What I'm Doing and How It's Going

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.

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.

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

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”.

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.

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.

My reason for making the transition was very simple. It wasn’t about money. I was making good money in corporate InfoSec. No. I just had to get away from corporate jobs where one or more of these were true:

• Leadership didn’t know what they wanted

• They knew what they wanted but couldn’t articulate it

• They could articulate it, but couldn’t execute

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 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.