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27.6>24 for how to get a job better suited to me

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Hi all, hope you lovely people are having a good weekend.

So, I'm four months into my new job. And I'm exhausted on every level. It's a great job, but not great for me. It's a very young technology culture (I'm in my 50s) and the job is different than what was proposed to me in significant ways, and it has a crazy workload that makes it pretty all-consuming of my time. It pays well, but there's no meaning or mission to the work, or connection to my values. My art and health/spiritual practices are completely sidelined as I just work, maintain life, commute, and try to recover for the next week. And I seem to be sensitive to the air in the office building — sneezing, coughing, hoarse intermittently during the days there.

I asked the I Ching how I could find a better job for me. I want to be clear that it isn't a bad job, and I'm grateful and fortunate to have work with a desirable company and a good income. I was recruited for the job by someone I like and respect enormously. These things have not been the norm for me ever. Yet I worry that I'm paying too high a price when I don't have that many years left to do what matters, taking a very long detour that I don't have time for, and always feel like an outsider there who will never fit in. (Is there ever any way to balance the need for time and the need for income and health insurance?)

Response was 27.6>24. Focus on spiritual practice, whatever it takes? Get back to where I once belonged, wherever that is? Find ways to take better care of myself in the situation as it is? I know I need a plan; I can't give up the job, but doing this for the long term feels soul-killing.

Thank you, dear people. I appreciate your insight and experience with the I Ching.
 

Trojina

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I've seen this line come up several times where people are carving their own route towards making a living. It's pioneer work in the sense that no one else ever did it so it's all down to you. The nourishment comes from you, you create it. It's 'dangerous' and also 'good fortune' because it's risky and also others come to feed off you.

In practise how can that be seen in the light of your question of how to get a job better suited to you

Several things come to mind

1. You are far more indispensable than you imagine at work. Perhaps you are doing way more than anyone else ? Perhaps they are 'feeding' off you ?

2. Your way of finding nourishment, ie money to live off, lies in doing something unique or something not done before in the way you do it. It shouts 'self employment'. Now self employment is scary, so the line isn't promising great rewards, but in terms of what 'calls' you, I think this is something you yourself create, manage, market and so on.

3. Often people can burn out with the 27.6 route so you have to watch out for that. Also as often there is no existing structure to support the route you take you can over work, not know when to stop and so on. I imagine starting one's business is like this. There's the 'danger'. The 'good fortune' is living your life as you wish I guess.


It looks to me therefore that either you don't realise those in your existing job are reliant on you....and maybe you'd feel better if you realised your own value

OR

you need to go self employed in a new field, something you develop yourself...being aware of the pitfalls and the pleasures.

It's quite a clear answer...it's saying everything lies with you. You yourself can create the situation you want.
 
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Thank you for such a thoughtful and interesting answer! I've done self-employment several times; I'm not very good at it. Last year I made almost no income, so being recruited for this job was a life-saver in a way. I knew it would be out of my comfort zone and that I'd be the oldest one there by far, but it's proven to be much, much harder than I imagined.

But you may be right that I'm needed there somehow, and also right that if I can regain some financial stability I can return to self-employment in a different form. I have never tried it with the things that mean the most to me. Thank you Trojina.

And I welcome any other comments or thoughts!
 
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Thinking about Trojina's response, I asked "What is the work I need to be doing?" and got 64.2 > 35. The wagon is loaded but I need to wait before beginning the journey.
 

Liselle

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‘Origin of nourishment.
Danger, good fortune.
Fruitful to cross the great river.’
(Hilary's translation)

I'm not at all sure about this, but do you think there could be anything to be gained by talking to the person who recruited you? The line mentions the "origin of nourishment" - if the job is your nourishment, then this person was the origin of that, right? 24 as the relating hexagram could mean "renewal" - maybe your current job could undergo a renewal of sorts, to make it more suitable for you? You said that the job has turned out not to be as it was presented, in ways that are not good for you.

64.2 as the answer to your follow-up question might also fit with that - Yi might be saying, wait a minute, slow down here, you're going off on the wrong track with this question (Yi's responses do not have to be, and a noticeable amount of the time aren't, direct answers to the literal question asked).

Having said that - as I said, I'm not sure about this. Think about it carefully to see how you feel about it - "complaining" to your boss, no matter how nicely you do it or how justified you are, may not be received well. On the other hand, if Yi really is advising you to pursue changes to your current job, then it will be okay: fruitful to cross the great river - fruitful to take a chance, talk to someone, try to make things better for yourself. You might ask Yi another question, like "What if I talk to ___ about [my hours, my workload, whatever]?"

Another thought, more in line with what Trojina said about how it's up to you - what if you just cut your hours yourself, to something more reasonable? Just take it upon yourself to leave at a decent hour? Again, I'm not there and I have no idea how that would be received. Are you working so much because people really expect you to, or have you just sort of fallen in line with what other people are doing, even if you yourself wouldn't have to? Is it possible that other people are working so much because they want to? (People do exist who live for their jobs; they may or may not expect everyone else to do the same.) This is also something you could ask Yi about.
 
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Two and a half years later, I'm still at the job, still feel exactly the same way about it - it's burning me out and not good for me, and I can't find a way to leave - and I feel like things might be coming to a turning point of needing to leave. I asked the I Ching this morning what I need to know now, and got 27.6 again. This is not a common response from the Yi for me. Imagine my surprise to look at threads for this line and find my own question!
In the time since then, it turned I was indeed sick (I had mononucleosis that first summer). I have survived through three rounds of layoffs, a major acquisition of the company, and met a few personal goals - I got a certificate in museum studies, something I've wanted to study. So here I am again with winter approaching, I turn 60 next month, and my job keeps changing to be less creative and less purposeful. So it was good to read these thoughts again from Trojina and Liselle! Thank you!
 

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