What I'm Doing and How It's Going

No. So you can become the full version of yourself. The version that doesn’t hide. And feel shy. And stay quiet when you know the answer.

Why? Because the company knows they 1) are very talented, and 2) can go work anywhere else. The problem with most corporate workers—and indeed most people who can’t find a job or are in constant fear of being laid off—is that they don’t have those two things.

I’m also not saying all jobs are bad. Work is amazing. I’m very pro-work. Startups are awesome. And there are many great corporations as well. Places where it’s possible to work with a properly dialed-in work dynamic.

I get to spend my time thinking about how to help people. Helping friends. Helping customers. And ultimately trying to help everybody. It’s literally my company’s mission.

For all the reasons in the previous sections, I think it’s time for that to end. It’s time for us to think of ourselves as Individuals first.

You are not your job. Your worth is not defined by your corporate manager’s opinion of you. You are not your timesheet-punching-performance. Your worth is not whether you read the memo, or used a cover sheet.

We’ve had decades—no— generations —where one’s self-worth came from their profession. And not just their trade, but the company where they work. And of course people were also parents and friends and members of society as well, but it’s almost like those were secondary to work.

Then you grow your skills. You learn in public. You share things on a website. In a newsletter. Etc. Not so you can become some blow-hard “influencer”.

But I’m ok with that. More than ok. I’m exhilarated by it. Because this stress is for something I actually believe in.