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Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
From Corporate Prisoner to Thriving Entrepreneur
Are you working at the job of your dreams? Unfortunately, not many of us can say that we are.
You may have strong ideals about the kind of work you believe is valuable, but chances are that you’ve sacrificed these values more than once in the face of a regular paycheck.
We all have differing preferences for what we’d like to have at work. You might prefer to work in a sunny loft for a non-profit that has a welcoming culture, a lot of business integrity and scheduling flexibility.
Yet instead, you’re working at a desk in a cramped cubicle with coworkers who are just as grumpy as you are. What’s happening here?
Having a job that doesn’t fit your values is like wearing a shoe that doesn’t fit. Say you’re looking for new running shoes to train for a marathon. If you wear a size eight, would you purchase a size six because you couldn’t find an eight and anyway, you liked the color? Of course not.
The reality is that some of us simply aren’t cut out to work in impersonal corporations under an autocratic manager. Software engineer and venture capitalist Paul Graham likens those employed in big companies to animals trapped in a zoo.
So what does that make the self-employed? Animals in the wild.
Though life in the zoo might be more routine and safer than life in the wild, it’s simply not what animals do. The same applies to humans.
So no, you aren’t crazy for complaining about a secure job with great pay, benefits, clever coworkers and social status. It could be that your values and corporate values simply don’t fit.
Escape From Cubicle Nation (2009) is an inspirational, practical guide to making the transition from a traditional office job to self-employment. These blinks explore both the emotional and technical aspects of becoming an entrepreneur and explain what it takes to leave the corporate world behind.
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Try Blinkist to get the key ideas from 7,000+ bestselling nonfiction titles and podcasts. Listen or read in just 15 minutes.
Start your free trialBlink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma