I think you can chose among three paths when it comes to your career.
- The enough-to-get-by-job: you make enough to get by. You do not care about a fancy lifestyle. You just want to make enough to be able to enjoy some of this world’s beauty. You want to be an observer maybe, to consume, but you do not necessarily see the need to be a part of all of this. Perhaps cause all is meaningless anyhow, so the best one can do is to enjoy it, right? You might look back one day though and realize that you wasted your potential to contribute to society, since humans are, inherently, social creatures that seek approval from others.
- The money-making-job: you strive to have a highly demanding job in exchange for a generous salary. This job leaves you little time to enjoy the world, but when you do, you enjoy it to the fullest. After all you have the means to do so. This also mostly comes with a lot of prestige and hence social approval. Looking back you will most likely be content with what you have achieved, no wasted potential here, you did your best. If you will be happy though, is questionable. To some people money and success truly is happiness.
- The true-calling-job: this job serves neither the purpose of making big money nor funding other things that are actually enjoyable to you. Primarily at least, of course it does both those things as well. Its primary purpose is to combine happiness and being content with what you contributed to society’s advancement. These are the helpers, the scientists, the inventors.
