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Ever wonder how people end up in dead end jobs at 40?

Vigilante

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Thousands, if not millions, of dollars are spent every year by businesses to "culture shape" to "improve employee engagement and productivity". Yet, for me, it never seems to have any impact. More likely than not, I hear people laugh at crap like "the mood elevator" and "be here now".

I recently read something that resonated with me: the purpose of paid employment is to get paid. Everything else is secondary to that. I think more people need to realize that, and seek meaning and inclusion elsewhere.

I had an employee tell me once she loved her job so much, she would do it for free. She was just "blessed" to get paid for doing what she loved.

Three months later, with the company struggling for profitability, I asked her to adjust her wage from 150% of the going market hourly rate, to 125% of the going market hourly rate.

She quit two weeks later. Took a job elsewhere for less money.
 
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Dad2Four

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Are YOU the subject of the OP?

I am. I make more money, I get an hour for lunch, but it's not about the money or the lunch break.

It's about being unchallenged here and knowing that you can accomplish something great.

It's having a dream to be self employed but having no faith you can actually make it happen.

Figuring out how to take care of the family and living up to your responsibilities (money,benefits) and take care of yourself (freedom, self reliance)
 

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I had an employee tell me once she loved her job so much, she would do it for free. She was just "blessed" to get paid for doing what she loved.

Three months later, with the company struggling for profitability, I asked her to adjust her wage from 150% of the going market hourly rate, to 125% of the going market hourly rate.

She quit two weeks later. Took a job elsewhere for less money.

Funny how that works?

I know of exactly one person who did that. She literally volunteered her time at non-profits helping to build software that improved efficiency. To get to that point, however, she put in quite a few years, lived well below her means, and invested the difference until her income from those investments paid her expenses. She also did some introspection to understand what she was seeking in life, and sought out ways to get that without needing to spend money.

It's amazing how much people don't grasp how important money is.
 
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Vigilante

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Conversely, the message of the Millionaire Fast Lane is rather than doing what you love "and you will never work a day in your life" (which is complete bullshit)... add value to people's lives in exchange for money. Then scale.

Then, down the road, you will be free to do what you love.

I taught a class at some local Universities last Fall. Had a blast. Earned nothing more than validated parking. Didn't care.

I volunteer for the Red Cross. Love it. Spend money to do it. Don't care.

Don't do what you love. Change the world, and THEN you will have plenty of time to pursue your muses.
 

Delmania

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Envy has no end.

It's possible on an individual level. I have no issues with the theories behind crap like the "mood elevator" and "be here now". It's basically just mindfulness, which has been around for centuries. The issue is that businesses take that, contextualize it to their environments, and shove it down everyone's throats hoping for quick profits in the next quarter. They strive to remove the struggle people have to go through.

I did a course on Zen Buddhism, and the roshi spoke to us about how a sesshin was the best vehicle to achieve satori (enlightenment). It's a incredible intense experience. In addition to that, I know of people who would sweat while meditating in their efforts to awaken.

How the hell will a 45 minute course on mindfulness do that? How will some guy telling me to "choose my emotions" do that? This shit, like anything worthwhile, is hard. By removing that struggle and turning into a afternoon session and some bullet points on a drab corporate site renders these ideas as useless.
 

Delmania

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Conversely, the message of the Millionaire Fast Lane is rather than doing what you love "and you will never work a day in your life" (which is complete bullshit)... add value to people's lives in exchange for money. Then scale.

Then, down the road, you will be free to do what you love.

I taught a class at some local Universities last Fall. Had a blast. Earned nothing more than validated parking. Didn't care.

I volunteer for the Red Cross. Love it. Spend money to do it. Don't care.

Don't do what you love. Change the world, and THEN you will have plenty of time to pursue your muses.

In other words, love you do (work hard) so then you can do what you love.
 
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Dad2Four

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Another V classic, however; this is my second favorite post.




This is still number #1. ^^^^ from your "Addicted to Passive Income" thread.

The young guys, and the bachelors may not get it, but for the fathers on the forum, it was subtle - yet very powerful - on the surface it was about economics, but peel it back and it's more about the man.


Being able to shut it down at anytime and spend the day/week/month with the people that matter....

that is the equivalent of "My Lamborghini Moment."

Not cool referring to a post in the paid section.... :)
 

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Not cool referring to a post in the paid section.... :)

Just echoing the same concept in another one of my ramblings.

My daughter is at school today, and maybe sick. My wife left them my cell phone number.

If she is sick, I go pick her up. I don't have to check with anyone, tell them I am leaving, or have them use my PTO.

Pretty much all my time is PTO. I won't punch out.
 
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Supa

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It's crazy how many employees at the company I work for seem to love their job. Behaving and talking like it's their own company.. Actually as an employer those employees are good to have, I would not want an employee like me to work for me to be honest. I do the job I am paid for, of I'm done earlier I work on my business.. But I don't understand the employees who act like their job is the most important thing in their life.
 

Bouncing Soul

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Here's the upside. If you press through this, you can do what ever the hell you want.

This afternoon, I think I am going to go to the racetrack, play Keenland (as their meet is short) and then maybe catch the rollover of the Pick6 at Santa Anita.

I don't work for the man any more. I couldn't be a responsible employee ever again. I passed my red circled date on the calendar several years ago.

What funny is, I've worked from home a long time, and mostly had that freedom as an employee. I've been to almost every OB and pediatrician check up. I've ridden dirt bikes on my property at lunch, and shot squirrels with a quick tap of the mute button on conference calls. I paid cash for my 2015 F250 Platinum too.

But still...My day was Aug 7. I immediately took off on a dream motorcycle trip that had been put off since 2008. Only now here in October do I realize how f*cked up my job had made me even with unusual levels of freedom and pay.

Since I got back I've been recruited REALLY heavily. In particular one company, the best company in my industry arguably, was sent to me by one of my last customers and is offering me the world despite the fact I keep telling them no (or because of, more likely).

It's also doing something I really like with the most interesting customers in the world.

If I take it in 5 years we'd finish what we started a years ago and have enough cash to be financially independent. This makes the opportunity cost extraordinary.

So why do I say no?

That question is intensely personal, very difficult and totally important.

It has nothing to do with Ferrari color though. ;)
 
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If you own a business, and you have 10 employees, 7 of them hate their jobs. Period.

Nearly 70% of employees dislike their jobs. It's an unfixable condition, created because capitalism requires it.

My opinion was like yours once. I finally had the financial means to solve the problem you describe.

I paid my employees WAY more than average wages, gave them WAY more than average benefits, and did everything possible to make it the best place in the world to work.

Know what I received in return? Nothing more than what I would have received if I operated like all other businesses.

The fallacy of my hypothesis is if they just treated the workers better, the outcome and productivity would be better.

I was dead wrong, but spent dozens of thousands of dollars taking my theory and disproving it.

The bottom line is when people work to make other people money, they're not happy.

I know a guy that my multi-bazillion dollar mentor rescued from the scrap heap. When he rescued the guy, the guy couldn't buy a pair of shoes. Several years into the rescued guy's six figure annual salary, the guy quit in a blaze of fire. Why? Envy. Even though he was rescued from the scrap heap, and paid annually several times what he was on his first day... once he saw that the fruits of his labor were going to make someone else money... he forgot where he came from. It was't enough any more. If you told him on day 1 what his net earnings would have been in year 4, he would have sold his soul to the devil for that kind of money. But once he saw the fact that he was making that money because he was making the boss 10x that, suddenly it wasn't enough.

So you (and I) were 100% wrong. It doesn't matter how well you take care of the people. Until they get the yield from their labor, they're always going to want more, and take more. And they should. It becomes the awakening that their existence is to serve someone else's needs. The anger is right. The distain is right. The tradeoff is not worth what you sacrifice. In the book, MJ talks about trading 5 days of slavery for 2 days of freedom. This is what this represents. That is the average worker. That is why they hate it. They may not be able to articulate it like MJ did, but that is what they are feeling. And some... never do a damn thing about it. They just wait until another Friday night arrives, and drink it off for another long weekend.

The whole reason you are at this forum is because you agree with that. There is NO BOSS that can treat you well enough that you don't want to chart your own destiny... or you wouldn't be here.

People can be complacent. People can settle. People can be resigned to their lot in life. But they comprise the 70%+ of people that hate their jobs. They are the subject of the OP.

Are YOU the subject of the OP?

It's 3:00am on this side of the world but I had to get up and discuss this one further.

As a business owner (and in all modesty, a very nice guy), what's the solution then?

if you're going to have a business that has a human resources element then is it not better to look after that resource ?
 
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Vigilante

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It's crazy how many employees at the company I work for seem to love their job. Behaving and talking like it's their own company.. Actually as an employer those employees are good to have, I would not want an employee like me to work for me to be honest. I do the job I am paid for, of I'm done earlier I work on my business.. But I don't understand the employees who act like their job is the most important thing in their life.

An old friend worked for a company for 25 (?) years. Skipped his kids soccer practices, late to the school play, voluntarily worked Saturdays.

Then came the morning he got called down to human resources, and handed a brown cardboard box.
 

Vigilante

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I turned down what I assume was a legitimate offer once to earn $1m a year salary in 1999/2000. More money then than I could imagine.

I'd have to move my small kids away from all family, and to Hong Kong.

I hated Hong Kong. Really didn't spend much time considering it.

Some things simply are not for sale. All depends on what you are willing to trade away for a paycheck I guess.
 

Vigilante

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It's 3:00am on this side of the world but I had to get up and discuss this one further.

As a business owner (and in all modesty, a very nice guy), what's the solution then?

if you're going to have a business that has a human resources element then is it not better to look after that resource ?

You do the best you can. You pay people a fair wage for their jobs, and equip them and educate them to advance in your employment, or advance on their own. When they are ready to leave, let them leave.

You can't solve the problem, because there will never be "enough" you can do.

1. Protect the company first
2. Resource the company with the right people
3. Pay the people a fair wage
4. Recognize that nobody on your team is indispensible. If they are, that is your fault.

and

for me

5. Automate and outsource as much as you possibly can.
 

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I love when people try to counteract human nature, as if they can resolve 10,000 years of programming.

Just to give you a clue how things work in an medical facility.

The janitors think the receptionists make too much money.
The receptionists thinks the scrub technicians make too much money.
The scrub technicians think the nurses make too much money.
The nurses think the doctors make too much money.
The doctors think the facility shareholders make too much money.

Envy has no end.

TBH, I've never really understood that mentality.

I worked for years as an SAP consultant in Europe and we were all paid ridiculous contract rates. My boss (who had a stable of at least 50 of us working for him) came to Frankfurt to take me to dinner (he actually came to race his car at the ring, but took me to dinner while he was there).

Anyway, we got into a friendly discussion about rates. He assumed I'd be pissed if I knew what he was charging me out at per hour compared to what I was getting in hand. I told him I couldn't care less. As long as I got what I asked for and wanted, it didn't bother me what he was getting.

He was clearly doing extremely well out of the deal, but as a young guy, so was I so why be envious.
 

ace81385

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You do the best you can. You pay people a fair wage for their jobs, and equip them and educate them to advance in your employment, or advance on their own. When they are ready to leave, let them leave.

You can't solve the problem, because there will never be "enough" you can do.

1. Protect the company first
2. Resource the company with the right people
3. Pay the people a fair wage
4. Recognize that nobody on your team is indispensible. If they are, that is your fault.

and

for me

5. Automate and outsource as much as you possibly can.

this is a great thread, It really got me thinking about a lot of things. Its interesting when you say recognize that nobody is indispensable that's very true, and more importantly is your next statement if they are its your fault.... If they become indispensable though is it to late to fix that problem in your company?
 
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Bouncing Soul

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You do the best you can. You pay people a fair wage for their jobs, and equip them and educate them to advance in your employment, or advance on their own. When they are ready to leave, let them leave.

You can't solve the problem, because there will never be "enough" you can do.

1. Protect the company first
2. Resource the company with the right people
3. Pay the people a fair wage
4. Recognize that nobody on your team is indispensible. If they are, that is your fault.

and

for me

5. Automate and outsource as much as you possibly can.

As a manager it was tough for me to figure out there are many people out there that actually like being, not just managed but, micromanaged.
 

Nicko

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You do the best you can. You pay people a fair wage for their jobs, and equip them and educate them to advance in your employment, or advance on their own. When they are ready to leave, let them leave.

You can't solve the problem, because there will never be "enough" you can do.

1. Protect the company first
2. Resource the company with the right people
3. Pay the people a fair wage
4. Recognize that nobody on your team is indispensible. If they are, that is your fault.

and

for me

5. Automate and outsource as much as you possibly can.

I have the first three points well and truly covered. It's the last two I tend to struggle with.

I've made myself somewhat indispensable which I'm working towards changing now. And that includes automating and outsourcing.

It's one of the main reasons I'm here. I want to free up my time to pursue other things, but I've fallen into the trap of thinking I'm indispensable.
 

Vigilante

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this is a great thread, It really got me thinking about a lot of things. Its interesting when you say recognize that nobody is indispensable that's very true, and more importantly is your next statement if they are its your fault.... If they become indispensable though is it to late to fix that problem in your company?

Never too late. Once you identify it, you can solve it. All we would be talking about is a knowledge gap. Knowledge of the customer, knowledge of the technology, knowledge of a particular angle of the business.

As an employee, your goal should be to become indispensable.

As an employer, your goal should be to ensure nobody becomes indispensable.

Management's best interest is regularly at odds with the employees best interest on many topics.
 
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Vigilante

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As a manager it was tough for me to figure out there are many people out there that actually like being, not just managed but, micromanaged.

Generally, those are clock punchers. Tell me what to do, how to do it, and when to do it... and I will do it. And, if it implodes, it's your fault, not mine. Safety.

Allows them to just do a job and collect a paycheck, like a chimpanzee.
 

Vigilante

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I have the first three points well and truly covered. It's the last two I tend to struggle with.

I've made myself somewhat indispensable which I'm working towards changing now. And that includes automating and outsourcing.

It's one of the main reasons I'm here. I want to free up my time to pursue other things, but I've fallen into the trap of thinking I'm indispensable.

So key.

When I started this latest company, my WHOLE GOAL was to make something that could operate without me.

The commandment of TIME from the Millionaire Fast Lane.

In order to scale, it can't (usually) be time dependent. A bricklayer only gets paid when he is laying bricks, right?

To me, the commandment of TIME has been critical to me achieving freedom.

It's counter intuitive to old school empire building.

I will ponder more on this later while I am sitting at the horse track.
 

ace81385

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Never too late. Once you identify it, you can solve it. All we would be talking about is a knowledge gap. Knowledge of the customer, knowledge of the technology, knowledge of a particular angle of the business.

As an employee, your goal should be to become indispensable.

As an employer, your goal should be to ensure nobody becomes indispensable.

Management's best interest is regularly at odds with the employees best interest on many topics.


Currently I'm an employee :( I however have made my self indispensable or almost... which is nice but at the end of the day I know I need to be an employer.

Great Insight thanks again!
 
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Vigilante

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I however have made my self indispensable or almost...

A lot of employees think that.

Until the company sees it differently.

There's no such thing in most places as job security. It's a myth. It's a false security, wrapped in a blanket of limited income.
 

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Generally, those are clock punchers. Tell me what to do, how to do it, and when to do it... and I will do it. And, if it implodes, it's your fault, not mine. Safety.

Absolutely. We even see them here on the forum every day.

If you're not doing what you're wired for you can get away with it for a while, decades even. As we age we lose physical resiliency. I think around 40 is when your body starts to tell you in ways impossible to ignore because no longer can body and mind repair itself in spite of itself.
 
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Nicko

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So key.

When I started this latest company, my WHOLE GOAL was to make something that could operate without me.

The commandment of TIME from the Millionaire Fast Lane.

In order to scale, it can't (usually) be time dependent. A bricklayer only gets paid when he is laying bricks, right?

To me, the commandment of TIME has been critical to me achieving freedom.

It's counter intuitive to old school empire building.

I will ponder more on this later while I am sitting at the horse track.

Absolutely. I have to say one of the things that resonated with me the most from the Millionaire Fastlane was the realisation I was investing 5 or 6 days a week of my time for a 1 or 2 day return. Hearing that (audiobook) was like a huge kick in the nuts.

So I'm currently working towards removing myself from the business, but I'll admit, it's a struggle (but one worth making).

Time for another espresso shot. I'm up now so may as well power through till dawn.
 

Vigilante

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Absolutely. We even see them here on the forum every day.

If you're not doing what you're wired for you can get away with it for a while, decades even. As we age we lose physical resiliency. I think around 40 is when your body starts to tell you in ways impossible to ignore because no longer can body and mind repair itself in spite of itself.

There's one poster on the forum I know personally.

He circled the date on the calendar, and operated on auto pilot for several months until he hit the exit date.
 

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