Do you hate your job as much as Peter Gibbons?
If that reference didn't make sense you must not be a fan of the cult classic "Office Space".
"Office Space" is a comedic tale about workers who hate their jobs. Ron Livingston played a character named Peter Gibbons who hated his job as well as the whole corporate atmosphere.
Recently I recieved a letter from a reader who is fed up with their job as well as the whole corporate environment. I'll post the letter as well as our response to it...
Letter From Reader...
For the last 6 years I have been working in a white collar job in a corporate environment. The job is essentially a sales support role. I have earned a reasonable amount - though not as much as I would like.
My problem is I have a hatred and contempt for the entire offfice culture, career, office politics, the fakeness of others and having to be fake myself to get by, as well as the devious and sneaky types who backstab and withhold information all in a bid to make themselves look better and others look worse.
I can usually disguise my hatred and contempt for about two years max and then it's on to the next job.
Not just people but so many of these office environments are honestly pure chaos. There are so many problems, things to fix, bad management, and people simply not doing their jobs properly which has a knock on the impact of your own job.
You get a feeling that everyone is just playing the system, working in their own best interest and really just not being efficient - DOING FAKE WORK!!!
Plus the simple lack of management, lack of decent opportunities, and when your the one doing the crappy work, gues what, you wind up being the one to mop of after others which in turn wastes more of your time.
To date the only thing which has kept me giong is my competitive nature. The desire to do better than others, however even that is waning. Who cares about doing better than others when no-one else cares what they are doing, and when frankly there is no incentive to do better than others. I'm not sure if I can keep this up for another 20 years.
I need other options to play with, corporate jobs in my mind are just too limiting and boring and your always walking on eggshells around management.
I could just about put up with a job if I was earning something else on the side with a business.
A business, but a business seems so difficult, where do I start?
Start creating websites for passive income? I hear people do this but also hear it's hit or miss?
My dream is to come into work making money on the side with a busines and just sit there smiling at the conceited bullshit we have to tolerate in your average office job.
While at the same time performing better than them at your job and rising up in the career ladder.
The only way to beat these people at work is to simply out earn them as that's the only thing they care about.
A Rebel's Response...
EXACTLY!!!
You are starting to see that the wear and tear on your soul is starting to outweigh the financial benefits. You probably sense you could lose your sanity at a future date if you continue on.
Don't worry, this is a good sign actually. You aren't a mindless drone or a worker bot. CONGRATULATIONS!!! This says you are actually still human and you have a soul.
Too many people, these days, completely obliterate their soul with work, their position at work, material distractions, anything to keep them from having to face themselves. This is why in their twilight years they are so bitter at the world. They feel cheated. But they cheated themselves because of the environment they were place in and bought into.
Find what you love. Forget money for now. If you're not tied down to debt; ie car payment, mortgage, and a half dozen maxed out credit cards; like most corporate workers are; those things are encouraged in the corporate environment as it's a way to lock you in for good; then you're in way better shape to break out.
It's possible you don't know what you love, heck you've been programmed since pre-school to get yourself ready to slave away for the man. Maybe in the time being take a lower paying job but less responsibility and a better work life balance.
You may not be making as much money but as they say "peace of mind is priceless." Also, having a less stressful job may also allow you time to learn a new skill or even take some time to figure out what some of your strengths are and what you truly enjoy doing.
If you don't know what you love, maybe you don't know yourself well enough yet. Take a break and travel. It's not a waste of money nor is it a waste of time. It's paying for part of your soul back. You'll be revitalized and feel like a new person. May I suggest Jamaica? The human brain is not unlike a batter in that sometimes you just need to recharge. It's power has been drained for other purposes that are obviously not fulfilling enough to you.
The best advice is to find out what you are passionate about. What you feel you must do to feel good about yourself. Through this try to find outlets that will allow you to make a living.
This may be a step down financially but it's a HUGE upgrade in yourself and how you feel. You have made "you" the priority, and not "the game." The other added benefit to this as although you may temporarily take a step down financially you are also taking a shot at a big step up financially. It's very rare to get rich working for someone else, if you really want to take a shot at doing something big you need to strike out on your own.
If you already have savings, try creating some passive income. I knew a "wanna be" inventor who was a buddy of mine a few years back. He used his savings from his corporate career to invest in bio-diesel power and a few other forms of "green technology." Origoinally he went into a bit of debt with this idea but wound up making some big money a few years down the road.
He doesn't "work" anymore. He invents, makes films, and even creates music. The point being he does what he wants and what makes him happy. This is a pretty extreme example as not everyone has money to do something like this however the method is what's important. Find a good investment and let your money work for you. Don't work for your money, and don't be a worker bot drone for the man.
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