Slash Lifestyle: Exploring the Hidden Self Doing what you are interested in is the key to a successful slash lifestyle.
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The recent advancement of information technology, globalization, change in the business context and online opportunity has drastically changed the way people work. Nine-to-five jobs are becoming obsolete, and many employees are becoming independent workers, such as freelancers.
In this situation, some people work more than one job. These individuals take multiple projects from various clients and are known as "slash." Thus, a slash is a person who performs multiple jobs simultaneously or who pursues multiple careers at once. The concept of slash was first introduced by New York Times columnist and author Marci Alboher who described the slash lifestyle as a new way of successful work-life balance.
How a slash lifestyle contributes to a successful work-life balance is an important, yet different, topic.
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What is the slash lifestyle?
The principal investigator at CLAP (a Hong Kong-based initiative for youth), Professor Victor Wong, is closely studying slash lifestyle. According to Wong, working multiple jobs is not a new phenomenon. He argued that many people have worked several full and part-time jobs in the past to provide for their families. Their objective was to make a decent income through multiple channels.
On the other hand, a slash person can work in paid or unpaid roles. Therefore, the objective of a slash person is not income. There is no doubt that income is a primary motive for working more; however, a slash lifestyle does not always involve money as the primary motivator. Therefore, the objective difference differentiates slash people from their ancestors who work on multiple jobs.
Professor Wong further explained that slash people pursue multiple careers based on their interests and hobbies. Thus, a slash lifestyle can be understood as a way of life, based on curiosity and one's thirst for exploring their inner self. Instead of generating income through multiple streams, slash people work on multiple meaningful projects, which leads to achievement in the end and helps them create an identity for themselves.
Slash people take the jobs which reflect their skills, expertise and values beyond their educational qualification or specialization. Slash people experience different events, explore their talents and grow their professional and social networks. Hence, a slash lifestyle enables people to achieve inner satisfaction and recognition by growing as individuals with multiple talents.
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Personal motivations for the slash lifestyle
One more factor that distinguishes slash lifestyle from the concept of having more than one job in the past is the people themselves.
Usually, people with financial struggles hold multiple jobs, but slash people cannot necessarily belong to the low-income group. A slash person might be a millionaire, a businessman, an athlete or even a middle manager. Slash lifestyle has no boundaries.
For example, one of Hollywood's most famous names is Justin Timberlake, a musician with a very successful career in the music industry who earns millions of dollars in sales. But Timberlake has multiple careers, including a clothing line (Willian Rast), a restaurant known as AvroKo, and he's even been involved with MySpace. He also explores his talents as a businessman despite being a professional songwriter and musician.
Studies have shown that the latest generations, especially millennials, choose to be free agents, unlike the traditional workforce. Therefore, Professor Wong argues, "Slash generation is coming."
Becoming a slash person might seem difficult given the observation that some people struggle in their single careers. However, any person can become one if they utilize the right tools and explore their hidden talents. The slash lifestyle involves multiple careers based on hobbies and interests, not doing multiple jobs to earn more. Therefore, slash means following one's passion and doing what creates happiness.
