Live life differently

Rethink the way you work

Stop drinking the Kool-Aid. This is a call to action. If you feel unfulfilled with the work you do, or the rewards you get, then this is a call to you. Change things. I’m not writing this for your boss, nor for someone else who is “braver” than you. I am speaking to you. Only you.

Stop working crazy hours — you are commoditizing your industry… I can here the chorus of rebuttals “…but this is what people in our industry have always done”. I call bullshit — this may have been justified when you worked directly for the client, on projects of your choosing. Now though, let’s be real, you work these hours to deliver a profitable project for a non-human corporation. Think on this point for a few minutes.

Let’s empower the next generation. Empower ourselves, show our children that there is an alternative to being a cog in the machine whom every day hopes to be chosen to climb the corporate ladder or be given the opportunity to get a better “work-life balance”.

This is a new world — you have permission to try something different. Remember you are not alone. Just find one other.

As an aside, I do not believe all corporations are created equal. I am not opposed to profit. Had Bill Gates not made so much of it perhaps we wouldn’t be so close to eradicating malaria, polio and guinea worm to name a few. If you work for one of the few companies doing good, and believe in what you’re doing, stick with it and enjoy the ride.

But don’t just settle into something you don’t believe in and justify it by saying “that’s the way the world is”. Our world is made up of a bunch of people who choose how to behave which is the main influence on how our “world is”. If I’m not mistaken, you are a person and therefore help create “the way the world is”.

Some actions you can take now to help change things:

• Share the your knowledge you have with other people — on the internet, or at meet-ups.
• Have more honest impactful conversations.
• Stop being timid. Be polite, be respectful, but don’t be timid. If you think something is a bad idea, and are passionately opposed to it, say so.
• Stop being a victim.

Together, let’s change the world.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” Ma