Someone else's game

Every game has rules and objectives.  Do this, don't do that.  When you get this, you win. 

Professions also have their rules and objectives.  Work overtime.  Get a raise.  Publish papers.  Apply for grants.  Whoever gets the most money / publications / funding wins.

But what if you don't need that much money or that many publications or that much funding?  Maybe this isn't the game for you. 

You don't have to play someone else's game.

The carpet merchants

I once heard about a group of carpet merchants whose shops are all next to each other in the marketplace.  Individually, they don't keep regular hours.  As soon as one of them makes the amount he wants for the day, he'll close up shop and leave the rest of the day's business to the others.

When I first heard about them, I thought, "Don't they know how to do business?"  Then I thought, "Wow!  How altruistic!  Instead of competing, they're sharing the business."  Now, I see it differently.

They're just choosing how to spend their time.  Once they have the money that they need, they move on with the rest of their day and do other things.  Instead of living to make money, these merchants making money to live.

Your Life or Your Money

If someone put a gun to your head and asked you to choose between keeping your life or keeping your money, you would surely keep your life and give away your money. But every day, millions of people go to work, to jobs that they hate. Thereby, in effect, giving up their lives in exchange for money. Every day.