Readers’ comments: July 5, 2024

Avoid the ‘grind’: do what you love instead
Dear editor:
In your editorial of June 21 [“Make life your work, not the other way around”], you talk about work-life balance and the concept of “grinding” at work … relating back to a stressful job you had as a CFO and the negative effects it had on you.
Perhaps your “lack of balance” and stress-related issues were not related to the job itself, or any job at all — but your imperfect fit in it.
In “The Republic,” the philosopher Plato talks about the balance of work and happiness. He concludes that if everyone had a job that (a) they were good at doing, and (b), they enjoyed doing, society would be just and without civil strife. In other words, people are happiest doing what they are best at. Or, a society without “grinding.”
My guess is that your role as a CFO — even if you were highly competent at it — was not a good fit for you in the Platonic sense. It wasn’t the “grind,” just a poor fit.
Conversely, if you actually had your “dream job” of being a rock star, and you put in long hours touring the world, traveling in buses, living in hotels and recording studios, dealing with the stress of radio airplay, ticket sales, streaming service numbers and fan/sponsor events, you would not consider that a “grind” at all. In fact, you’d probably be extremely happy doing what you love, even with the long hours of hard work required to be a professional musician.
Plato was saying “Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” It’s not work-life balance or “the grind”; it’s the career choices you make. As an entrepreneur colleague said to me many years ago, “Don’t chase your dreams: hunt them down.” This is the true pursuit of happiness. And it’s never too late to start.
Greg Glass
Claremont