Professional Prestige & Fulfillment | Asian American Poll

PROFESSIONAL PRESTIGE & FULFILLMENT
(Updated Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 05:09:59 PM to reflect the 100 most recent valid responses.)

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WHAT YOU SAY

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"You don't have to be rich to be happy. You can be happy just being middle class, like me. I have no qualms with that. It's very comfortable and satisfying."

Sorry, but I disagree. I'd rather be rich, and have a lot of money and free time to do the things that I want to do. That would make me a lot happier than being middle class and working for a wage the rest of my life, then looking forward to an uncertain retirement.

All people are different. What satisfies one person is a prison to another.

"...it's not worth it to kill yourself making tons of money that you'll never have time to enjoy."

It IS worthwhile to enjoy the tons of money after you've made it. It feels good...damn good.

"You're more likely to say, "Damn, i wasn't there when my daughter was born. I wasn't there at a lot of my son's games. I wish i could have spent more time with my wife.""

Why not retire early with enough income to last the rest of your life, and spend that time with your family? Why not work hard to make a lot of money, then enjoy it?

Do not downplay the importance of money. That is a myth. When I hear "Money is not important", it usually means "I don't know how to make more money so I'll rationalize and say it is not important to me". Look at the divorce rate today - a large proportion is due to financial stress. Money is a powerful tool, and learning to acquire and manage money is one of the most important steps toward a fulfilling life.
Get Real Thursday, January 10, 2002 at 08:26:15 (PST)

sorry to break the thread, as this is a very interesting one, but I have an urgent question!

how do people deal with office politics -i read the article [Office Politics for Non-Politicians], and I am finding myself in the position of next target (in fact, I may already be "dead meat").
In my current office, I am the only minority, and I believe that it was the result of tokenism and to save them from having to deal with some sort of racism charges. the previous person in my position claimed that they were being racist and they got rid of her (she was a temp) and claimed that she was incompetent. I believe that they are on their way to claiming that I am incompetent, even though I know that this is not the case, as I create fewer errors than a newer person (white) who has been consistently offered more chances than I have. This newer person is a loud, crude, and obnoxious person who bullies her way through everything. I am pretty quiet, and it is easy for her to run over me. I don't know what to do about this, but I can see that they are potentially setting me up to be chopped. Every mistake I make is being loudly announced, whereas for all the others' mistakes, glossed over.

I don't know what to do about this. I hate the way things are going.
Job Woes Thursday, January 10, 2002 at 03:34:11 (PST)

AC Drop Out,

"Try many things" is your advice huh? Yea that's true about the hairdresser and stuff. I guess no matter what you do, if you are best at it, you'd be guaranteed to make big bucks. I'll try different things in college.

Thanks,
jjk Wednesday, January 09, 2002 at 15:02:25 (PST)

AA Renaissance,

"if you don't make a hefty salary, then your are not a good person!"

That's definitely not true. Personally I believe one should make as much money as possible. One should not limit oneself to the amount of money they can make because of the notion that money is evil or will bring unhappiness (which is a myth).

That is the limitation of JD and MD field. You are mostly dependent on your own work to provide a service for income. That is somewhat different than setting up a corporation and delegating responsibilties to employees. Granted JD and MD can set up corporations around themselves to generate income (Large law firms and Hospitals). But JD, MD, and entrepruers will have to work hard to reach finacial freedom.

American education is sink or swim. There is no baseline and there is no ceiling. It will let you get left behind or if you are talented enough you can soar to unlimited heights. It is not a socialist system.

MBA are only good as people for entreprenuer to hire to make weekly report and manage workers. Most of the stuff you learn in MBA is about analysis. Keep the business running day to day. How to present idea to other MBA graduate. They have a place in the corporate world, but that is not the secret of how to be an entreprenuer.

Beside starting out small the other aspect is to discover you deal in a competitive environment. Once you figure out how you (the heart and soul of the company) will realise your concept in a competitive environment, the rest will fall into place.

Those that came into the company at 60K through connections are not entreprenuers. They are just resources the entreprenuer uses to realise their concept. You need to speak to person who started or is expanding the company, to get insight to an entrepreneur.

After a certain point, when the company is stable. $$$ and market share is all that is left in going to work in the morning. It is like a board game. Competitors are pieces to be wiped off the board. And money and market share are the score cards.

The vaule of money in real life can get skewd at this point. Because the business might be dealing in millions to survive, and it only take a few thousand for the individual to live comfortably.

An example of this conflict occur recently when I need to buy a timepiece. Since the last one I had broke 3 years ago. At the point when I was about spend quite a sum of moeny, my friend tapped me on the shoulder and she whispered in my ear, "Is this purchase out of neccesity or status?"

That comment delayed my purchase. Because I still see myself as middle class, to spend the amount of my employee annual salary on a timepiece is somewhat ridiculous. But the question is how long will I hold on to those values. I still don't have a watch.
AC dropout Wednesday, January 09, 2002 at 11:17:55 (PST)

Valley Chinese Dude,

That is correct you don't need lots money to be happy. However, I just disagree on the point of the concept "Too much money will bring unhappiness".

Granted it is some sort of pychological salve for those that cannot never reach fiancial freedom. But it also can have adverse effect on people who have the ability to reach financial freedom.... "Whoops I made too much money. I think I have to feel unhappy now." I met a few of those at in my circle. I'm like "nouveau riche is better than never riche." So I find adages about the unhappy rich person like that to be just bad and untrue.

As for my friend who flipped he was teaching a Junior High School. I don't think grade school would be that bad. But after Junior High it is like a war zone. Think back at my days as a student, I think being a teacher in HS or JHS has a bad reward/punishment return ratio. Perhaps college....since students are spending a lot of money to learn and pranking is pretty much out of the system. Each need to find a goal in life if you think it is teaching, that's great. I just wanted to impart some knowledge as to some of the pitfalls in teaching.
AC dropout Wednesday, January 09, 2002 at 10:37:17 (PST)

Valley Chinese Dude,
believe me bro, I SEE YOUR POINT! There was a time in my life when I felt making 100K a year was being successful. However, seeing some of the housing prices around here is making me think twice about that feeling. Up until a year ago, I was renting an apartment and paying some 24K a year just for housing. That's like a fourth of my pay check EVERY YEAR! It got to the point where I could only afford to eat and pay for my car after a while. I figured I would NEVER be able to pay for a house at that rate so I moved back in with my mother about a year ago. At least now, I can have a savings account. So put it this way, in the Silicon Valley, as long as your stocks are worth something, you'll be ok.
Thanks,
Kevin Yang Wednesday, January 09, 2002 at 09:55:09 (PST)

Here's a not so surprising survey of lawyers in America:

According to a 1992 poll conducted by California Lawyer magazine, 70 percent of lawyers surveyed said they would start a new career if they could. A 1990 American Bar Association survey indicated that 23 percent of all lawyers were dissatisfied with their careers. A 1990 John Hopkins University study found that lawyers had a greater rate of depression than workers in any of the 104 other occupations studied.

An anonymous California lawyer and journalist (whose nom de plume is "The Rodent") writes a column about life as an associate inside one of America's law firms. The Rodent receives many letters from other lawyers. "Many of us feel trapped...and can relate to the frustration and other emotions expressed by the lawyers who wrote these letters," concludes a recent column. An associate from Florida sums up his existence this way: "Wake up in the morning, bill, eat, bill, eat and bill at the same time, bill, go to sleep."

Other lawyers have referred to themselves as "slaves" or "gerbils" in their anonymous letters.

Could things get worse? Well, yes. Lawyers have among the highest suicide rates, lowest popularity ratings, highest pressure, and longest hours of almost any profession that exists. It's depressing, to say the least. On top of that, since 1989 lawyers have been subject to the previously unheard of sting of layoffs and downsizing.

I'm not trying to spread negativity about the legal profession, but just presenting a realistic picture. Yes, there are lawyers who love their work. The point is- one should not go into law to escape other things or merely to make more money. Most lawyers are not super wealthy. Even if you are making so much money, you are really working for it (long hours, sometimes tedious work, pressure).

Asian American Lawyer Wednesday, January 09, 2002 at 09:41:47 (PST)

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