What's wrong with being comfortable and complacent?

In the years past a lot of people on this forum seem to be against letting their guard down in regards to working for a company. While I agree you should learn new things, the question still stands, what's wrong with going through the motions and grinding daily. It seems to me a big part of working and sustain in an environment is treating your work effort / experience as a marathon. Instead of going 100%, dropping back to 85% and sustaining seems to be a better strategy.

Is this something I should of realized a lot sooner?

Thoughts on this concept? I don't suspect it will go over well since most people on this forum are ambitious (I think we all are to a certain degree).

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dave0212

Absolutely nothing, do what makes you happy and works for you. I am extremely driven and always looking to the next thing to do, always a number of ideas rattling around in my head. Although at the moment time is a luxury I still try to move things forward.

Mow

In my experience, people who are complacent are the ones who are complaining about their job, or they don't really know enough about their job to perform it well.

Personally, I am always paranoid that I don't know enough about a lot of things, so I am NEVER comfortable. However, I have a hard time going in any one direction, a problem I am resolving.

bpenn

Absolutely agree.

As a newish dad with a demanding wife, I find free time scarse and overly stressful to fly full speed ahead at 100%. As I am still young, I dont see the craze to knocking cert/degree out one after the other. I just take my time, actually ABSORB all the knowledge I can and dont overly push myself. It took me 5 months to pass the CISSP, but I didnt stress that as much as I would have had I pushed myself to the limits. I am 3 months in about to take my CCNA and simply taking my time and in no particular hurry.

Some days at work I prefer to not study on my downtime and just relax. Life is too short to lack complacency. Its good to just relax sometimes and take everything in slowly.

philz1982

N2IT wrote: »

In the years past a lot of people on this forum seem to be against letting their guard down in regards to working for a company. While I agree you should learn new things, the question still stands, what's wrong with going through the motions and grinding daily. It seems to me a big part of working and sustain in an environment is treating your work effort / experience as a marathon. Instead of going 100%, dropping back to 85% and sustaining seems to be a better strategy.

Is this something I should of realized a lot sooner?

Thoughts on this concept? I don't suspect it will go over well since most people on this forum are ambitious (I think we all are to a certain degree).

Not all success is measured by wealth and career. If you find that working a regular job with a company allows you to meet a goal of say being there for your family, or volunteering for a non-profit, or doing landscaping, or whatever. The point is you have a goal and are accomplishing it. For me wealth is a vehicle to a goal of being able to commit large chunks of time to my family and volunteering. For others wealth and success are unnecessary. It really depends on goals and motivation. As long as you have a goal and are pursuing that goal in my mind you are a success. Some people like missionaries and volunteer workers do not have material riches but they have social riches.

-Phil

tpatt100

What philz says pretty much is how I feel. My wife is happy where she is at because it is very family friendly, I am comfortable/safe where I am at now but want something different. My focus is going to be things that are family friendly such as short commute, benefits like more time off, etc.

dave330i

Is it easy for you to find new employment? If yes, then nothin wrong with being comfortable and complacent. If no, then is there needs to be some thinking and planning. Being comfortable and complacent is probably not the best plan.

olaHalo

It is my goal to climb to where I want and then become comfortable and complacent.

NetworkNewb

Happiness for one person does equate to happiness for another. We are alive for a short amount of time and it is best to fill that time with whatever each person is going to provide them with the most enjoyment. I'm at a point in my life where I don't want to sit still and learn as much as can right now. That is why I am here. I feel that the sacrifices I'm making right now will provide me more enjoyment for me and my family later on than if I was complacent. I'm pretty sure you're much farther along in your career and are at different place then I am as well.

Gonna be hard to find people who want to be complacent on a forum which is where most people come to learn how to learn and improve themselves...

Definitely doesn't mean it's a bad thing!

anoeljr

Everyone is their own person and has their own things that make them happy. Me personally, I don't worry about what others are doing or what they think of me. People will think of you one way, but if you do something they don't like or agree with then they'll think of you another way. As long as you're happy that's what matters.

BradleyHU

olaHalo wrote: »

It is my goal to climb to where I want and then become comfortable and complacent.

^^^this!

Christian.

N2IT wrote: »

In the years past a lot of people on this forum seem to be against letting their guard down in regards to working for a company. While I agree you should learn new things, the question still stands, what's wrong with going through the motions and grinding daily. It seems to me a big part of working and sustain in an environment is treating your work effort / experience as a marathon. Instead of going 100%, dropping back to 85% and sustaining seems to be a better strategy.

Is this something I should of realized a lot sooner?

Thoughts on this concept? I don't suspect it will go over well since most people on this forum are ambitious (I think we all are to a certain degree).

I think the answer for me is related as how a company sees you from a business perspective. You are a resource for a company either generating money, or in the case of IT, supporting the infrastructure or performing tasks needed to mantain revenue. If there are changes in the business model, your position may end up being obsolete or to expensive to keep.

If you became as you say, confortable and complacent, you will probably stop working in becoming a highly desirable asset for other companies. Your comfort and lifestyle will be in jeopardy when you realice that the job market now requires certain items that you don't have and you will have a harder time getting a new gig. It may not happen, but some people like to plan for when things may go wrong. Or even if you get tired of your position and want something else.

It's like having savings for a rainy day. You hope not having to use it, but you will be glad if you ever need them.

N2IT

For me operating at 85% allows me to avoid burnout at work, whereas if I was to "kill it" everyday I would destroy myself. In fact in the past I have noticed (including this job) my manager telling me to hit the breaks. Stating this can wait till Monday or it's not that important no worries. I want to snap into the culture and I feel pulling back helps align me. I'm a work-a-holic and I believe since I give it so much and I am not able to sustain, most of my work efforts after 1 year start to falter. Maybe this is the way I am wired, but bouncing from contract to contract has really had a tole on my wife and family. Women and children require stability and I believe this strategy to work. There is no facts or proof that hard work leads to career advancement. I've struggled with this for a long time, I honestly believe relationship and how well you are liked plays a bigger role. Not certifications, education, career and projects delivery etc.

bpenn

N2IT wrote: »

There is no facts or proof that hard work leads to career advancement. I've struggled with this for a long time, I honestly believe relationship and how well you are liked plays a bigger role. Not certifications, education, career and projects delivery etc.

Who you know plays such a major role...

I was able to network and meet many people when I began my career in the Air Force Reserves and that led to finding people willing to give me a chance because of the previous connections I made. I recommend making a positive impact on anyone you meet career-wise. You never know when that friend connection will pay off.

JoJoCal19

dave330i wrote: »

Is it easy for you to find new employment? If yes, then nothin wrong with being comfortable and complacent. If no, then is there needs to be some thinking and planning. Being comfortable and complacent is probably not the best plan.

THIS is exactly how I approach it. When it comes to my career, I want to be in the best position as possible to be able to remain gainfully employed, and if something should happen and I'm out of a job, I want to be able to hop to the next one with minimal time off. Now I will reach a point soon where salarywise I'm exactly where I want to be, and sometime within the next few years I'll be done with my educational goals and cert goals, so at that point I will be able to lift my foot off the throttle. However I am in InfoSec so there will always be the requirement of staying on top of security news, advances, threats, etc, but I'm ok with that.

kurosaki00

olaHalo wrote: »

It is my goal to climb to where I want and then become comfortable and complacent.

^^ I also agree with this

N2IT

Bpenn I agree. Number 1 on my list is treat people with respect and always try to view things from their vantage point. My focus is 90% that along with relationship building.

Kind of getting off track

I'm not condoning being lazy, that's not it at all. Just wanted to restate that.

philz1982

Being intelligent about your work and where you direct your efforts counts as well. You can put 100% into being an item stocker at Walmart and maybe gain $1/hr, or you can give 50% at the stocker role and 100% at school after hours and take a new job with a 100% raise.

Horrible analogy but directed effort versus blind effort.

N2IT

@ Philz agreed! Direction/Scope is very important. Effort all alone is sloppy and can lead to very little returns.

dave330i

N2IT wrote: »

There is no facts or proof that hard work leads to career advancement. I've struggled with this for a long time, I honestly believe relationship and how well you are liked plays a bigger role. Not certifications, education, career and projects delivery etc.

Not working hard, but working smart and submitting quality results.

hurricane1091

N2IT wrote: »

For me operating at 85% allows me to avoid burnout at work, whereas if I was to "kill it" everyday I would destroy myself. In fact in the past I have noticed (including this job) my manager telling me to hit the breaks. Stating this can wait till Monday or it's not that important no worries. I want to snap into the culture and I feel pulling back helps align me. I'm a work-a-holic and I believe since I give it so much and I am not able to sustain, most of my work efforts after 1 year start to falter. Maybe this is the way I am wired, but bouncing from contract to contract has really had a tole on my wife and family. Women and children require stability and I believe this strategy to work. There is no facts or proof that hard work leads to career advancement. I've struggled with this for a long time, I honestly believe relationship and how well you are liked plays a bigger role. Not certifications, education, career and projects delivery etc.

If someone is a jerk off and no one likes them, then they won't get hired. Johnny Boy might be best friends with someone and get hired because of that too, but the way I see it if you're not Johnny Boy then you just have to do everything in your power so someone can't refuse you.

+1 to the person who said they want to work hard until they get to where they want to be and then become complacent. That's no doubt the end goal. Work hard, study hard, switch jobs, whatever it takes to get to the top and then sit back and enjoy.

scaredoftests

There are times that you feel 'comfortable' and that is when a layoff occurred (happened to me more than once). So..learning something new or having to go for new certification..I really do not mind because that keeps one's mind alert etc.

joelsfood

There is nothing inherently wrong with being comfortable or complacent. The danger lies in the fact that IT is a rapidly changing and growing industry, and too much complacency can leave you behind. That being said, I highly recommend ensuring you take time out for family and friends. No salary is worth losing that

FWRN

Do what makes you happy.

I work with a large variety of people. Some enjoy spending 15 years in a helpdesk role, I'm not one of those people. Being the youngest in the company (hired at 19, now 21), I know where I want to be and I will do what I can to accomplish it.

N2IT

A lot of really good takeaways I appreciate the input. The original message comes off imo a little loser, but what I really was trying to focus on is balance without spending large cycles studying for whatever, not just certifications.

This is def not a anti cert thread, I think in moderation certs are fantastic especially when you employer pays for them and provides a bonus after you complete it.

Again thanks great community overall always great conversation.

doobu

Too many people ask where and how. I see a lot on message boards. I've done it myself.

"What's the best this..best cert for that...will this career do this...that..."

The best path is the one you carve yourself. It may not be easy at first, but in the end it's yours. I've only been able to be in the professional world for 2 years now, but I worked part-time slinging boxes at FedEx during college.

I slept 2 hours a day. I caught up on weekends. I had 18 hours of classes every semester including summer that started at 8AM and I got off of work at 6AM, Monday through Friday.

The key concept is what do you want? What are you willing to give for it? Are you willing to give for it?

Hard work is a fundamental life skill a lot are not taught these days, but I don't believe you should ever give 100% of yourself when get less than 100% back from your job/career. That creates burn out. Being complacent and idle creates burnout, too. You look at jobs. Websites. Start thinking "It'd be great to work there...hmm..hmm.."

I know this because I do it now. My current job has no more training. No more growth (I have to wait for someone to retire or die to advance). Should I be complacent because I like it? I already find myself giving less of what I'm capable and I feel ashamed for it, but it's only natural.

tl;dr If you don't know what you want, where you want to go, and who you are- no cert or career or job will be enough for you.

UnixGuy

I worked so hard, progressed quickly, and burned out quickly!

If today was your last day, how would you like to spend it?

^^ Answer this honestly, and take it from there...

Matt2

I've burnt out twice, and been complacent too much once. Whatever you do in your job (and life), always keep learning. But be balanced in what you do and what you pursue.

ArabianKnight

I will work to get to where I can get up at noon everyday and wear pajamas all day, and not have to worry about money ever, that will be the day when I can become comfortable and complacent:D

N2IT

Matt2 wrote: »

I've burnt out twice, and been complacent too much once. Whatever you do in your job (and life), always keep learning. But be balanced in what you do and what you pursue.

I agree with this here.

asmills85

N2IT wrote: »

In the years past a lot of people on this forum seem to be against letting their guard down in regards to working for a company. While I agree you should learn new things, the question still stands, what's wrong with going through the motions and grinding daily. It seems to me a big part of working and sustain in an environment is treating your work effort / experience as a marathon. Instead of going 100%, dropping back to 85% and sustaining seems to be a better strategy.

Is this something I should of realized a lot sooner?

Thoughts on this concept? I don't suspect it will go over well since most people on this forum are ambitious (I think we all are to a certain degree).

If you are comfortable where you are and happy with what you are doing, there is absolutely nothing wrong with it.