How do you deal with the daily grind of your career?
I just turned 40 and I have been a commercial driver (trucker) for almost 19 years
For a long time it was easy to get up and go because there was a constant string of firsts to get me excited. First time to a city I hadn’t been to, first time in a new state, first time hauling a particular freight, first time seeing a lot lizard ect. For the past year or so it’s been a lot harder to get up and be excited for the day because now it’s so routine kinda the been there done that got the T-Shirt to prove it mentality.
I know I could go work for someone else that hauls different things so I can get the feeling of newness again but I love the company I work for and don’t want to leave.
How do you all deal with this
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Day-to-day, trying to attend trainings and grow my skills. I’ve got time throughout the days/weeks to dive into topics that are tangential to my area of expertise but really helpful/impressive to be conversational in. Not sure how much that applies to your situation, but it’s what I’ve done.
Another thing to remember is to take a few easy breaths and really enjoy your time off. We generally work to support our and our families’ needs, but we also work to have nice things and nice experiences. Don’t let those experiences get lost in the chaos. Be conscious of the good times while they’re happening.
And lastly, and probably least helpful – just embrace the suck, man. For better or worse, this is the lifestyle we all chose or were swept into. It can be dull, repetitive, etc. Better than a lot of alternatives though, and just the way it is for many of us.
For me it’s having a long term goal, work backwards to medium term plans, and short term things I need to do to be on my way. Then I become intentional about things I’m doing and it’s given an extra layer of meaning.
Work to live don’t live to work.
Once I established myself in the career I shifted my focus to other things that I could now afford to do because I was making good money. Hobbies travel food whatever you like to do then do that. The job is only to fund your life outside of it.
I am just now leaving the grind phase. 33yo. Now my focus is on executive presence, networking, leadership, etc.
The daily grind is rough. Stay strong dude find some time for yourself to reduce burnout
20 years in the industry should have set you up for an exit strategy.
Average commercial truck driver in the states is $107,000 a year, upto $170,000 so after 19 years id expect you to be around $140 if its a good company.
19 years of that gives you around $2,500,000.
Say you bought a house 15 years ago for $200,000, that leaves you with $2.3 million for living expenses and fun things.
If thats gone and youre not happy, id suggest saving for 5 more years and finding something part time with $600k in the bank and enjoy life a bit more
Remember what you’re grinding for.
If you dont have something you’re grinding for, you need to get one. Whether it be as something as foundational as financial security/retirement to something more conventional but powerful like family and legacy. If you don’t feel that reason is strong enough, you need to find another reason.
While yes you need to work and grind, you also need to live with purpose and progress.
I spent up to my late 20’s working a trade (Carpenter) and full time student (Nights and Evenings). I found after grinding that hard for almost a decade, life was pretty good – Even during crunch time on a work project.
I remember that I like to eat good food and drink good booze and go on vacations and my kids will want to go to college.
A little gratitude can go a long way. Loving the company you work for is a bit priceless these days. A lot of people do not like who they work for, or their job is the rocks, etc. I’m just a bit older than you and I lost my career path when the pandemic hit. Still trying to get a new good thing going so when I read about anyone in a stable job that they don’t hate, I’m a bit a jealous.
tbh, I’ve been like that since I started working. Every couple years I’ve learned the tricks in the game and I know how to play it. I get bored and start losing interest in what I’m doing. Then something news comes along and gets me back up to challenge again.
Normally every 2 / 3 years I need to shift gears to keep going. That can be in the current company, but it can also be on a different company. The longest I’ve had 1 specific job was 5 years.
Currently running at 3 years in my job, already had my bore out last year and was applying already. Luckily current job changed enough to get back to me and now I’m having a blast again. I really like working and my job is really part of my life. i don’t want to work from home, or part time, etc, I just like to be at the factory I work at and contribute.
I retired at 49. Went back to work for my mentor 2 months later. You can smoke all the cigars, drink all the whisky and fly fish the world. That too gets boring.