If you aren’t happy with your work — change it.
The options are not just:
1. Work 40 hours a week for someone else until retirement.
2. Start a business, work alone until you can afford to leave your job, and hustle until you've saved enough for retirement.
There’s nothing wrong with either option. The problem is, this is the equivalent of believing that chicken and steak are the only edible foods. And if you can't eat chicken and steak every day, for the rest of your life, there's something wrong with you.
That's ridiculous.
Should someone be able to live in a cage without wanting to get out? Would that make them good, well-adapted, or more conscious?
I don’t think so. I believe there are as many ways to work and contribute to society as there are human beings on this planet.
Here are just a few:
Start a business with a business partner who specializes in areas you don’t.
Sell your art at summer and winter art fairs. Rent out your property on Airbnb, travel the rest of the year to write your novel.
Work part-time for yourself and part-time for a company, because you want flexibility and you like to work on a team.
Start a business. Grow that business until you can hire and lead a team because you love gathering humans to work toward a common goal.
Work full time for a company and start a business. Work hard for 10 years, save money, and retire early.
Cut your expenses so you can work 15 hours/week and hike mountains. Say no to new work projects.
Find two part time jobs you love, because you like a variety of work.
Be a solopreneur, but hire contractors, coaches, and partners so you don’t feel alone.
I could go on forever. The options are limitless. There’s no one right way to work. And you have a choice.
To make a conscious choice, we need to unravel some old ways of thinking.
1. Staying with one company until retirement isn’t more honorable than switching jobs every 3 years. I'd rather be in a wonderfully loving 3 year relationship than feel dead inside of a lifelong relationship. Doing something for a long time is not inherently good.
2. Sticking with your business for 30 years isn’t better than closing your business to start a new one, even if you do it every few years. If I woke up tomorrow and hated pizza, even though I love it today – would that make me wrong? I don't think so. A person's skills, preferences, and desires change. What would make ignoring that responsible or good?
3. Working 60 hours a week doesn’t make you more important than someone who doesn't work. There is no way to measure human worth. Philosophers have been debating this for centuries and there is no consensus. The more interesting question is: does believing human worth is measured by hours worked serve you? Do you like the life you create when you believe that? I don't, so I've stopped. Your answer may be different. I encourage you to find it.
There is no right way to work.
This may contradict what your parents and grandparents told you. It certainly flies in the face of the Protestant work ethic and the belief that productivity = goodness.
And that’s okay. It's time for change.
People are working so much they don't have the energy to be with their kids, rest, cook, or work out. One in five Americans is living with depression or anxiety. Companies intentionally under-staff to increase their profits, regardless of the impact on their employees' mental health.
It's an archaic system, based on an outdated way of thinking. If you aren’t happy with your work – change it. You are not powerless, you are not trapped, and this is not just the way life is.
You have choices. A lot of them.
Everything is now on the menu.
Your coach,
Christine
PS. I’ll walk with you the entire way. If you want to start a business, I’ll teach you how. If you want to work 2 days a week so you can live on a llama farm in the mountains – we’ll create a plan and you'll get started, one step at a time. If you’re so burnt out you don’t know what you want, I’ve got you. Burn out just means things can't keep going the way they are. Wherever you are, you can do this. You’re only stuck if you let yourself be stuck. But nobody is going to come save you. You’ve got to decide to save yourself. When you do, I’m here to help. Click here to book a free consultation.