's battle rests largely on two resources — time and money.
The workplace buys our time — a resource we cannot expand — in exchange for money, a resource we could theoretically grow without limit, if only we found the way.
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At the threshold of a new year, we must think not only about the bad things around us and how to avoid them, but also about the good things that may quietly consume the best years of our lives.
The question isn't only whether we're content today, but whether on the morning of our last day on earth we'll be able to look back with satisfaction and take pride in the choices we made — or whether we'll part with a sense of regret, our personal history built mostly from the fulfillment of other people's dreams.
Happy New Year ❤️