I’m a bad employee. I only work to get paid. I’m not driven by some altruistic goal to better the world around me and I don’t think I’m the only one.
It seems only the truly self-centered and pretentious individual believes that he is even part of the answer to Man’s problems. Yet when it comes to work, I’d like to be doing something useful with my limited time. I’d like to do something that will somehow make another human being happier, even if only for a moment and I don’t think I’m the only one.
So let me be clear; a good employee is obsessed with his work, because that is the most important thing in his measly life. However, for the rest of us, we have to work because that’s the system we choose to live in. We must earn our way through life.
I believe there’s a way to be a good employee without sacrificing your values in life. Come to the realization that work is just work and decide to do the best you possibly can at it. Be happy when you wake up and know that what you’re doing counts for something. Know that others really appreciate what you do. Seek to be part of something that you can be proud of.
If you can’t achieve those things, maybe you need to quit your job and find other means of employment.
In that way you can be a good employee who does great work and still have a life beyond your secular obligations. That’s what I want to do and I don’t think I’m the only one.