Designing your life: chapter 2 activity PDF

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Designing your life: chapter 2 activity...

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Week 2 Designing your Life A Workview should address the critical issues related to what work is and what it means to you. It is not just a list of what you from or out of work, but a general statement of your view of work. It’s your definition for what good work deserves to be. A Workview may address such questions as: 

Why work? o Currently, I work because I need the money. However, I hope one day to change the meaning of why I work. I want to work to make money and have a good standard of living, but I also want to feel satisfied, to feel like I have done something to make the world a better place. I hope work can become a passion for me, something that I am excited to do every day.

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What’s work for? o In its most basic definition, work is for paying the bills. But this is a very depressing thought. I don’t want to believe that this is all work is for. In fact, being stuck in a job that means nothing to me, but that I do because I have bills to pay gives me anxiety. I think work is for fulfilling passion and helping others.

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What does work mean? o Works means many different things at different times. Work is responsibility, stability, boredom, enjoyment, learning, helping, growing. It’s important to embrace the complexity of work so one can reframe the meaning of work when things slow down or are not going perfectly.

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How does it relate to the individual, others, society?

o Work relates to the individual because it’s a very big and personal aspect of one’s life. This is especially true if someone loves what they do for a living. Work relates to others because most people don’t work alone, they work with others. It also affects your relationship with everyone in your life because most people have to structure the rest of their life around their work. It’s that vital to life. It relates to society because all work reflects back onto society. This can be a positive or negative reflection. For example, working for a nonprofit organization would have a positive impact on society, but testing products on animals would have a negative impact on society. 

What defines good or worthwhile work? o I think what makes work good or worthwhile is defined by each person. I might find someone’s work pointless and boring, but they could find it fulfilling and vital to leading to happy life.

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What does money have to do with it? o Money has a lot to do with work. I can’t escape the fact that we all need money to survive and lead a happy life. However, it is a goal of mine to not only work for money. I want to feel a sense of fulfillment from the work that I do, and I want to feel like it is benefiting the quality of my life, not just paying my bills.

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What do experience, growth, and fulfillment have to do with it? o Experience, growth, and fulfillment in a job should have equal value to the money you earn from working. Unfortunately, this does not always happen for people. In fact, these kinds of things can feel like things only privileged people get to

experience but changing this mindset and striving towards finding a job that gives you these things is vital to living a meaningful life. Just as you did with the Workview, please write a reflection on your Lifeview. Below are some questions often addressed in a Lifeview, just to get you started. The key thing is to write down whatever critical defining values and perspectives provide the basis for your understanding of life. Your Lifeview is what provides your definition of what have been called “matters of ultimate concern.” It’s what matters most to you. • Why are we here? o I believe we are here to achieve our goals and to help others. We have no choice in being born so I suppose we are really here because out parents wanted us here. But it’s what we do with the time we have that means something. We have to focus on ourselves sometimes and focus on others sometimes. Keeping that balance is difficult but crucial to happiness and living a fulfilling life. • What is the meaning or purpose of life? o The purpose of life is what every you want to make it. This answer can be different for everyone but still hold equal value. Personally, I’m not sure if I have found my answer to this yet. I want to finish my education and find a job I love so that I can travel, provide for my loved ones, and help others. I think dying without regret and feeling as if you have done everything it your power to find happiness is my closest answer to the purpose of life. • What is the relationship between the individual and others?

o This is a crucial part of life. Human connection is vital to living a happy life. It’s a sad experience to live without any positive relationships. This aspect of life can be difficult and draining at times but also uplifting and positive at other times. Communication plays the biggest role in the relationship between the individual and others. This is why it’s essential people learn how to communication in a positive and effective manner. • Where do family, country, and the rest of the world fit in? o Family and country are very important aspects to life. This is especially true when you are a child. Where you grow up and who you are raised by affect you for the rest of your life. This still hold true into adulthood, but this is when I feel the rest of the world come into play more. When I was a child, I wasn’t aware of much behind my own backyard. Now that I’m an adult, I realize that there is a whole world out there. This is both exhilarating and terrifying. • What is good, and what is evil? o I don’t think anyone can answer this clearly. The grey areas of life make this too difficult to answer thoroughly. There are certain things in life that most would agree are evil such as rape and murder. However, there are many other things that people will disagree on as being good or evil. This is what makes communication so difficult! However, if we can learn to find common ground on these tricky subjects, we can have a better world. • What is the role of joy, sorrow, justice, injustice, love, peace, and strife in life?

o The roles of joy, sorrow, justice, injustice, love, peace, and strife all play important and necessary roles in life. Life is complex and requires a variety of emotions and experiences to make it truly complete. No one can be happy or sad all the time. Everyone will experience moments with these roles. It’s people’s jobs to appreciate the good times and work through the bad times. Read over your Lifeview and Workview, and answer each of these questions: 

Where do your views on work and life complement one another? o I think my views on work and life complement one another in the area of helping others. I hope I can find a career where I am helping others and that this will bleed into my life as well. I don’t want to leave this earth without knowing that my time here was positive.

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Where do they clash? o I think they clash in the enjoyment department. It’s just a fact of life that we live in a capitalist society. We need money to survive and we have to work to ensure we are living a good life. This can make it difficult to actually enjoy life. I hope that by getting my education, I will open up myself to better opportunities and better jobs so that I can have time away from work to enjoy life.

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Does one drive the other? How? o I think they definitely drive each other. I know that I need to work to live a fulfilling life. This is for financial reasons, for personal satisfaction in completing personal goals, creating relationships, and for helping others. If I didn’t work, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy any of these aspects in life....