Why Your Day Job Sucks!

Are you tired of working from 9 AM to 5 PM?

Are you longing for more quality time with your family?

Do you feel trapped?

Do you feel enslaved?

Do you feel dissatisfied?

If you’ve answered YES to these questions, then your day job sucks. And don’t worry, you are not alone. According to a study, “Eighty-six percent of the employees surveyed planned to actively look for a new position [job] in the coming year.

Eight percent are planning to do it and are now networking while the remaining 6 percent want to stay put.” What a drastic change! Just 4 years ago, only 60 percent of the employees polled planned to actively look for a new job.

This trend shows us that the number of people quitting their day job so they can pursue their dream job is increasing every year! Why?

With the help of Kary Oberbrunner’s book, “Day Job to Dream Job”, we’ll answer that question in this post.

Three Reasons Why Your Day Job Sucks

Reason #1. Finances — Earn as You Like

Let’s face it. In your day job, if you don’t work, you don’t earn. In Kary’s book, that’s what he called “Active Income”.

And active income is limited. You do the work and you get paid —- once. If you want to earn again, you have to exert the same time and energy or probably more.

Your earnings are limited by your skills, time, focus and schedule. It is non-scalable.

Take a look at your cash flow. Are they 100% active income? What happens if you lose your job?

Passive Income

Passive income is completely different from active income. In this model, you only work once and clients pay you REPEATEDLY for it!

Unlike active income, passive income knows no bounds — your presence, schedule and focus do not impose any limitations. It is scalable.

Serving 1000 customers is as easy as serving a hundred. I love how Kary defines passive income in his book. He said:

Passive income is superior [to active income] because it scales. It knows few limits because it’s not finite like you. Passive income works even when you don’t. Because you have to work less, you have more time for yourself and your family. And additional time is more valuable than additional money.

“Additional time is more valuable than additional money.” I love that phrase. And that brings us to reason number 2.

Reason #2. Fulfillment — Live Life as You Wish

Let me open this section with a quote from Steve Jobs:

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been NO for too many day in a row, I know I need to change something.

Kary gave us four points to consider as we think about work-life balance:

• Life is too short to spend tens of thousands of hours in misery

• Life is too short to be living in chronic pain just to survive until another weekend

• Life is too short not to make the maximum contribution with the gifts and abilities entrusted to you
• Life is too short to hold on to a job for the sole reason of a paycheck or retirement benefits

There’s more to life than the four corners of your office. You are a “human being” not a “human doing”. You don’t live to produce — you’re not a machine. And you know what’s even better?

You are living in an era where you can do anything you want. Gone are the days when the fate of men are fixed from birth to death. You have a choice.

You can live as you wish or you can stay trapped in a prison called “Day Job”.

Reason #3. Freedom — Do What You Love Most

What’s your passion? Maybe you want to snap beautiful pictures of the countryside. Maybe you love talking and interacting with people.

Maybe you find joy in doing community and charity works. But here you are, stuck behind your desk, loaded with paperwork in your Day Job Prison.

As Kary pointed out, a Day Jobber has an “either or” mindset:

EITHER freedom OR finances

EITHER flexibility OR security

EITHER significance OR success

But what if you can do both? This is how the Dream Jobber mindset works:

BOTH freedom AND finances

BOTH flexibility AND security

BOTH significance AND success

The choice is up to you. But before you make a decision consider these words from Kary: “Why wait until you’re almost dead before you start to live?” 

The Time Is Now!

When is the best time to pursue your dream job? The answer is NOW! You are living in an era unparalleled by any period of human history.

With the Internet, everyone is connected. You have all the information and tools at your disposal. They’re just waiting for you.

Remember, life is too short to spend your precious years in a Day Job prison.

Lenmark.