Another reminder of why I’m not working for the man
February 7th, 2008 by KenricSometimes it really hits home, like this past Sunday as I was outside the University of Phoenix stadium two hours before kick off of Super Bowl XLII. The temptation to buy a ticket to the Super Bowl was there, and it was high. Only $1,200 for upper level to what was going to be an historic game either way. I wanted to buy a ticket. However, I just couldn’t part with that money. Damn, why didn’t I have a real job and that extra spending money, then I could just blow the money on a ticket and not feel guilty.
The truth is that without a full time job, I do feel like I’m not making as much money as I could throughout the year. I am certainly not maximizing my money making potential. However, I feel that if I got a real job, I would become complacent and not concentrate on increasing my other streams of income. I mean a job is the easiest method to make money. You show up, people tell you what to do, you go home, you get a check every two weeks. I could go back to being a zombie. A zombie with SuperBowl tickets.
A blatant reminder
On Monday I called my old coworker from the contracting job that I had at the beginning of 2007. I basically quit this high paying job in April 2007 because I felt that it was turning me into a zombie. However, I often had regrets about doing so. You see at $45/hr it was easy to be bribed into being a zombie. Because on paycheck day, I had alot of spending money! However, I just couldn’t take the daily grind, so I quit.
Anyway, I called my ex-coworker to talk about the Super Bowl and I found out that he wasn’t working there anymore. In fact, my old office went from 40 employees down to 3 employees. I worked in the wireless industry and when Sprint PCS announced it was laying off 4,000 employees two weeks ago, my old company got hit hard. My ex-coworker said that he was given 5 days notice and let go last week.
I wasn’t sure what to think when I heard this news. A huge part of me was relieved because I knew that if I had stayed a zombie worker, that I would have had the same fate as him. I would probably be sitting here typing away on my blog about being laid off.
But guess what, I wouldn’t have Houston Apartment #1, Houston Apartment #2 and Ebiz #1 either, because I know I would have missed those opportunities. And you know what else, I would not have had my vacations to Colorado, Chicago and Zion National Park or my Thanksgiving in Cali, or New Year’s at the Rose Bowl. These were all one week trips and I certainly did not have tha much time off.
This news actually has reaffirmed that I am on the correct path.
“Fool me once, shame on you, Fool me twice, shame on me”
I have been down the old layoff road too many times. I learned after my third layoff that being a great employee is just not good enough. In fact, I believe that it’s the wrong thing to do. You should be an average employee for 40 hours a week only. Any overtime should be spent on your own business, Me, Myself and I, Inc.
My ex-coworker is a good guy and he works very hard. He definitely worked harder than me. His heart was into that job. Through no fault of his own, his job was gone in 5 days. That could have been me…
Posted in Personal Development | 
Stumble it!
In todays marketplace, it is naive for someone to think that hard-work, brains or education level will protect them from layoffs. People that still do believe this are getting the Masters degree and are working 12 hours a day. With everyone following this model, no one can stand out.
If a Vice-President has to axe 90% of the workforce, then it won’t matter who has what. That 90%, consisting of Master Degrees and 12-hour work days, will be kicked onto the street. This is their reward for giving their lives to the company.
By Clifford on Feb 7, 2008
You might want to consider short term consulting and/or contract work. You can arrange your schedule to accommodate your vacations. Charge a high enough hourly rate to cover the benefits you will not get plus the extra share of social security. As much as it is not fashionable among the passive income crowd, consider socking at least some of the money away in a SEP plan.
One thing that would concern me if I were in your position is health care, specifically health insurance. The cost of health care isn’t going down anytime soon, and you can rack up a six figure bill for even a short hospitalization. One mountain biking accident with a compound fracture requiring orthopedic surgery could severely damage your net worth…
By Another Investor on Feb 7, 2008
Oh, wow, Another Investor brings up a good point about health bills.
But, I was going to say that I was glad to have the option of choosing when I wanted to leave my old corporate job. Everyone in my entire team is gone now, save for one (Michael, my fiance)–who is so entrenched and so overworked and underpaid, they couldn’t possible do without him unless they planned to shut down the entire office. Even my old boss was laid off. At least I went when I wanted to go! I even got to have a small severance package. His company just laid off another 1000+ employees last week.
I have thought of getting an hourly contract job on a temporary basis just for the purpose of building up funds for travel. The Realtor gig isn’t profitable right now (duh). And, REI doesn’t take all my spare time. So, I figure I could spare some hours in the day toward disposable income for the good things in life. Also, I should put some of that income into savings for a rainy day fund…or a medical fund.
By Trisha on Feb 7, 2008
I have health insurance that I have been paying monthly for. My rate right now is $103/mo. It’s basically on 20/80 plan with a high deductible.
I do not have any eye care, but I do have a minimal dental plan.
By Kenric on Feb 7, 2008
Hey, People I work and have not enough money.
If I will have enough money, I can wjrk for people.
By Rotaru on Feb 8, 2008
Having a full-time job definitely takes away from concentrating on your passive incomes, it does for me. It’s so easy to just work 40 hours and collect a paycheck, thinking it will always be there and I can relax on the weekends. Right now I do work a full-time job and it’s hard to spend my spare time working on my e-businesses, it’s very draining. And I have not put the full effort into expanding them the way I would like to.
OTOH, if I didn’t have a full-time job, you’d better believe I’d be putting my nose to the grindstone trying to create some passive income or else I won’t have enough to pay my mortgage this month.
It all comes down to, you gotta put your time and effort into what your passion is. And I don’t think it’s being a zombie!
By Mindi on Feb 10, 2008