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Stable Income Is A Double-Edged Sword

Because people use it as a salvation

The truth is so-called stable income is not a price to stop living.

My salary is stable in my country but not enough to live the month. Many people are like me and use freelance for additional income because the “stable” income fades away from ten to thirty days. If people can’t save, they can not survive more than one month. In my case, I could save some money and survive three months if I quit my full-time job.

The stability of money gives a happy face only when it is received and becomes a madness trigger because people try to find a way to live out the month.

Why do I call stable income a Double-Edged sword?

Because it gives a false feeling of stability under the mindset “The money is coming every month,” and indeed they are, but they do not give the stability that motivates employees to develop themselves in their life. That is the trap people do not see, blinded by the “security” of a full-time job.

Or should I say they do not want to see it?

Stable income is a survival tool that leads to depression and anxiety if people do not have something else to think about in their minds. If they have engagements, they become prisoners of an unseen thing that gives them cents and a lot of responsibilities. I am not another business promoter, but I would like to say that people should do what they want for a living against all odds. Otherwise, they are another brick in the wall of dust’s life as a popular Pinkfloyd’s song states.

Pragmatic thinking is not modern anymore, nor is traditional working. Covid and the hybrid job model changed that.

Bill payments, school taxes, and grocery shopping ruin the stable income idea because people become demotivated to do anything outside going from work to home and back in a circle. I don’t say that having a full-time job is not a good thing, but for me, it is boring. It kills my creativity and gives me no hope for a better future. I do not develop in any way and become mundane. When people are plain, they live to die biologically. Nothing less.

Being a routine-oriented mind gives no freedom to express and have a life outside the office in most cases.

Office living is good, and many people find love through it, working like crazy without a personal life, but these are unpaid moments in the long term. It is budgeting not only for money but for mind growth too. I understand that situation because I stood for fifteen years on the same routine full-time government administration work. I still stay there, but with one foot out.

That year I started to follow my two dreams. I am already on the road to achieving them and soon will have the freedom from daily working hours between 9 am and 5 pm I want.

It is a bit challenging, but I will go through that with an intensity that makes me move on every time I fail to succeed until I have success. I energize by the small steps toward my goals.

Money is not enough with or without a stable income. There is always something else to work on more. If people like their full-time jobs, they can go on. Risking everything for a monthly paycheck is a curious fight with the day. I do not want to sound arrogant, but I think people need to combat more than false security and easy fleeting money in their lives.

When the professionals do what they are best at, and love it which is an undeniable fact income stability is not a pursuit anymore. People do not see that as an irritating obligation they should do to earn money because they have the inner motivation to become better in their field.

The thing I want to make clear is if the stable income job is the named stability.

My reasons why a stable job is a Double-Edged sword are: limited time, no development, misunderstood interpersonal relationships, no recognition, confined holidays, and few bonuses.

Limited Time

Twenty-four hours per day is little time for people to do everything they want. Full-time jobs and transportation count up to eleven hours. Housework, personal hobbies, and attention to the kids or other family members take more time. In the end, only sleeping hours are used to do nothing, and they are seven, in the best case. A stable job eats up eight hours daily, in which employees can earn more money and may feel confident they do something to progress.

A full-time job is usually monotonous and technical. People become perfect at it, but their minds go dull. Career climb happens slowly with only hard work, and people become unmotivated to go job, starting doing it by routine. As I often say when I answer Quora’s questions: The routine should always shake up. Otherwise, limited time becomes days of self-pity, wondering what is wrong in people’s lives.

Choosing a full-time job means people agree to lose eight to ten hours of their daily lives. The right choice is something to love doing.

No Development

The biggest problem with stable income jobs is people do not develop. That is not a problem for some since they love to feel secure, waiting for a pension without much thinking. For people with creative minds, doing the same work over again is a red flag. They can not stand it, and the lack of professional development or creativity kills them. I am one of those people. The main reason I do not like my full-time job is that I have no growth in any sphere. I feel suffocated by going daily to my workplace. The good point here is I found the courage to start doing part-time Zumba and blogging after working hours. Of course, it is challenging, because time management is a must.

I feel inspired after the clock’s sound closes my office door. There is always a way out of boredom, but courage and inner energy are needed.

Misunderstood Interpersonal Relationships

In the workplace, people often misunderstand their relationships with their colleagues. It is an undeniable fact that full-time office employees spend around 50 % of their daily hours. When people feel lonely, they start to share everything with others at the office. That may become a trap that brings low-self esteem.

Intrigues are everywhere because people always speak behind others’ backs. It is in human nature to start to please others of higher status or interests by every means. Not many people overcome the tendency of being insincere in their ambitions, stepping over those who are kind in heart.

There are two types of employees in a full-time office: loners who learn from their mistakes and pleasers who ask almost everyone when doing something. The same goes for leadership positions in different workplaces. Polarities of job life are silence or gossip. Most people transfer their working place to a gossiping one.

People pleasers play friendly and create a web of intrigues and fake rumors. Loners who work alone are uncomfortable for the employees and bosses because they talk rarely and say only the truth. Individual workers are the best force in every company because they do not waste time gossiping and creating unprofessional friendships. Usually, they are not appreciated.

In general, many employees either use the workplace as a vent for their insecurities and stress or as a gossiping place to learn new things which they use against other co-workers. Those who don’t speak are keeping everything inside and become aggressive. In both cases, when on a full-time job, there are misunderstood interpersonal relationships. There is a significant need to set individual boundaries on when and how much to talk about no-job-related business.

No Recognition

It doesn’t matter if the company people work for is the best in the field as long as there is no individual recognition based on the employee’s skills and job achievements. I speak for the simple “Thank you,”, “You helped a lot to build something together,” etc.

Recognition is the most important life’s part. Every human being wants to be appreciated and seen as an equal human. Money and social benefits never will beat sincere recognition face-to-face. Many people at work have complexes and mixed feelings. They are insecure and want respect for who they are as persons.

I often go into my boss’s cabinet with the thought: “Now she will tell me something bad or gives me more work,” and I am right about it. Rarely happened to me in my high up to say I did well, or respect my raw and sometimes hurtful opinion. I state facts, have strong opinions, and am that uncomfortable employee who doesn’t listen. But, I work hard when I need to, and I lack recognition. Many people are like me but they stay silent for fear of losing that stable, at-first-sight job that gives nothing more than a headache and a prison mindset.

Confined Holidays

The problem with stable job holidays is they are not given when people need them. Statistically, holidays on full-time jobs are mostly 20 days. Sometimes, 26. Usually, employees take them in summer to go on a trip or around Chrismas and New year to travel between family members. It doesn’t matter what the count of vacation days is because it’s not enough.

People bear with it because they do not like taking risks to do something different and unstable or do not want to crash their comfort. I do not blame them. But I say that: I work two part-time outside my full-time job and do not remember when was the last time I stood at home doing nothing. I feel limited by the 26 days of holiday I do not receive whenever I need them to spend time with my family.

Are these days enough to recharge for a full-working year?

Few Bonuses

The truth about bonuses is they are a payment to gloss over employees’ eyes and blind them to what they can achieve and earn outside the so-called stable job. Here the courage to leave and clear-minded decision, understanding the choice is the key. Stability is not immovable because when someone is uncomfortable with the high-up positions, there is always a way for that person’s removement. It doesn’t matter how big the bonus is, but the mental peace in the workplace is disturbed.

It is a matter of time before people quit after understanding “money-making is a wonderful thing” until they got sick with cancer or go to a mental hospital. Many colleagues I used to know went into these states from the full-time stress work.

In conclusion, that post is for those regular full-time employees that fear making a step outside their comfort zone.

I respect everyone’s opinion about the job they choose, but there is always another point of view on how life can be arranged and experienced on its whole. A stable income full-time job has its duality. There are many reasons unhappy people stay on it. As time goes by, office employees start feeling pierced with a sword.

My opinion was founded on my experience, and I do not force anyone to believe me. Current steps toward my work-from-home goal make me happy. It is a challenge I know I will win with time.

I teach Zumba classes from Monday to Thursday at 08.30 pm, and from Friday until Sunday, write for my blog and also work on my Poetry book. My time management is good and I have no will to leave my goals lying to myself a stable full-time job is what I want to do.

It is a fact I sacrifice many things but sure is worth it for me. Results started to come on my half-empty professional street toward making its entirety.

If I can do it as an ordinary person, others can do it too. My life path has always been to go after two things in my life: dancing and writing poetry which is also my neverending true love of romance.