Reason #4326 to not rely on “The Man”
I think in the last 60 days or so I’ve seen at least 3-4 posts on LinkedIn from people who’ve just been laid off their jobs. Now I’m not a huge fan of social media, and don’t rely on it to any degree to build nor sustain my business. When it comes to client work, I’ve found the best strategy is to take care of the clients I have, to the point of overdelivering, and they in turn refer me to others if and when friends or colleagues of theirs are asked “who does your podcast?”
That being said, I’m on LinkedIn 2-3 times per month at most, so you understand that when I see posts at that frequency, it’s not because I’m on the platform for hours each day. It’s more like minutes once every two weeks or so. So when I see multiple posts like that, I can only assume there are many many more that I’m not seeing at all.
The post usually goes something like this: “Well, after what I thought was a sure-fire gig, I’m back looking for my next opportunity to grow personally and professionally. Wish me luck!”
Which I translate as: “I just got laid off from a job that I was once certain was going to provide the fulfillment and satisfaction in life I crave; I’m now looking for another job that will do the same thing and will inevitably lead to the same disappointing result.”
Kind of psychotic when you phrase it that way, and maybe I’m exaggerating things for dramatic effect here, but I don’t think I’m too far off the mark.
I’ve been roundly criticized over the years for some of my own career decisions, such as leaving the military when I was “only 8 years away from retirement.” I realize as I type this that had I not left the military in 2015, I would still be one year away from “retirement”. In fact, had I not left the military initially in 1998 to go to Bible college, I would have reached “retirement” from the military nearly 10 years ago, complete with a pension and the Universal Human Right we’ve been conditioned to expect in life called “free health care”.
Had I chosen that path for my life, I would not be half the man I am today. I’ll leave it at that – for now.
Sidebar: I just spent the day yesterday (23 March 2023) on a tiny little ship called The Golden Rule, which was built to take a principled stand against the proliferation of nuclear weapons. And it was quite effective in doing so. The man who initially captained the ship resigned his commission from the U.S. Navy less than a month before retiring as a Captain (or something way up the ranks) and receiving his full retirement benefits. He did so as a statement of principle after witnessing the devastation wrought by the atomic weapons used in Japan in 1945. And he paid a high price for his stand on principle, both with leaving the Navy, and in captaining the tiny boat,
A terrific episode of the Gone Newclear podcast is forthcoming documenting my day on The Golden Rule. It’s a great story, and the boat definitely has a presence about it. So stay tuned.
All that to say I come from the perspective of making decisions that are considered contrarian compared to conventional thinking. So when I see posts like what I’ve seen on LinkedIn recently, I just shake my head and wonder, “What is wrong with these people?”
I get the wisdom of having a job and building a side hustle in your non-working hours. What I don’t get is securing a job, then thinking, “Okay, I’m all set. My worries are over. I’ll rely on “the man” to provide my income and security in life.”
Pure madness from where I’m sitting.
What if these good folk on LinkedIn were to post something along the lines of, “I’ve just been let go from my J.O.B. Guess the Universe is telling me to kick that side hustle into high gear and make it my main gig.”
But they don’t. It’s always something along the lines of, “Time to find a new master to serve. This next one will be the one that gets it right.” For some reason, the thought of having a business of their own that they can nurture and grow in a way that suits them, infusing their own values and ideals doesn’t enter into the equation at any time!
The contribution of these people to the marketplace is limited to supporting what another man or woman can envision, bring to the marketplace.
The way I see it is if you can find a gig that is fulfilling, that resonates with your personal values even 50%, then you’ve hit the jackpot, because most jobs don’t fit the bill. You certainly can’t expect that to happen.
And you’re seriously missing out on great things if you neglect your own calling or gifts to share, which are manifested in a business of some sort.
Maybe people think of the word “business” and are inherently turned off. Commerce is a necessary evil, one we do so we can have some fun at the end of the day and week, and two weeks out of the year.
I personally have found that when I have a job that I enjoy, and can manage to balance it with the rest of my obligations in life such as family, music, etc. that I don’t need a vacation at all. It gives me energy, and even when I do travel I don’t mind doing my work while traveling at all.
I recall my first time traveling to Vietnam to visit Sana in 2019. The airport in Hong Kong was shut down due to protesters blocking the runways, so my connecting flight to Hanoi was cancelled! First time visiting my future wife, and this happens. So I spent part of my time editing podcasts for clients, right there in the airport terminal. It wasn’t an imposition at all, I was happy to do it. Of course, if there wasn’t a deadline looming, maybe I would not have been doing that particular task; maybe I would have been writing a blog post about how I was stranded in Hong Kong of all places, and my meeting with my future wife was delayed by 12 hours, etc.
Point is I was doing work that suits me. Kind of like the advice I got many years ago to play music that plays me. When you’re playing a piece of music that doesn’t resonate with you inside, you just know it, and it becomes a chore. Mere notes, rather than real music coming from within.
You can force yourself to do work you’d rather not do when you’re in your 20’s and maybe 30’s. When you get to be in your 40’s and 50’s, it’s just not the same. I personally can’t feign interest in a job or any other pursuit for which I’m not 100% committed and sold out in doing. If I were to interview for a “real job” i.e. one with health insurance provided, I think the interviewers would immediately sense my lack of interest and end the interview. I guess at this point in life, and having had whatever success as a solopreneur I’ve had, faking it just aint possible.
To that end, I’m working on a new project that I think folks might be interested in. It’s work that “plays me” i.e. me running my mouth sharing things that really matter. I’m calling it the Audiobook of the Month Club.
This thing is not free. It’s a legit business which will take a lot of my own time, so I can’t do it for free. But I do promise it will be a reasonable cost, and it will be worth the time you invest into it. Notice I said invest, not spend. I don’t want people spending time nor money on anything I produce. But I do want people to invest both their time and money. It won’t necessarily lead to a monetary ROI, but it will lead to you thinking twice about what is really important in life, raising your level of consciousness, that sort of thing.
If yer interested in checking out the Audiobook of the Month Club, click this here link: https://jamesdnewcomb.com/abom