Hey guys, I personally hate working at every job I've ever had. I just cannot convince myself that working hard for x company was ever worth it.
I just get my paycheck and do nothing more to improve my prospects to get promoted. Why would I? 20 to 40k per year more and double my hours per week is never a good trade imo. I think I am all wrong about the way I think about this, but I can't help the way I feel about it.
EDIT: I work in software and I have a saas I'm about to launch. I've learned a lot from my job so those of you who have said use it to learn are ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. I also love software as a skill, but I hae doing it for anyone else other than for me. I'm freaking selfish with my time.
How do you guys cope with your day jobs?
byu/spudzy95 inEntrepreneur
Posted by spudzy95
15 Comments
I think in this sub people work for themselves so they don’t care about doubling or lessening hours, they are their own boss
Given this is r/Entrepreneur and sentiment tends to verge almost on antiwork at times, I’ll play devil’s advocate. Day jobs are invaluable for so many reasons. They’re valuable for networking, learning and growth, resume-building (who is going to trust an entrepreneur with no tangible industry-specific experience?) free certs and education, and last (and most important) stability. And finally, they highlight personal flaws and weaknesses. If you hated every job you ever worked at, the problem is likely YOU. But that’s easily fixable, and I recommend you focus on finding meaning, improving your emotional intelligence, and being a positive influence. It’s also surprisingly easy to move forward in the corporate world- like, really, REALLY easy if you follow a few key steps. Middle-management can be brutal, but if you can get over that hump you’ll be making bank for minimal hours and can focus on your side hustles.
I agree, that’s why you rarely see rich employees. The entire structure of a employee is mental insecurity. Everyone has hopes to be an entrepreneur to a certainty, at least that is where true freedom lies.
You’re right, I never, ever make any moves toward trying to up my income. The only time I’ve ever done it was to move from a non-profit company being squashed in a small circle of adjoined tables – to working for an adult entertainment company in a huge office shared with 2 much cooler people than the nonprofit place, with a 23k annual raise. That was in 2012.
That particular job change was worth it. But, nope, I don’t try to get raises or job changes nowadays for a little bit of income.
Going the bootstrapping route is the only way to go that makes sense.
The way I cope with my day job: I just save money, and do with my used car, and just robotically do the tasks I’m being paid for. In my case, when I hit 3.5 years in saving ( almost hit 3 years ), I’ll quit, because then I can start getting SS after that money runs out ( but ss may run out in 2033 or payment amts may be lowered, so gotta make plans to work around that ).
During my pre-SS retirement ( living off that savings ), I’m hoping with all of my time to myself, will be able to come up with a saas idea and get traction on it, to be able to supplement the SS I’ll get at 62.
Try to focus on gaining skills and experience to raise your chances of success on your own. You’re being paid to learn from somebody else’s mistakes. Don’t take that for granted, this job is preparing you for your eventual freedom.
Pay your dues, prepare yourself, then find freedom once the time is right.
I no longer have one but when I did, I loved it. Challenging work, great colleagues, top pay. There was nothing not to like. You are likely chosing the wrong jobs. Do something you like not something you don’t like.
You’ll never get ahead if you don’t do anything to improve yourself. You’re missing out on skills, networking, etc. Those will help you later. If you can’t be bothered, no one will be bothered to help you when you need help. It’s a terrible attitude.
The only one you‘ll ever make rich as an employee is your boss.
If you can’t work a job, you probably can’t run a business. A job is just getting paid to learn a skill. Use it to learn and build you network and save money for your other life goals (starting a business or other personal financial goals).
Of course you are going to get a lot of pushback calling you out as a bad sport at jobs. I’ll stand up and say, yeah, I agree: jobs suck.
You are at the mercy of people who don’t have your best interests at heart, no matter how good the job is. Are they really there for you? No, they’re there for themselves. You are extra to that endeavor, just as they are extra for you. This capitalist setup is the basis for that everyday ennui of feeling like a cog in the machine, not important.
On top of that, the likelihood that your boss is a douche is very high. Occasionally, you’ll have a job with a good boss. But look up the chain and sideways and you will find plenty of douchebags who will make your life difficult even if you feel like you have the best boss in the world. That 1 good boss is likely to move on someday, so you need to be prepared for a new douche to show up when that happens.
That said, regular FTE jobs are stability while you work out your entrepreneurship. And there are lots of opportunities to build your skills at jobs, both soft skills and technical. Jobs can be valuable and help you grow in your field for these reasons and others that people have stated.
But overall, I hear you: jobs suck and companies suck. It’s painful working at companies. Very challenging, and not necessarily rewarding when you figure out how to get along with people every day because they keep coming up with new ways to make your life gray.
It’s a balance. Just because you don’t like working for someone doesn’t mean that you should start your own business. Plenty of businesses fail (people are just more willing to share their success stories)
Quit.
It’s a means to an end.
You have an entrepreneurial spirit and personality, so use the day job to get to where you can launch your saas and be your own boss.
Having been on both sides of this, I found that running your own business is way harder than working for someone else. You may find you have it easy now as you do not have to worry about funding, payroll, taxes, business fees, CPA, legal and other pros required to run and manage your own company.
Hopefully you get going quickly and can leave the world of working for someone else behind!
The best advice I was ever given about this was that if you can’t align yourself with the job itself, align yourself with the reason why you need the job. i.e. if you need the paycheck to support for your family, align your thoughts with being supportive of your family. Even those experiences with that horrible coworker become easier to shed as you realize that you’re doing it for the best cause possible.
Of course, also don’t stop growing, learning, and striving for more, either.
I don’t like working in corporate – it feels like the job is trying to box me up to this specific role and then ship me down the assembly line. BUT, as I pursue my own entrepreneurial endeavors on the side, my 9-5 frees me up financially to take action on the things that I truly care about from 5-9, PLUS being a learning opportunity in how I show up for other people.
You are clearly an entrepreneur. I had the same issues. They were gone once I started my own business. I am an SEO btw.
I love my day job. Sounds like you need to find a different employer or you chose the wrong field.