Know Your Why
“We change our behavior when the pain of staying the same becomes greater than the pain of changing. Consequences give us the pain that motivates us to change.”
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After almost 14 years working for the same company, I’d finally had enough.
14 years is a long time to work for the same company, especially by today’s standards. People not only switch jobs, on average, every 3-5 years; they often switch entire careers several times during the course of their lifetime.
But not me. I’d devoted a lot of time and energy into my job as a Business Operations Manager/Software System Administrator for a media company. Why did I stay so long? Perhaps I’d developed a misguided sense of loyalty to people who didn’t deserve it. Maybe I’d become complacent. It’s easy to do either.
Like many other people have done and continue to do, I put up with a lot of bullying from my boss. While my co-workers were busy trying to figure out how to bring her to justice, I was busy trying to keep the peace among all parties concerned. When she would set her sights on me, I would hunker down and wait for the maelstrom to pass.
And then, one day, I couldn’t take it anymore. I’d finally had enough abuse to last a lifetime. I decided that it was time to make a move and put all the years of hard-earned knowledge to work for myself. I made a conscious decision to use my experience in marketing, advertising, operations, and technology to figure out this “being my own boss” venture once and for all.
Perhaps you’re in the same mental space – desperately needing to escape your 9-5 job, your abusive boss, your 3-hours-a-day commute, your co-workers who are mentally checked out and not caring about the job they’re doing. Perhaps you’re looking for ways to supplement your income so that you can dig out of debt faster. Perhaps you need to do something flexible because you’re taking care of children or a spouse or parents. Whatever it is – know your why. Let it fan the flame of desire to change your life for the better.
According to the 2016 Future of Jobs Report from the World Economic Forum, even just five years from now, more than 1/3 of the skills we believe are essential for today’s workforce will have changed. What that means is that we have to change with it. We have to develop the skills needed to thrive in rapidly changing economies; being our own bosses and/or freelancing will become more the norm in the years ahead. The good news is – there isn’t a better time in history to do accomplish this.
It’s this site’s mission to arm you with knowledge so that you could ultimately fire your boss.
-Sofia Cassano-
