Archive for the ‘The 9-5 & Corporate Fluff’ Category
The Fourth Day of Christmas – Who’s In Control?
Did you sit there as a kid watching Dan Aykroyd & Bill Murray catch ghosts and wonder how much their annual salary was, what their 401k (superannuation) fund was like or how many hours per day they worked? Me neither. I wanted to be a ghost buster because it looked like fun, plain and simple.
Where did it all go wrong? At what point did you go from wanting to be a fireman, a life guard, a deep sea diver or a pro surfer into giving in to being a corporate mule?
Focus
I recently read a great article by Ash at The Middle Finger Project that touched on the subject of working at McDonalds in your teens. Working at the Big M isn’t a bad thing, you’re focused and work equals money. You don’t work there because you have a passion for the Big Mac Secret Sauce* or that you really admire the hamburglar. Our first jobs are often the most care free, you go to work to make money to enjoy your spare time, seems quite simple but as we’ve moved on we’ve forgotten what money is ACTUALLY for. Now it’s for paying off our new plasma television, the new car we didn’t need or our credit cards.
Life moves on from being completely carefree and slowly but surely you acquire responsibility. With this responsibility of supporting yourself brings the need for an income, with the income comes the overtime and spending on life’s little luxuries. Before you know it, you and everyone other man and his dog are running along in the same never ending race.
Who’s in Control?
What would happen if we all quit work tomorrow? I love a good ‘conspiracy’ at any time of day, and one of my favourites that I’m always involved in is the whole ‘working, paying taxes and being in the governments ‘rat race’.
It goes like this: you go to school and you’re told to get a well paying job, you then head to university to get a qualification for said well paying job, you start work, pay tax, get a house, suffer the wrath of interest rate fluctuations, watch TV and soak up the media and are easily influenced and under control. Is there a way to step outside of the rat race? To run your own race? Maybe to not even run in the race at all?
What if you didn’t have to pay tax? Or if you could minimise your tax and build some wealth & assets? Maybe start up a few alternate income streams? Or you knew how money worked, how to acquire it and make it work for you? That’d be brilliant!
If only we were taught things like this? Say for example, in a…. school? Who benefits from our tax dollars, controls the school syllabus and has the final say on what we’re taught? It shouldn’t be too hard for you to figure out! 
So luckily we know all there is to know about plate tectonics, we learnt an obscure language that we’ll never need and we can calculate the circumference of the world. But we don’t know anything about how to handle our money, reduce our tax or stand on our own two feet?
Let’s forget money & control and reminisce about a simpler time: playing basketball all day, poking your tongue out, shaving your head bald, wishing you were black and insisting your were going to be Michael Jordan when you grew up.
P.S. *Big Mac Not-So-Secret Sauce = Mircale whip, sweet relish, french dressing, sugar, pepper & powdered onion (in case you were wondering)
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Giving Up and Returning to the Working World… Part 2
Dumb Money
Now I’ve been fairly passionate about not trading time for income and asking at what point do you pay yourself? This is why it’s a difficult concept for me to grasp that I’m actually thinking of returning to the working world!?
I can confirm that the working world is definitely DUMB & EASY MONEY. It is a hell of a lot harder to generate passive and alternate income streams. Wake-up, on with the uniform, show up at 9am, look busy, leave at 5pm, pay check every Wednesday. Repeat.
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results” – Mr Einstein.
Since joining the free world, I’ve discovered that I am purveyor in the fine art of procrastination. Making the transition from the working world where I had someone else’s tasks to avoid doing, versus avoiding and procrastinating over my own work is a sticking point. You (I) have been moulded since day one into being told what to do. Nick’s guest post talked about his One Week Freedom Sample Project and much to my anguish my results have been all too similar.
I thought I’d be easily able to transfer my 65 hour work week into 65 hours of my own personal productive time. Imagine that, 65 hours! But alas, procrastination, a lack of external pressure and focus and the bank balance credits have swelled to a whopping $320.
Phase II of Operation Free World
My main motivators for saying goodbye to the working world were to clear my head, stick it to the man, kick-start some extra curricular schemes and dedicate more time to my software muse. In my two months of freedom I’ve been able to start-up my extra projects and it has become apparent that the software thing doesn’t require my full time attention. My extra projects I’ve started will generate an income but will take some time to promote and build-up. These factors combined with a gentleman’s $600k of property investments lends itself to this escapee heading back to the big house to rent out my brain for 40 hours per week.
Phase II of my foray into the free world has taken on a new definition. Test and tweak a few small income generating projects, cancel out the noise of the hundreds of ‘helpful’ resources out there and only focus, study and implement a select few, make the transition to location independence, continue writing for the free world and build up all of my side projects while still maintaining the dumb income source.
The Idea of a Job Makes Me Throw Up in My Mouth a Little…
So while I successfully escaped from my previous maximum security prison where I was serving a long sentence, guilty of renting my mind for peanuts, I’ll be temporarily re-admitted to a minimum security/day release type establishment where I’ll be trying my best not to spend 8 hours of my day pretending I’m not surfing the internerd researching my next muse, reading an eBook or looking at stock charts.
Give yourself a free world sample; turn off your TV for a week, do your food shopping at a local market garden, exercise, read, minimalise, de-clutter from all of your junk & maybe do some free world research?
Next time you see a tall, robotic, corporate uniform wearing, miserable looking soul on the way to work, actually nevermind, that’s everyone!
Tell me about your free world or convince me to NOT look for a job in the new year! Leave a comment below this post or sign-up for the RSS feed or emails. Now that I’ll be heading back to the working world, expect plenty of new insightful tirades!
Giving Up and Returning to the Working World… Part 1
Ah, the free world. What a glorious time it’s been so far. Not commuting in peak hour traffic, being able to set my own to-do lists, taking control, discovering a massive location independent network, no collared shirts and trousers… life is good.
“I’ve seen the promised land, and it is good!”
Let me quickly jump in and say I’m not giving up! I still want to be the poster child for the free world, ‘automated’ (yeah right!) income and quitting work to launch a successful start-up. But let’s continue…
My sabbatical from the working world has cleared the air. Everything I do in my own time in regards to freelancing, web design, options trading or product development is targeted and concise – How can I use my time in the most effective way to get from zero to $$ in the most effective way?
No career path bullshit, no office perks, no future opportunities with company X, no job security trollop, just action. After all, no matter who you are working for (yourself included) you’re still trading your time for dollars, but it’s nice to enjoy what you’re doing along the way.
This two-part article serves a few purposes; an explanation, a page full of excuses and an attempt to convince you (and myself) that I shouldn’t even be thinking of returning to the working world, albeit temporarily.
Phase I of Operation Free World
Courtesy of Brian Armstrong's 'Breaking Free' eBook. Click the image to grab a copy!
Prior to resigning from the 9 – 5 I had been toiling away researching life after employment and working on my first muse courtesy of reading the Four Hour Work Week. I’d set up a proprietary limited company (Incorporated Company for ya’ll in the US) and was nearing the completion of product development for the software start-up.
I had a few other post-employment plans that I hadn’t had time to kick-start but would implement once I escaped Alcatraz and had a bit more time; options (stock) trading, set up a website, starting a couple of professional service side projects and finally launch the software muse. Sure, I’d be fine in terms of an income.
After two months in the free world, total income generated = $320.
I’m not overly concerned at the lack of income as I hadn’t planned on any cash credits until the software project kicked off. I’d made a conscious decision months before escaping prison to save hard, budget and cut my expenses down in order to pay myself. I wouldn’t be living a life of luxury for a while but I’d be investing my own money and buying time. What’s the point of having cash reserves if you’re not going to use them? (Much easier in theory than in practice) I needed a new plan…
Are you stuck in the 9 -5 with plans to break free? Watched prison break too many times & got a full body tattoo of Tim Brownson’s ‘How to be Rich and Happy’ to use as your escape blue print? Currently toiling away at a muse or disgusted that I’m thinking of getting a job? Jump right in and leave a comment!
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Is Your Boss a Used Car Salesman?
Is your boss a used car salesman? At least if you go to the caryard, you can spot them from a mile away; cheap suit, slick hair, usually a big stupid grin. They ask you how your day is going, lovely weather outside, anything you’re interested in? “Oh no don’t worry, I just want to chat mate”… Yeah right.
At least you KNOW their motive, they are trying to sell you something. Their sole purpose from 9 – 5 is to get you to buy something. The test drive, have a sit inside, see how it feels, the new car smell, it’s all aimed at getting you to buy their car. They have a motive; it’s out there for everyone to see.
Your boss and everyone above you in the corporate world have a motive, but it’s not always clear to you and me. You think they are really interested in how your weekend was, your family and your interests outside of work?
The ideal employee wouldn’t have family, interests or any free thought! Or checking out websites during the day might I add!
The motives of the corporate are many and are more often than not sold to you as ‘career opportunities’.
- Working overtime & extra hours, you’ve just become a lot less of an expense! Your employer is getting way more out of you than they’re paying for.
- Their promotion & moving up the ranks, you make them look good.
- Share holder profits, executives have one main driver, profits for the shareholders.
I’ll never forget being told, “You’re never going to be able to have more of an effect on the share price than at this company son!” Big deal, I don’t own any shares!
The Working World of Old
There are a number of common themes that used to be applicable to the working world; loyalty, years served at a company, punctuality, friendly service. These days the working world is all about conversions; how many sales have you made? When will you be finished your current task to start the next? Can you work Saturday to meet the deadline? Push push push.
Too many workplaces are focusing on a big corporate image without having any substance or core business. Sure they’ve got a flash website and glossy brochures, but what are they actually trying to sell you?
Work = Money
This concept hasn’t been explored enough, that not only are customers being sold bullshit, but employees are too! The world needs a good slap around the ear, you’re working for your pay, not to build a company image, not so that your executives will look good in front of a board of directors, not to do work Saturday mornings for free. Plain and simple, work = money. Work is that 8 hour inconvenience in your day that allows to you enjoy your time off & your family.
Next time you’re at work have a good look around, are you being sold a lemon? If you want to tell the world about your used car salesman, leave a comment.
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10 Reasons You Shouldn’t Be At Work Today…
Your suspicions are correct; you are smarter than your boss! It’s not just that feeling you get once every so often, being asked to do yet another mundane, repetitive and pointless task… Unfortunately for your boss, you were brought up in the era of the PC, the internet, email, google etc.. It’s a whole new ball game.
Companies today aren’t ready to adapt, the ‘company’ as a model hasn’t advanced at all with the rapid change in technology. Webcams, video conferencing, instant chat, emails, FTP servers, PDF’s, and you’re still having pointless meetings, faxing, printing out mountains of paper and clocking in at the office from 9 – 5!!!
With all this technology and resources at our fingertips, and more often than not freely available, workplaces still aren’t moving towards being effective and efficient. We’re still padding our day out with 8 hours of ‘work’. You STILL sit in your cubicle, if you’ve been good you get an even bigger cubicle. So with the change in technology, your earned dollar still have to pay for the office overheads, your manager, his manager, their company cars, the receptionist, the building lease, the office equipment, your transport to and from work, uniforms etc. All unnecessary items that the freelancer or home based consultant simply doesn’t have to deal with.
The freelancer either has the option of working the same hours and making a lot MORE money, as they save on all of the above mentioned garbage, or they can work LESS for the same amount they were making in the office. Either way, it’s their choice.
The freelancer is providing their value direct to the customer. Sure you might have to work late into the night, because YOU said YOU would to YOUR customer. Not because your boss asked you to.
This all leads to individuals providing value direct to the customer and focusing on their core business.
The 10 reasons why you shouldn’t be at work right now….
- You’re smarter than that, just because everyone ‘got a job’, why should you?
- Driving in peak hour traffic this morning was over-rated.
- You’re becoming a domestic pet.
- Your pay is limited. You might think you’re lucky enough to have the ‘overtime’ carrot dangled in front of you, have fun working that 65 hours this week.
- It’s nice to have Friday drinks with your own friends, not people you have to spend 40-50 hours a week with.
- You’re all grown-up, you should be able to wear what you want.
- There’s plenty of other ways to make money, you should spend your days doing what you enjoy. Don’t fool yourself, you don’t enjoy data entry, answering the phone and dealing with customers.
- You’re good at what you do; you should get paid what you’re worth.
- It’s Friday, long weekends are the shit!
- You didn’t wake up at 6:30am this morning to sit in a cubicle all day and play solitaire.
Now you might be one of the lucky few who enjoy their jobs, congratulations, you’re in an elite group. But YOU should still be reaping the financial rewards of your job.
Enjoy your day, hang on and battle through, it’s not long until it’s the weekend, and you’ll be released for two days of good behaviour!
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Is this it?
Did you wake up this morning, alarm set as the same time as yesterday, and the day before, and tomorrow? You might drive a different way to work, or wear an obscene tie that doesn’t match, just to mix things up. Ever wake-up to the alarm on a Saturday? And on auto-pilot find yourself in the shower way too early, only to laugh annoyingly at the fact that you have a day off but still got up for the Monday – Friday routine?
I want to tell you that ‘this’ isn’t it… There’s more out there for you, you can have and do whatever you want, but unless you scratch the miracle lotto ticket or a long lost relative leaves you a heap of cash, you’re going to have to make the changes yourself.
So what are you doing? Shuffling papers, working towards next Tuesday’s deadline, sucking up to your boss, hiding in your cubicle or trying to figure out which way you can sit at your desk and not get caught having a snooze? Just for a minute take some time to think about how your life would be if you were enjoying yourself all day, every day?
What do you do?
I want a world where you strike up a conversation with a stranger, when they ask you what it is that you do for a living, you don’t answer with what you get paid for, you answer what you love doing. Unfortunately we spend too much time of the week earning a crust that we adopt our mindless job as ‘what we do’. It’d be nice to meet someone and automatically answer with – I’m a; Photographer, Surfer, Musician… anything that YOU love doing. I want to know what YOU DO, not what you get paid for.
You’re saving your money, putting some aside for the glory years, maybe a holiday once every now and then and some investments here and there for retirement. If money buys you time (retirement), then when do you declare there’s enough money to spend it on time? Is a lengthy retirement really the goal? Why can’t you have your freedom now or a little bit here and there? If you do have a prosperous retirement then you’ve probably worked too hard to get there and won’t know what to do with yourself.
The Epiphany
My realisation came at work, having a conversation with an older co-worker, he was telling me how he’d recently sold a fishing trawler for well over a couple of million bucks cash, $2m cash! After I slapped him around and beat some sense into him* I clicked that for a lot of people, work isn’t the thing that people do for money, it’s just a thing they do, it’s the norm, it’s their life. Friends, the routine, the auto-pilot; something has gone terribly wrong here?
So What?
I want you to take some time out to REALLY think about what you’re doing at work and why you’re doing it. Can you remove the safety blanket of the weekly paycheck and take a chance on yourself?
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Corporate Fluff
This article will not self-destruct in 5 seconds. You’re not Ethan Hunt and unfortunately your workplace isn’t Mission: Impossible. The corporate world and the office work model are too full of corporate fluff and their own bullshit that business, companies and you as an individual forget what it’s all about.
I’m proud to say that Tim from The Discomfort Zone was nice enough to let me guest post for him! Read the rest of this article here…
Obesity & Executive Management
Successful?
Have you ever seen a slim, fit, athletic manager, executive or director? Me neither. Have a good look around – news articles in the paper, online, always with a photo of ‘some’ CEO who just closed a big deal, no need to ask who ate all the pies.
And there it is, you’re that much of a success that you don’t have time to eat properly, exercise or get a ray of sunshine during the day? I think someone should evaluate how loosely we use the term ‘success’.
The corporate ladder is a funny one, its own little world. You’re a team player, a company man.
In my previous job, my next step up in a few years would have been a project manager; making the tough calls, running the job, reporting to my bosses about the project cash-flow, and ultimately being the first in line to be shot. Inspirational stuff.
Before I entered the working world, I decided I’d like to be a project manager – all that control, looking after the job, the smooth operation of things. I was quick to discover that it meant excessive responsibility, living the job, no time off and in the end devoting your life to the company and project.
I’ll harp on about this, because I am so perplexed that someone who’s supposedly been educated can become so brainwashed and removed from reality. To be honest, I’m also so passionate about this work/life conundrum because I used to be so hell bent on a career path.
You’re special!
Working within a company structure, you’d be surprised to find that you’re just another name in an organisational chart, replaceable and interchangeable. The further you travel up the company ladder, the harder it will be to climb back down.
Now a lot of the guys I used to work with out on the construction sites were a good bunch of guys, but picture your typical construction workers. Not the healthiest brood around, it was the norm, work 11 hours, shovel in a couple of pies during the day and then head to the pub at night time, repeat. It was a social norm that most of the older hands were on heart medication, blood pressure tablets, and cholesterol medication. Not once was the thought to exercise, eat well and have a break from work. People (management, workers, anyone) are willing to put their own health and safety before stepping back and taking the pedal off the gas?
If you remember way back when you first enrolled in the joys of the working world, you worked to live, not the other way around. It will all become a grey mash-up of job/career/life/work. You stupid JERLK.
The ‘career’ might be fit for some of us, if you enjoy the job then why not. But if you want to climb the corporate ladder then don’t worry about the MBA or extra-curricular study, here’s an easy how-to;
- Carry several documents under one arm when walking through the office,
- Look slightly angry around the office, people will think you’re busy,
- If you work in front of a computer, shake your head a lot, the odd fist slamming against your desk won’t hurt,
- Casually greeting your bosses doesn’t hurt, a bit of bravado and confidence will get you everywhere,
- Most superiors/managers/executives are hot air factories, say yes a lot and stroke their ego’s,
- Don’t get caught playing solitaire too much,
- Learn a few ‘office buzzwords’ Refer to Corporate Fluff for the game ‘Wank-word Bingo’.
So there you have it, you could be a manager in no time at all. One thing that I won’t be forgetting too soon is the conversation I had with one of my managers when I resigned. A human resources ‘manager’ was also present. After explaining how I wanted to take a brief sabbatical from the working world, explore my options, maybe travel a bit etc. the HR manager present offered me counselling sessions! So the concept of taking an extended break from work is that far removed from the corporate world psych that I probably have a screw loose?
God help us all.
