Lately all my friends have been telling me to, “just go get a job already!” It’s been 2 years since I left the comforts of a steady bi-weekly paycheck. And while it’s true that I’m not thriving out here financially, I’m not quite impoverished either. The thing is, I just can’t seem to get excited at the prospect of sitting in a cubicle doing some mundane task and getting paid a crap wage for it every single day. “But everyone hates their job,” my friends assure me. Should I consider that argument sound real-world wisdom, or a cautionary tail — kind of like when your parents said, “well if everyone else jumped off a bridge would you?” Well I’m not jumping off a bridge and I’m not going going to suffer through a job that I hate either. Although at this rate I might be living under a bridge soon, so let me know if you do decide to jump so I can get out of your way.
But when I recently came across a job opportunity to work at Grindr, my attitude started to shift. For the few of you who may not know, Grindr is the wildly popular phone app gay boys all over the world use to see and find other guys who are near their current location. It’s real-time social media with a GPS locator and the added bonus being exclusively gay men (most of whom are looking to hook up.) So there was a posting for a new job at Grindr: Social Media Coordinator. So, OK, right off the bat I didn’t jump at the idea of being a 35-year-old professional ‘coordinator’ (kind of a step backwards for me on the all-mighty corporate ladder) but beggars can’t be choosers. So I applied.
Let me first assure you that my resume is impeccable. I’m on revision 12 of the document and it showcases some impressive accomplishments in my field and is extremely well organized and arranged. In two years without a job I’ve become an expert at at least one thing: job hunting. I have a fully completed LinkedIN profile, a personal website with portfolio, my Facebook page is squeaky clean, and I can pull plenty of real-world examples that showcase my abilities. After three face-to-face interviews, listing in detail all of my past accomplishments in this field, submitting writing samples, and a doing a full-on business presentation outlining what I would do if given the position, the job was practically mine for the taking.
And yet I still didn’t get hired!
Grindr hasn’t been the only job I’ve applied to recently, but it’s the only one where I got so close to getting an offer for. Most of the time I don’t even get the first interview. Now one could argue that my job hunting methodology is flawed. Some might say I’m not trying hard enough. A poor job market is yet another excuse. Perhaps I’m undervaluing my abilities – no, wait, overvaluing them. Or maybe it’s not what you know but who you know and I need to put more pressure on those in my personal network to hire me. No, friends, the real truth here is that I’m not suppose to go get another ‘job’ somewhere – that’s not my destiny. There’s something else I’m suppose to be doing with my life and it doesn’t involve sitting in some corporate office cubicle.
Let providence be your guide
When I left my last corporate job because I was unhappy with my future prospects for advancement, I was making a choice. I choose a very different path in life from the one I was on and the one I was raised to seek. The path of self-reliance and entrepreneurship is a difficult one best embarked upon with some training and support. Most rich kids have an easier time creating their own businesses because they grew up learning how a business is created and they have various resources to help and to guide them along the way. I didn’t have that experience as a youth and most people whom I associate with didn’t either; so going and getting another ‘job’ would be the easiest thing for me to do right now, and it’s the best advice the people around me have to offer. However I chose a different path in life and now must trust in myself and in providence to be my guide. The fact that after 2-years and hundreds of sent resume’s later I still haven’t landed any permanent job (despite modifying my tactics and expectations to try and gain different results) must prove that the path leading to another ‘job’ is a foregone option and one not likely to return to my future. The time, it seems, has come to stop splitting my focus between starting a new business and looking for a new job. I must trust in the Universal providence that I am on a successful path – the right path for me. I must build a core believe in myself, my abilities, and my path – and I must become dedicated to the work and sacrifices required to prove that I am worthy to remain on this path of choice.
The entrepreneur’s mindset
One thing I know for sure is that it is no longer possible, in the economy of the 21st Century, to become rich – or even ‘financially secure’ – if all you ever are is someone’s employee. To be an “employee” means you are never working for yourself and your goals. Plus, the way our tax system is currently, those who are ‘employees’ pay the most in pre-income taxes. The system is not set up for employees (aka: the middle-class) to flourish financially. It’s just not. The only way to build a large financial future today is through owning your own big business and/or through investing. This is what I have learned from Robert Kiyosaki, author of the book Rich Dad Poor Dad, when he spoke about The Business of the 21st Century. I’m inexplicably drawn to the notion of owning my own business – I just am not certain how to go about building one or have an idea for one. I was not raised with a financial education or entrepreneur’s mindset, nor do I have the resources many other successful business people start out in life with. But I’ve got to start somewhere.
Kiyosaki suggests that the best place to start learning how to have an entrepreneur’s mindset and begin learning skills like discipline, overcoming rejection, networking, reaching customers, etc – is by building a network marketing business. As he points out, there is a low-cost entry point to get in to most network marketing programs and you are surrounded by people who are helping one another learn and grow together. It’s probably about the safest real-life business classroom there is – especially if you don’t have previous business experience.
The trick, as is with any new business venture, is that it takes time and hard work to build a very large, very successful network marketing business. Time is the one thing I’m unsure I have available to me right now; which is why I’ve been stuck in limbo, never fully dedicating myself to building this business or in looking for a new job. I can, again, let providence be my guide and trust that everything on this path of self-reliance will work out for the best if I just put forth my best intentions. Somehow, though, I fear the real-world won’t be so patient and kind. So the time is now to begin getting creative and take matters in my own hands. I wish I could tell you I had a plan — I don’t. But the path of having a safe, secure full-time job has passed for me and I am currently scrambling to reset my mindset to behave and believe differently. I must now have faith in myself, my path, my choices, and my desire to win if I’m going to now stop looking back at the foregone promise of some job to come save me, and begin to move with the flow of The Universe.
Does it seem like things on the job-front aren’t quite working out for you as well these days? Perhaps you are out of sync with the flow that The Universe has for your life. You might just be at a crossroads and need to make a decision, letting faith guide you to where you are suppose to be. If you want to explore a different path and begin learning to have more of an entrepreneur’s mindset in order to succeed in the new economy of the 21st Century, contact me today. Let’s discuss where you’re at presently and where you think you’d like to go in your life.
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Question
Do you think it’s possible to make it in this economy working for someone else? Are you “successful” being an employee, or do you think the system has been fundementally changed to make it harder for those in the middle-class? Let me know your thoughts on that topic in the comments below.
