Does this sound familiar?
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Are you unhappy? Why settle for working in a deadend job in a big corporation?
All you need to do is start a small business. You can have it all, gain independence and live your dream life. Just think of it... A utopian life of pure ecstasy and perpetual joy where you make massive amounts of the money and save the world.
- Your friendly neighborhood guru.
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What are the unsaid assumptions?
- You can find a perfect job that is 99% awesomeness.
- In reality... all jobs have some enjoyable aspects and unenjoyable aspects. Even running a small business will have up and downsides.
- Corporate jobs are horrible. Working in a small business that you own is intrinsically better.
- In reality... corporations offer a wide range of work positive and negative work environments.
- Corporate jobs offer less upside than a small business, but they can offer greater stability. Depending on your constitution and responsibilities you might prefer stability.
- Starting a small business is surefire way to make lots of money.
- In reality... starting a small business is a high risk/high reward investment. It might pan out and make millions; it also might fail horribly. Due to survivorship bias, we hear lots of successful small business stories. We don't hear many stories about the many failed small businesses that shut down every year.
- Your happiness is mainly dependent on your job and how much stuff you have. A better job and more money gives you more options and thus, happiness.
- In reality... happiness comes from many places - friends, family, hobbies, nature, good food, good sleep.
- If you deprioritize all areas of your life just to make money then suddenly money and career is your only path to happiness. It is risky to generate all joy and happiness from only your career, as a career gamble that doesn't pan out will cut off your only source of joy.
What life paths are before you?
In the developed path there are many paths before us. Gurus and slick sales copy paints a picture of heaven and hell (with them offering an easy ticket to heaven).
Common Life Paths - The Default Path: Work a semi-skilled boring job and compensate and drink heavily to forget the meaninglessness of your existence. - The Guru/Silicon Valley Path: Play the investment lottery and put all your chips into moonshot a small business so you can retire at 35. - The Middle Path: Work a corporate job with a solid work/life balance that lets you enjoy time with friends, family & the universe. In order to live a happy life there are many areas you can look at. - The Reformed Warrior Path: Work a higher stress corporate job for the first part of your career, then downshift to a more relaxing job around midlife. - TBD: To be discovered....
Life is filled with ups and downs. Take a look around, what path are you on? What path would you like to be on?