I really want to hammer this thought into my own mind, as well as anyone who comes across this page. I live in America, went to public schools, am attending college (or amassing a huge debt, however you look at it) and one thing that has been smashed into my brain is the thought that in order to succeed in life you need to A. Follow the Rules B. Get a "Good Job" C. Get married and have kids. Put all those eggs into one basket and hope it all works out.
Don't get me wrong. These things are all well and fine, but lets be honest with ourselves. If you work a job, whether it is salary or hourly, you are trading your time and talent to create a good or service that's intent is making somebody else very wealthy. You may be well paid for this human energy you provide, but when it comes down to it, that somebody else can decide to just shut the whole operation down and leave you out in the cold. There you are having spent countless years wasting away on learning a skill that is likely not transferable and has netted you hardly anything of value.
I know i'm talking to the 99% or whatever here, so anyone who gets paid millions to order others around this doesn't refer to you. I'm on this treadmill myself, and it feels more like one of these:
I have what some would consider a safe, secure, service providing job. In fact I work for one of the giants of my industry. It's a nice job, and I do enjoy doing it, but I don't kid myself with ever thinking it's the true kind of "security" that I need or want.
True security is knowing that you are in complete control of your own financial situations. Not letting that control and responsibility flow to another person, because they honestly could care less about you. Your company could decide someday soon to merge, or split and send you packing.
So how do I intend on creating true security? Following my passions, doing what I feel I was actually born to do, building my talents and creating real value within myself so that whatever happens I can adapt and navigate to prosperity.
That's really all this is about. I think it's pretty alarming that it took me so long to realize that working hard for someone else was getting me literally nowhere. I love my life, but that's because I'm an eternal optimist and enjoy myself regardless of the circumstances.
So to anyone who is fed up of running on the hamster wheel in search of your "job security" I challenge you to find out what really makes you tick, be creative and turn yourself into your own form of security. Start a business, take control of your own future and take it back out of the hands of other people, after all ITS YOUR LIFE!
"Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work, driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for, in order to get to a job that you need so you can pay for the clothes, car and the house that you leave empty all day in order to afford to live in it."
-Ellen Goodman
