A brutally honest confession from someone who’s done pretending to love the corporate ladder.
I’m writing this at 11 PM on a Tuesday, and I can’t sleep. Not because I’m stressed about work. I can’t sleep because I finally admitted something to myself. I hate being an employee.
Is this what I want?
It happend last week. I saw Leo, my manager, product manager, hunched over his laptop. His eyes were bloodshot, hir shirt wrinkled, and he looked like he hadn’t seen sunlight in days. This guy’s been with the company for five-six years, makes decent money, and is respected by everyone.
And I thought: is this what success looks like? is this what I want to become in the next 5 to 10 years?
Then I looked around the office. Sam, our engineer manager, was stress-eating while reviewing code. Ray, senior designer, was on his third coffee. These are the people I’m supposed to aspire to become.
Look, I’m not ungrateful. My company has great culture and amazing people. But when I imagine myself five years from now, sitting in Leo‘s chair, looking like Leo, living like Leo. I can’t do that. That’s not me.
I don’t want to trade my twenties for a better job title.
Here are why I hate playing employee game.
You’re not paid for your impact, you’re paid for your time. It doesn’t matter if you solve a problem in 2 hours or 10 hours. You get the same salary. You could save the company millions, and your rewards maybe a 10% raise next year.
Every hour you work builds someone els’s dream. While you’re grinding away, your CEO is building equity and making decisions. You’re jus there. Replaceable.
The overtime trap is real. I see people wearing 60-hour weeks like a badge of honor. But dedicated to what? To slowly destroying their health so someone els can hit their quarterly targets?
What I want instead
I want to build something that’s mine. I want to start a business where my effort directly translates to my success. I want to wake up excited about work because I chose it, not because it was assigned to me.
I’d rather fail trying to build something of my own than succeed at building someone els’s empire.
A message to my fellow twenty-something
If you’re reading this and nodding along, you’re not alone. We’re not lazy for wanting more than this. We’re not crazy for looking at our managers and thinking “there has to be a better way.”
The corporate world will tell you to “pay your dues” and “work your way up.” but what if the ladder is leaning against the wrong wall?
I’m not saying quite your job tomorrow (I haven’t yet) . But start planning your escape. Start building something on the side. Start treating your current job as a stepping stone, not a destination. learn how they run business so you can run your own too.
The only person who will truly invest in your future is you.
My commitment
I’m writing this as a commitment to not getting trapped in the employee mindset. I’m committing to building something that’s mine, even if it’s scary , uncertain or how small business it is.
I’m saving this post because I know there will be days when the corporate world tries to hold me back. When they offer me that promotion, that raise, that “great opportunity.” I want to remember this feeling.