Financial Independence, Corporate Jobs & the Mental Health challenge

In today’s fast-paced world, many people find themselves immersed in the corporate grind, working long hours, chasing promotions, and trying to climb the corporate ladder. While corporate jobs offer financial stability, a sense of belonging and some glamour (sometimes), they often come at a cost to mental health due to the pressures and competition. So does Financial Independence offer a solution to this ever growing issue?

As young adults, we often start off our corporate careers with great enthusiasm, expecting to achieve great things and enjoy immense satisfaction and remuneration along the way. After a few years of working in said jobs, the reality for most of us is quite different. Sure a few will climb the corporate ladder fast and with great passion (usually the good talkers) but for the majority its a slow climb, with lots of hard work, several setbacks and stress to accompany it.

With this stress comes a level of Mental Health challenges that perhaps a lot of us don’t even acknowledge but there are very obvious signs all around us that point to plenty of issues that arise from these environments. In my 25 years of being involved in the corporate world (albeit mainly from the outside), I have not encountered many people bounding into an office early on a Monday morning, thrilled to be there, just eager to work their magic and change the world in the week ahead.

Yes there will be a percentage of such individuals for sure throughout the world but they coined the phrase ‘Monday Blues’ for a good reason. Monday is usually not the favorite day in the week for most office workers, as its the start of a fast paced week full of deadlines, stress and endless meetings. Now this may be manageable if you are doing it for a short while but if you take into consideration the 40 to 50 years of working life of most of us, that’s a lot of Blue Mondays to get through! Over time, that surely can’t be good to general wellbeing and mental health for anyone.

So this post is all about exploring the relationship between corporate work, mental health, and the significant benefits that financial independence can bring to this equation.

Corporate jobs often come with attractive perks, including a steady income, benefits, and the promise of career advancement. You only have to look at job sites like Indeed to see how some job adverts sound amazing and enticing. I remember going to my University employers day, where we had a variety of employers showing their wares, looking for those bright sparks to work for them, throwing lollies at the students to entice them. One has to admit there is a certain allure as a young adult of dressing up, going to a formal and glamourous office, meeting other office professionals and feeling important in the work one does.

There are also a lot of perks of a corporate job.

• The most obvious one being the salary that comes in on a regular (weekly, fortnightly or monthly) basis, allowing you to build and enjoy certain comforts of life. There are also several benefit that society attaches to having a regular income. For example, if you wanted to get a mortgage to buy a home, the banks often give preference to people with steady and regular incomes, as that reduces the risk for them from a lending perspective. The other advantage is that you can setup automatic payments for expenses and any savings, knowing that these will be fulfilled on a regular basis due to the regular salary
• Apart from the money perks, there are a range of other benefits a lot of people get from working in a corporate job. For one, its the feeling of belonging that comes with being part of a team or company with a overarching objective in achieving some goals or producing some benefits for the community and others. As part of the sense of belonging comes companionship, friendship and just socialization with others. This is especially important for people who live on their own or have moved away from family and friends to take up a job. Sometimes, the job and office is the main place of socialization and interaction with others of similar interests and aspirations
• Jobs also give a lot of us a sense of achievement and aspiration to achieve. Right from the time you finish your studies, the sense of achievement when you get your first job can’t be played down. After all, you probably studied or learned a trade for several years in order to get the job. Once in the job, there are also several levels of achievement that can be obtained. You may start off in the company as a graduate and make your way up over a number of years to a manager, then senior manager and perhaps one day a Chief Executive, CEO, Partner or Director of the company. As you go up the corporate ladder, the benefits increase, right from the financial benefits, to the sense of achievement and of self worth and self importance.
• Jobs also often give you other perks like holidays & sick leave. Unlike when you run your own business, you can quite simply forget about your work when you are on holiday or sick leave (although sometimes that is harder said that done) but still get paid for those days off. So your income remains unaffected when you are away from the office, which is a great perk to have, especially if you are on sick leave.
• Some companies even offer health insurance and superannuation package incentives to their employees, which are not only beneficial to you but sometimes also for your family. If the company has a good superannuation scheme, that can take care of your retirement years and perhaps even help your family when you are gone.
• Apart from the above obvious benefits, there are other benefits like travel that sometimes come into the equation. I remember my first real job and how exciting it was to become a real adult in the real workforce. The highlight of my first year of working a full time job was when I was told I would need to fly to a different city for a few days to meet with some clients. When I got on that plane and it took off, I knew I had made it in life! Imagine going on a trip with all hotel, food and travel expenses paid. It was a dream come true!
• One other perk that I particularly loved was the frequent catered events that come up at work, for one reason or another. As young graduates, we were always thrilled to see a fancy spread for lunch after a meeting or the Friday evening drinks and bar put up by the company. Whoever said there was no such thing as a free meal was obviously wrong, as I have had several!

So as you can see there are numerous benefits that can be attributed to a job, especially a corporate job where the company provides for a lot of things that you would have had to if you did not have such a job.

The Not So Glamourous Parts of a Job

As mentioned above, I was absolutely thrilled when I first had to start flying to different cities for work. The fact that I had an all expenses paid trip was enough to get my out of bed early and look forward to the flight and trip. Fast forward a few months and several work trips later, I started to realise that these trips were not actually as glamourous as I initially thought they were. Yes everything was paid for but the day was usually quite long, with lots of meetings, which meant more work for me to finish in the evenings, ready for the next day of meetings.

That’s not quite the travel holiday that I was hoping work trips would be. The deadlines, the colleagues trying to get ahead of you and the bosses trying to get as much out of you as possible just added to the pressure rather than the pleasure. With the perks listed above come the other side of jobs, the not so glamourous parts

• Pressure and stress – comes with most if not all jobs. You could argue that comes with all aspects of life but I beg to differ and will explain why though this post. Life always has pressures and stressful situations, those don’t change regardless of whether or not you have a job. However, the corporate job itself comes with its own set of pressure and stress that is created due to and part of the job. The most common of course is working with difficult people and/or bosses. Most if not all of us would have had to deal with an absolutely charming individual or two through our careers. Sometimes its a colleague, sometimes its a boss. Regardless, the stress caused with trying to navigate around and through such prickles of these individuals has been the cause of several employee disputes, health issues and more. You cant avoid it, the nature of being in a corporate competitive environment often brings out the worst in people as they let their ambition, greed and other emotions drive their behavior.
• Deadlines and rushing around – in most offices, you will mostly see people with grim or worried expressions, running around like there was a fire burning behind them or a rather large wild animal in chase. There is never, in my observation, peace and calm in an office environment, its all very rushed and full of anxiety about the next deadline or issue to resolve.

The Effect of The Corporate Job on our Mental Health

The demands and pressures of the corporate world can take a toll on mental health. The relentless pursuit of success in corporate settings can lead to high levels of stress and burnout. We will delve into the causes of workplace stress and how it affects employees’ mental well-being. Many corporate professionals work long hours, sacrificing their personal lives for the sake of their careers. We will discuss the importance of work-life balance and how corporate work often disrupts it. The stigma surrounding mental health remains prevalent in corporate environments. We will examine the challenges employees face when addressing mental health issues in the workplace.

Financial independence is the ability to cover one’s living expenses and achieve personal goals without being reliant on a traditional 9-to-5 job. We will explore the different paths to financial freedom, including saving, investing, and entrepreneurship. Financial freedom provides a safety net that can reduce the stress associated with corporate work. We will discuss how having savings and investments can provide peace of mind in times of job insecurity.

With financial independence, individuals have the freedom to pursue their passions and interests outside of their corporate jobs. We will share inspiring stories of people who have leveraged their finances to explore new avenues. Financial freedom can enable individuals to negotiate better work arrangements, such as reduced hours or remote work. We will explore how this flexibility can lead to an improved work-life balance.

Leaving a corporate job to pursue financial independence can be daunting. We will discuss how individuals can make a smooth transition and mitigate risks.Many corporate jobs offer valuable benefits and retirement plans. We will explore how employees can leverage these benefits to build wealth and work toward financial independence. Maintaining mental health while working toward financial independence is essential. We will offer mindfulness and self-care strategies to navigate the challenges of both corporate work and financial planning.

The corporate grind can be mentally and emotionally taxing, but financial independence offers a path to greater freedom, reduced stress, and improved mental health. By understanding the relationship between corporate work, mental health, and financial independence, individuals can make informed decisions about their career and financial future. Whether you choose to continue in corporate work or embark on a journey to financial independence, prioritizing your mental well-being is a crucial step toward a more fulfilling life.