Will you ever work for yourself?

You will never work for yourself. Get over it.

Ujjawal Asthana
Aug 31, 2018 · 4 min read

Answer these questions before you proceed -

Do you hate your job? It’s completely fine if your answer is yes.

Do you think that being self employed will solve all your problems? If your answer to this question is yes as well, you need to rethink and read this article.


“black i hate Mondays printed box on white textile” by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Everyone has hated their job at some point of time. I know that I have.

And everyone who has hated their job, has also dabbled with the idea of being self-employed, starting a business and being an entrepreneur, so that they could get rid of the pain that comes along with going to the office everyday.

But are they right in thinking that they hate being employed at their 9 to 5 job or is it that they do not enjoy the work that they do. These are 2 completely different things.

I firmly believe that people do not hate their job, they hate what they are doing. The same old iOS application development job could be a passionate work for some but a dark trench for others.

Let me say this out loud before I proceed -

Love for work is better than everything else

The debate on “job vs business”, “being an employer vs being an employee” or “working for others vs working for self” has been there for as long as the concept of work has been; but if you think with a clear head, you will realize that this debate is not valid.

There is no shame or secret in saying that you hate your job.

If you do a simple Google search you will find studies which claim that more than 80% agree with you.

Not only that, you speak to 10 random people and ask them if they are satisfied with their current day to day work or not, you will know the answer.

There is no way around the fact that we have to earn money for livelihood, but what a lot of people fail to understand is that money doesn’t result in happiness, irrespective of whether it is coming from one’s own business or from a salary.

What results in happiness is creating something and seeing it in action e.g. a piece of content, a video, a design, an app etc. And there is no rule in the world which says that happiness can be achieved only by creating something for your own. One could very well create something for public consumption or the team/business that they are working for and still be happy.

A lot of us think that we hate our job because we are working for someone else, and being self employed will solve all our problems.

But, here is what we tend to ignore — no matter what we do, we always work for someone else.

You take the jobs that you think are the most independent in the world and you will realize that even they are working for someone.

A travel bloggerThey create content for their readers.

A YouTuber Creates videos for their subscribers.

A social media influencerClicks beautiful pictures for their followers.

A Company Founder/Business Owner (consulting, ecommerce, saas anything)They are working for their customer and their team.

A painterThey work for the people who will buy it or the people who will visit their exhibition.

What we notice from outside is their independence, but what we miss is that they are doing it for someone else and they are still loving it. And that is what gives a person true independence from their hate towards work.

It’s not a big pay cheque or a cozy office or free lunch which gives satisfaction, it’s the love which comes from within, an idea, a project which doesn’t let you sleep. That is what gives you satisfaction.

So here is what you can do to find what you love — Do a side hustle. Do a project outside of your work.

Do you have anything that you have been wanting to do for a while? Start doing that.

It could be anything -

  • Making a video
  • Writing a story
  • Painting a portrait
  • Clicking pictures
  • Learning the newest marketing and growth hacking technique
  • Learning a new programming language

Anything that interests you — gym, fitness, organizing a party cooking, stitching, speaking in public, bar tending, building games, writing ios apps. Anything which has crossed your mind and has caught your fancy.

Skip a couple of weekend parties and TV series episodes and start doing it.

You need to give it some time. Keep doing it for a while, and if you still want to do it no matter how tired or busy you are, maybe that’s your jam and that’s what you should do full time for yourself or someone else.

Instead of trying to prove that a particular style of work is better, we should strive to find what gives us satisfaction and makes up happy and do that by all mean without thinking of the norms of doing a job or a business.

All the best.

Ujjawal Asthana

Written by

Fitness and Healthy Living Ambassador 🏋️ | Building Premium Activewear at Zymrat 👕| Engineer at ThoughtDisrupt 🤸 | Say hi @ujjawalasthana on IG YT FB LI

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