Welcome to another edition of ask the readers! Your chance to speak up, get specific help on what you are struggling with, and add value to what we’re building here at Pocket Changed.
Here’s today’s question (please answer it in the comments below this post):
Why do you want to be a cubicle renegade?
(Note: You can skip down to the comments right now to answer if you’d like.)
If you don’t typically leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you. If you only leave one comment ever, make it be this one.
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I know what my reasons were for quitting my day job last year to be an entrepreneur, but the underlying reasons are different for everyone. Pocket Changed exists to help people change their lives by connecting what they are passionate about with the work that they do. The rationale behind why you want to spend your life doing work you enjoy can be completely different than why someone else wants to.
That’s the beauty in it all.
Everything I write here on Pocket Changed is for the betterment of the PC community. The more I can understand about what you are struggling with and working towards the better job I can do to help you on your journey.
This is your chance to tell me why you want to change your life and what you need help with so I can focus my time and effort getting you there.
To get things started, here is my answer:
I have too many interests and aspirations to be contained in a single job description. The freedom and lifestyle I desire doesn’t fit into a 6′x6′ gray square, no matter how great the pay and benefits are. I can’t “fake it till I make it” when I am not passionate about the work I do. What I spend the majority of my life working on must be about more than the company’s bottom line; it must change the world for the better.
Now it’s your turn.
Please tell us in the comments below (if you are reading this via RSS or Email, click here to comment). Just leave a sentence or two and use anonymous if you so desire.
So… why do you want to be a cubicle renegade?
{ 43 comments… read them below or add one }
I want to find a life I feel 100% passionate about. I’m not sure exactly how to get there yet, but I know it’s not going to happen sitting in a corporate cubicle.
Thanks for sharing your reason Lora. Determining your passions looks to be the next major step for you to take.
I want to be a cubicle renegade because I want freedom of my own time.
I HAVE to be a cubicle renegade because my talents, skills, and passion are 100% wasted where I currently am. Why should I spend 40 hours a week doing the same mind-numbing ridiculous task.
I need to be using all of my talents to create something that actually helps somebody instead of padding an billionaires pocket.
Exactly Shawn. I love the reasons you gave and how they revolve around your potential.
I started to realize that when you work at a company for years and then leave, the only thing that you really keep is your network (which is a valuable asset). I wanted to have work that I created and a platform that I got to keep - no matter who my employer might or might not be.
The network is something you can take with you, but I’d also argue that your experiences, skills, and knowledge gained on the job also are key things you get to take with you.
Truth. Good point.
I think you will find a common theme with this question Caleb. “Freedom.” The opportunity to do work that you find meaningful, beneficial to yourself and others, and that honestly does not feel like work as much as it feels like living (if that makes sense).
I think many cubicle renegades will say they want to be in control. To utilize their time, talents, and resources to not be more productive but to be more effective.
Looking forward to what you have in store!
Awesome points Justin. Freedom and control were a big part of it for me too.
I was forced out of the cube by a terrible job that was making me physically and mentally sick. I quit and starting pursuing freelance work and haven’t looked back. For me, the real benefit to staying out of the cube is the freedom and flexibility that come with forging my own path and setting my own schedule.
I’m glad that you’re finding success through freelancing, despite being forced out of your previous job.
The ability to set your own schedule is both a blessing and a curse though.
I agree with the desire for freedom and flexibility mentioned by other commenters, especially the freedom to work with people who respect me and value what I do. I also want to love what I do, work toward a passive income, and try building lots of different platforms and business models while continuing to learn and expand my skill set.
The biggest motivator, though, is that my husband and I are planning to start a family soon, and I desperately want to be a stay-at-home mom. I need to create an income model that lets me earn my current full-time salary with a lot fewer hours per week and from home.
Thanks for sharing Christina. I’m finding that a lot people want the freedom to be able to work from home, specifically to be around their family more.
Your “why” resonated a lot with me, Caleb. I also have too many interests to be able to satisfy them in any one job. My current job is about as close as they come, but it’s not enough. I also want to have the freedom to follow my heart and delve into the things I’m passionate about while I’m feeling it. I know I do my best work when the muse strikes, and sitting in an office from 9-5 is like bludgeoning my muse with a sledgehammer. I heard a great metaphor yesterday about each of us having a zone of good, a zone of excellence and a zone of genius. I don’t think I have yet even given myself an opportunity to know what it’s like to be in that third zone, and I don’t believe I’ll find it when I’m working for someone else who is just happy to have me working in the first two zones. I believe there’s more to life than work and I’m tired of being defined by a job.
I feel like I could go on, but those are the heart of the issue.
I’m glad we’re on the same page!
With a traditional career at a larger company you typically get pigeon-holed into specific silos of skills. When you work for a smaller company or for yourself, you have to be able to do more kinds of things and learn different skills. That is huge for the growth of “you”.
We just had a long weekend and I took the Thursday off so I had a 4 day weekend. I had such a great time as did a friend of mine who owns a car shop in town.
He kept saying “Why can I just do what I want ever day”. I can understand for someone who works 60+ a week, owns a business, house and two cars that it would take a lot of work to get out of their position.
The thing is though I hear a lot of my friends wanting to basically have more control over their lives and not to be tied to their job. Most want to travel and go on vacations for long than a week or two. Most want to do what they love all day.
I’m lucky enough not to be tied down to a lot things like my friends. It also comes down to desire and passion. I REALLY want to have more control of my life and not be tied down to my 9-5.
It gets to a point where I am sick of dreaming about playing golf courses all over the world. I’m tired of seeing YouTube videos of my favorite DJ’s playing over the world. This is my motivating factor. I want to live my dreams!
With that said Caleb and to get back to your original question. My biggest set back is trying to devise the best plan of attack for my marketing business.
Another setback is staying on budget for saving up. I have been trying to follow your blog and newesletter closely along with Ramit Sethi. The key is to not be too frugal and to work on making more passive income.
Hey Jordan, thanks so much for sharing your story. I think that a lot of people like to talk more about the life they want than to do things that will get them there.
It’s cliche but actions speak louder than words!
I felt the same way when watching and reading so much about the Secret. They never really talked about the hard work and sacrifice it takes to get your destination.
Many people seem to be comfortable with where they’re at in life and don’t want to push themselves. A couple of years ago I heard something In Gary Vaynerchuck’s speech at the Web 2.0 Expo that really made me wake up.
He said something along the lines of “We only get one shot at this, one life”. It’s so easy for me when I’m grinding the gears 40+ hours a week at work to forget that I only have once chance at this. I
Because I’ve never fit well into a corporate structure. Because I would constantly run into roadblocks and walls every time I would try to use my creative voice. I believe in constantly learning and challenging yourself - in fact - I think I need it more than just believe in it. I hate the attitude of settling and doing “just enough to not get fired.” I don’t want to live my life like that.
I’m happy to say that I am weeks out from launching my own online business and am excited. I know that I may have to do some more cubicle work to pay the bills until I can sustain myself full time with my own business - and I’m ok with that. No matter what - you should have integrity in the job you do - even if you don’t like it. Hold yourself to your own standard of good work, even when you can’t stand the work you do.
Looking forward to those days when I’m completely broken free and doing my own thing!
Thanks Tricia. I agree that the feeling of settling is one of the worst things that comes from a unfulfilling careers these days. I’d argue that majority of people working don’t enjoy what they do and just do it to “pay the bills”. I hope that this starts to change more over the next 100 years.
First, there’s everything that goes along with corporate. The politics. Mind-numbing meetings that go nowhere. The good old boys network. The boss that pushes you around. I can go on and on… These are the things I want to get away from.
What I crave is the independence and flexibility that a cube job doesn’t allow. I am a father of two young children and spending time with them is the most important thing to me right now. I want to have the flexibility to do things with them at the drop of a hat. I want to wake up on a warm summer morning and decide that it’s too nice to work and that the day would be best spent with my children. Work can be done when we come home and my kids are winding down and in bed.
I should also say that mobility is important. I need work that can be done from anywhere. So when I decide to spend the month of August living in a cottage by the beach with my family, I can do that… but still be able to work. Can’t do that with a cube job.
Another vote for the freedom to spend more time with your family.
That freedom is HUGE. A common misconception is that you’ll work less when you are self-employed, but you usually end up working more. The big difference is that you get to work when you want and where you want.
Thanks for sharing Kevin.
I don’t actually work in a cubicle — I work in retail. Still. I always felt like I had no goal in life, nothing I really wanted to do, so I was happy to bide my time, doing whatever paid the bills. Then recently I had a sort of life-changing moment that made me reevaluate my whole attitude and approach. I realized there are things I really, truly want to be doing that are not what I am doing now — I was just scared to admit them and then to really try. (I hate failure, but then, who doesn’t?) It’s still too early to even think about quitting my job, but I am pouring the rest of my time into pursuing what I want to be doing. I don’t intend to quit until I see it through, whatever that means.
Great comment Erin. Having a “wake-up” moment is something that I think everyone needs to go through (sometimes multiple times) to make a big change in their life.
You can’t really force that moment, but once it happens the changes can be huge.
Because I can do so much more, and with an impact. I have passions and interests that motivate me to work towards stuff I love without guarantee of any reward every evening, every weekend. When you are passionate about something, you automatically transmit that to people you speak to, and the help you offer others is all the more genuine and better because of it.
Thank for the passionate comment Dolly. I agree that when you are super passionate about something you are more likely to help people in a genuine way than if you are just “checking off the boxes”.
There are 4 things in life that make me truly, truly happy:
creating, learning, teaching and time spent with my son
Before I had my son, I used to teach English in a small town. I created my own modules for my classes and I travelled on my days off, learning about local cultures along the way.
Now I work in the city, at a job I like but am stagnant at, earning a bit more money but paying through hours spent away from my son.
I don’t want to wake up one day and realize there is a boy living with me whose core I am unfamiliar with. I don’t want to part-time raise a stranger in my own house.
Thanks for sharing such a heartfelt response Yols. The decision to take a job that pays more, but gives you less time and freedom is a hard one to make. You can potentially earn more and live more “comfortably”, but at what cost? Sometimes it is just not worth the trade.
So true, Caleb, and something that I realized when my son was just a few months old. I am working slowly to move back to a life of passions, not possessions.
Glad there are like-minded souls out there!
My passion is acting and voiceover. It’s all I want to do. And that lifestyle conflicts with a day job. I want time freedom and financial freedom to pursue my art and my craft in the way it needs to be pursued.
Thanks for sharing Jamie.
Are you currently doing that work on the side and looking to build it up to a full-time income level?
Yes, absolutely! My big picture vision is to be earning 100k a year from my acting and voiceover endeavors. However as an actor/voiceover actor much of what I do is audition. That is the nature of the biz. I must go on a number of auditions in order to book a gig. In the meantime, I want to figure out a way to support myself that gives me the time freedom and financial support I need to do that. I want to create a business of my own lends itself to that. And that is where I am challenged at the moment.
That’s awesome Jamie! I’m glad you are heading in the right direction and know what you are working towards.
For some people that is half the battle. Keep hustlin!
Although I’m not currently in a cubicle, I’m still not satisfied with my work situation.
The work I love to do (teaching English) doesn’t pay well.
The work that pays well (taking care of someone else’s website) I don’t love.
The solution? I’m creating my own English-teaching website. I can help a lot more people by doing something I’m good at AND passionate about. Plus, I can work from home (if my husband and I should decide to have kids) AND our family can have the freedom for future travel - which we plan to do a lot of!
The problem? Actually making a living from it is such slow going. I’ve got a pretty good number of visitors and subscribers so far, which is awesome! But as for actual customers, I haven’t had much success (yet).
The other hard thing is the psychological aspect - I LOVE working on my site/business, but I’m doing so completely “on faith” that SOMEDAY it will pay off financially and I’ll hit that perfect blend of “I’m doing what I love and making a living from it.” Because there are no guarantees, it’s hard to justify investing hours (and dollars) in something that I believe will be successful in the future, but that is currently not reaping any financial benefits, you know?
It is hard to keep working on things when you don’t know that it will pay off for sure Shayna. I completely agree.
One of the best things I can think of that you could do would be to start networking as much as you can offline to try and get clients/customers that way. Join ESL groups and try to become known as an expert in the area that you live in.
Don’t underestimate the power of offline connections.
Cheers!
I would like to feel I’m alive and working for a big company made me feel like a battery or robot, one of many, expendable. What’s the point of existence when I don’t contribute something special to the society and don’t use my talents. That’s why I dumped that cubicle b****. To use my “assets” to the fullest and help people discover theirs. Encourage them to that!
I agree Grzegorz. It is hard NOT to feel like that when you work at a company with 10k or 100k + workers.
The key in companies that size is to make it smaller for yourself. Treat the office you work in or even the area you sit in as a little community. That helps create a feeling of meaning again.
Cheers!
For me, it’s just about freedom. I want to be able to move freely and live wherever I choose. I want the flexibility to work on what interests me most. I’m not interested in simply making a lot of money. I’m more interested in finding a meaning and a purpose. The jobs I’ve had so far haven’t satisfied that.
Freedom was the biggest reason for me too. I wanted to be able to travel when I wanted and being rich is never something I strived for.
Meaning and purpose are way more important to me than living lavishly.
I had that big lightbulb moment last year - realising that I have been miserable and desperately unhappy in mind-numbing, dead-end jobs for 18 years and that I am nearly 40 years old and have wasted half my life doing things I hate.
So I recently resigned and my last day is this Friday.
I have no plan in place just yet. I know what I’m passionate about but have no idea how to make a decent income out of it yet. For now, I need to recover from the stress, misery, pain and suffering and will do some travelling and relax and recoup my energies before tackling life again!
Thanks for sharing Deev. I believe that everyone needs to have that “big lightbulb” go off at some point before they start making major changes.
Sometimes it happens at 25 and sometimes at 85. Once it happens, big changes can be made.
All of the above - except the stay-at-home-mom - plus cubeville reminds me of stalls where they fatten cattle before slaughter. The cows seem content to eat what the farmer brings not knowing the freedom they could experience in the pasture, under the sunny blue skies.
Thanks for sharing Ron. I always viewed it as being a tiny cog in a massive machine, so can see where you get the analogy from.