New Years Call For Radical Changes
You should probably quit your job. Hear me out;
It was December 9th, 2022. It felt like a routine day, emails, cold calls - yknow, the usual. I had a slew of zoom calls that day, but the one the stuck out the most to me as odd was the 1:1 I’d be having with HR.?
Time moved faster than it normally did that day - and I found myself in the call waiting room with both HR & the CEO. A cold shiver ran down my back as I stared at the emotionless faces looking back at me within the pixelated Mac Air screen. The usual smiling faces were of a more serious, somber tone this time around, surely a sign of the conversation that awaited me.
My CEO started the conversation with a very (honestly) stale “how are you”. Understanding the atmosphere, I replied just as cold. I now knew pleasantries were apart of their “programming”, and not of genuine interest, so as I watched the illusion of comradery crumble in real time, so did my love for the tech industry, and came to my own startling yet refreshing conclusions.?
HR looked on like a group of jurors watching a trial as my former CEO listed a series of reasons as to why I was being let go - as my performance was mentioned, I laughed in irony considering my goals were formulated on performance records of other products that were non niche, and not company agnostic. But here I was selling a product that was very specific and very targeted.?
Nonetheless they rambled on, describing the new strategies the board wanted to implement, without me in mind. As mad as I was in the moment, I couldn’t help but laugh at the irony that the truth was, I genuinely hated my job. I went to a great tech school to learn what I know. I've worked at some great companies and have met great people, but I really hated every f**king minute of it. I relished in the idea that one day I’d have a financial runway sufficient enough to allow me to leave my job in confidence and continue to build my side hustles, and I was well on my way in doing so - but the severance I received as compensation for being released gave me the financial backing needed to actually pull it off. So perhaps it was best that I was laid off, instead of saving up and leaving on my own two. But this isn’t the core of me message.?
You should probably quit your job. Am I saying this out of spite? Am I mad at the tech industry for superficial dreams unrealized? Nope. Am I saying everyone should? Absolutely not, but here’s something I realized; for those of us that dream of “freedom” (I’ll explain that in another article), dream of being "self sustaining" we have two choices to make; we can either continue to work for those that see us as dispensable, and one dimensional - or we can take a chance on ourselves, and strive for the goals that somewhere along our journey called life, we exchanged for a 9-5.
领英推荐
Well it’s a new year, so I’m saying f**k that.?
This year my focus will be on two things, living my life to its fullest extent, and helping inspire you to get back to your goals, your desires and your dreams. What are you focused on this year? Is there a dream or goal you want to achieve this year specifically? What are you willing to let go to get it in return? Sometimes we live our lives thinking we have all the time in the world, putting off our truest desires only to regret never pursuing them in our later years. Why do we willingly subject ourselves to live we actually don't want to live?
Let’s make 2023 the year everything changes for us, the year we finally have the courage to move in the face of fear, and forward towards our lives. Let this be the year you finally decide once and for all you will live free.?
Wishing you all the peace and prosperity you can handle this 2023.?
Apologies for the cursing (not really)
Serge