How Social Media Made Us Hate Office Jobs

A large section of the self-improvement movement that operates under the logic:

Run a business = success

Work for a business = loser

It bugs me, but then the cynic in me sees the real motivation as every ‘guru’ frames this as “quit the nine to five and start your own business..” and, surprise, surprise they have a course on how to escape your tedium in the rat race… yawn…

I love the film Office Space, it shows everything wrong with an office and this seems to be the groundwork fundamentals why being an employee is bad.

The protagonist Peter Gibbons is flawed in that he hates his job, but doesn’t really have any idea what he wants to do instead.  His utopia is essentially having the ability to sit on his ass and do nothing.

Office Space could be rebooted in the age of Social media, just add fakes fronting on Instagram of a lifestyle they don’t have and millions of Peter Gibbons being targetted, people with no concrete ambition just a bunch of people sold on the image that the entrepreneur lifestyle is the key to an easy life!

With so many people discontent, there are plenty of scam artists willing to indulge the fantasy with images of Lamborghinis, beaches and supermodel girls – any other cliches that I  missed?

I never understood the link equating starting a business with superficial bullshit that keeps you poor, but generally, these are used to emphasise the positive of entrepreneurship  – independence, creative freedom, and control.

And of course in the age of social media having a profile saying “John Smith, Finance Office Junior for Faceless Corporation” doesn’t sound as sexy as “Thought leader entrepreneur”

But starting a business isn’t easy and doesn’t happen overnight!  There is the hard work, the drive, the risk, the sacrifice.  Instead of dreaming of easy millions office wantrepreneur should focus on yourself to decide what is truly creating unhappiness, before making any life-changing decision.

Awareness

You think your job is shit because you are expected to work?

You think your life is shit because you have bills to pay?

So does everyone!  Is starting a business going to solve your issues?  These types of problems would be addressed by being more self-aware, stop being lazy and thinking that everyone owes you!

Do you actually have the drive to make entrepreneurship more than just an aspiration?  If not and you can’t be realistic it makes you prime for exploitation to the next drop shipping guru who has made more money selling courses on drop shipping than actually on the practice itself!

The idea of entrepreneurship…

I feel the idea of being an entrepreneur is more appealing than actually being one.  With social media, it just seems like a front to be another fake on Instagram, trying to impress other people, that the individual doesn’t know.

We are growing up in a shallow culture, where working nine to five is seen as a bad thing, being ‘average’ is looked down upon on.  It’s easy to forget we are all on different journeys and social media doesn’t offer the ability to explore the finer details that your audience has the ability (or time) to appreciate.

Whether you work in HR, logistic, finance – it might not sound as groundbreaking as being the founder of an app designing company… but it does pay the bills.

Time is a construct

There does seem to be an element of impatience and get rich quick is not a new phenomenon, there have always been magazine ads promising easy cash, it’s just that the technology has created new routes  – what once was catalogue selling, became dropshipping, penny shares became cryptocurrency.

Social media exemplifies this creating the pressure in that if by the time you turn thirty and are not a multi-millionaire makes you a loser.

The younger seem to reflect the culture, expecting everything almost at the rate of delivery of high-speed internet.  In the workplace, this does not transition and I have experienced a number of twenty-somethings, in roles that are pretty successful for their age, pissing away the opportunity because they are not getting promotions on an annual basis.

The whole thing makes me want to vomit – I respect ambition but its frustrating to watch people lack the patience to learn their craft and often that comes with a lot of menial work, which you might not realise how much it tests the resilience to get through tough situations – an important skill if you want to go anywhere – even business!

“I’m twenty and I got sick of the rat race so I started my dropshipping business”… Rat race?  Fuck off!  If your twenty then you haven’t even started the rat race.  Come back when you’ve experienced a recession!

Reflect, reflect, reflect…

You might not agree with my views, but I believe a large number of people who think the solution to solve their unhappiness with their office job by starting up a business need to focus on themselves first instead.  If you are unhappy with yourself, the work behind a startup might not be a great idea.

Focus on your zone of control, learn patience, appreciate the journey and most of all disregard the opinion of others – if you really are discontent with what you do, you will soon realise it by working on yourself rather than it being the opinion of what someone you don’t know said.

There is a lot of value to be realised by addressing issues with your job, establishing what you enjoy, how you can make someone’s life better and, if needed find work with someone who does value you (and trust me they do exist, its not all big bad boss narrative that has been built up).

Your role gives you an opportunity – focus on building yourself, developing a special talent that makes you stand out, become invaluable to any employer and aim to become outstanding at whatever your career path it is that you choose to do.

The nature of how you see your job will really impact your mood, when you decide to dedicate to your craft you will see how much more positive you feel than thinking you ‘just’ work an office job.

Being an employee has hard times, but there are so many benefits that I don’t fully understand the backlash against working for someone else.  If you can change your mindset you will be amazed how good the journey actually is.

Remember you are awesome, please don’t let social media dictate who you think you should be and may I wish you all the best on whatever you choose to pursue.

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