You are going to be stuck being miserable and unhappy until you realize the truth of this. Once you start to be honest about what a bunch of balderdash the whole job myth is, you won’t be able to find real joy in this life. Paradise is here, but only if you choose to accept it.
In fact, all the things you want are waiting for you but you won’t find them until you figure this out. Let yourself. Just for a second give yourself permission to think that this is the truth. Only a second and see how it feels. Does it feel like you are lying? Now go back to thinking it’s a lie. Can you?
Everyone around you probably wants you to keep working in your job. Your kids, your wife, your parents, your friends, your boss (especially him or her) and you know why? Because they aren’t you. They don’t know what makes you happy. They don’t know what brings you fulfillment. They don’t know that what led you to this point is making some bad decisions based on bad information.
It’s a rough spot to be in. I’m aware of that. I was there once.
I’m going to let you know though that you have to accept it. You have to deal with it. You have to admit your mistake and move forward. Lying to yourself will get you to exactly where you are right now.
And guess what, once you accept it, you will find that the one thing you want to do more than any other is to quit that job. I suggest that you let yourself. Damn the consequences. Never mind the bullocks. Just do it. Let yourself do what you want and see how it makes you feel. It’s your one and only life on this planet. Do what you know you must and do it quickly. You can blame me for the consequences but don’t forget to credit me with the good that comes of it either.
Finding Your Starting Point
There is one part of the business your boss doesn’t own. The part inside of your noggin. It’s true, you might not be able to quit today. Maybe you have to stay with it for a few months.
Sure, the ideal situation is to stop working for someone else right now, but maybe you need some time to prepare yourself. Some time to get ready. It’s okay. Really.
The important thing is that you know you can start working for yourself at any time you want. Can you imagine what it will be like to be your own boss? To have total freedom?
That’s what this is really about. It’s about having total freedom and being able to let go of the burdens of others that you have been dragging around for your whole life.
It’s the most important thing you can give yourself. If you are like most people, you don’t know if you can handle it or not. It scares you. It might even make you lose some sleep when you start thinking about it seriously. That’s okay.
Listen to all those reasons that tell you that you have to continue to be a wage slave and then think of all the reasons that you can be free. Just walk around for a while imagining what it will be like to be your own boss. Keep doing your work for as long as you need to but don’t take away the permission that you’ve already given yourself to quit. You are a free being. You were born free and you still are. You have the freedom to leave the job you hate.
If you plan on keeping your job, I wouldn’t tell the boss what’s going through your head. In fact, the more you focus on it, the more real it will become. As humans we tend to get what we envision. We focus on something enough and it becomes real. The sad thing is that most of us spend more time focusing on misery than on victory. And guess what? That’s what we get.
Making Up Your Mind To Be Free
If you want more freedom all you have to do is picture it. Determine your own future just like those who have done it before. Buckminster Fuller was a failure in everything he did until he learned this secret. So was Henry Ford. So was Steve Jobs. If you want more freedom, you are the only one who can give it to yourself. What are you waiting for?
If Bill Gates had kept working for IBM there wouldn’t be any Microsoft. FDR was right when he said we have nothing to fear but fear itself. The Wright Brothers were right when they decided they could fly. You are right when you make up your mind that you can do what you dream of. All there is to it, is to do it.
In his book Don’t Ask Stupid Questions? There Are No Stupid Questions, author Tim Brownson. says “People make money doing all sorts of weird and wonderful things, things they genuinely love. People actually get paid to go shopping, eat food, tell jokes, play with toys, design things, play sports, pretend they are other people, write stuff, daydream, drive cars, care for animals, fly planes, talk, coach people and more or less anything else you can imagine.”
His book is filled with common sense inspiration that has led many to discover what they love and what they want to do with their lives. I recommend it. The sad thing is most people that read his book just say “Yeah, but that won’t work for me. I’m not good enough to do that.” But the truth is that you are, you really are!
Other’s say that they don’t want to make money from their passion. That’s fine too, but you should still keep reading because I’m going to show you other ways you can leave the job you hate and find the joy you are missing. There’s more than one way to skin a cat.
Freelancing = Doing What You Love
For many people, passion and being good at something go hand in hand. If you are actually good at something, you usually become passionate about it. Even better, if you’re lucky, your passion is something you can actually sell.
Let’s have a look at some very sellable passions that are shared by a lot of people:
Writing, Web Design Skills, Blogging, Cooking, Computer Programming, Foreign Languages, Native Languages, Photography, Graphic Design, Teaching or Coaching, Sports.
Believe it or not, there are ready markets available where you can make money with these skills today! I’m not talking about waiting around. I’m talking about finding a way to make money today. Doing something you love and getting paid for it within the next 24 hours.
Don’t believe me? Have a look at craigslist.com and see if there isn’t at least one ad asking for writers. Ask your friends if they know anyone that is having a wedding, birthday, or party and would like a photographer, cook something delicious and see if you can sell it in front of a local business. These may sound absurd to you, but I’m telling you they are not. The only thing holding you back from making money right now is that voice in your head that is telling you that you can’t.
Or let’s say that you really like your work but you hate having to go to the office. In that case, you should look into freelancing in your field. Maybe you won’t find the same pay, maybe you will have to work harder, but you will make your life and your situation better.
Almost everyone I know who has a ‘real’ job hates it. And yet, these are the same people who tell me they are buying their freedom. At what cost? My friend Jeff had a heart attack and diet at the age of 39 years old. Luckily he had ditched his career a year earlier and started to live his passion, radio. Unfortunately the toll of heavy smoking, bad diet, and poor health from working in a job he hated for so long took his life before he could recover. Don’t let that happen to you!
Do you know who works for their freedom? Slaves do. Are you a slave or are you free? If the answer is that you are a slave you better get back to your master’s work, but if you are free, then what are you waiting for? In fact, none of us are slaves unless we choose to be. Do you really want to spend the next thirty years being a slave? Do you think people will respect you more if you continue as a slave or take the chance of a lifetime? Freedom is yours. I hope you are starting to understand the truth of that.
Ask yourself what it really is you want. What is it? Money? Fame? Time? Or would you prefer to have time and money? In truth, you really don’t want to be famous, you want the time and the money that fame can give you, right?