10 Reasons You Should Never Get a Job (Blog)

[RichGrad]

There are just as many people failing in internet marketing as there are in businesses. Of course it's much much cheaper to fail online.

Whatever it is, success always goes to the top 10 or 20% of the people who are going to do whatever it takes to get there.

[Baltar]

It's kind of funny to see so many people warning of how difficult it is to start a business and that the failure rate is high. Of course it's hard, otherwise everyone would be doing it. Getting a job is something that anyone can do, which is why most people have a job.

As far as the failure rate goes, I think what many people don't realize is that your chances of success go up after each failure. That is, assuming you learn from your mistakes (if you don't you might as well not even start). 90% of people may fail at their first business attempt. 60% may fail at their second, and 30% may fail at their third. That's my understanding. I've pretty much failed at my first attempt right now, but I learned so much that I know I have a better chance to succeed with the next attempt.

There's nothing magical about it. Business skills can be learned like any other skill -- by doing, failing, and learning from the failures. Nobody ever gets good at something without initially failing a few times at it. It's just that with a job you're allowed to initially fail and still get paid (the employer sees your training as an investment), and with a business that doesn't work. Unless of course you get venture capital in which case you can fail and still get paid a salary.

[billybrads]

The real risk is getting stuck with option 3:

Fellow #3 never got clear about what he wanted. So he just drifted through life in a fog. He played it safe instead of taking big risks. He earned a modest living, paid his bills on time, had an OK marriage, and played by the rules. But with each passing year, the feeling he was missing something grew louder and louder, but he drowned that voice with distractions: a job he didn't care for, watching TV, and idle conversation with people who didn't challenge him. He couldn't muster the courage to look deep inside that background feeling of dread. The closer he got to death, the more he feared he'd made a really big mistake.

I'd pick #2 over #3 any day. #2 may look scary, but it's an awesome ride if you don't fight it.

Ok, so what if I wholeheartedly agree with you that #2 is a way better life than #3, and that #2 might even have more opportunities for growth than #1. What if I am living #3, certainly never intended to, but like you said just never really got clear on intentions. I probably got to this point for a plethora reasons, such as being afraid of being #2. Possibly I even have a lot of the same problems as #2, even though I tried to avoid them.
What to do now? How to transform? How to change paths? What to do? How to commit to a certain life path, when I can't even decide what I want to do on a friday night. I'm sure i am just as capable as anyone else. I share many of the same beliefs as you. I agree that some people might have worse outside obstacles, but it is an internal strength that moves them along.
Say I agree with all of this, what should I do. How do I get that internal strength, that clarity?

[Savage]

@billybrads: Here's one place you can start - http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/200...-your-purpose/

[eternomi]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

@billybrads: Here's one place you can start - http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/200...-your-purpose/

First of all, purpose is not a singular, set-in-stone thing. It may and will change in time as your mindset changes. If your mindset does not change, then it could stay the same for a long time, but it certainly doesn't have to.

Secondly, a high level concept like purpose may not be encoded in your DNA, but everyone does have certain memories, skills, talents and "direction" encoded in there which will consciously or subconsciously provide guidance. On the other hand, this doesn't mean that anyone is stuck with what they've been handed down, so don't rush out to get your genome decoded to see which diseases you will get. Your genetics only provides a certain capacity as a default. You may choose to use this capacity or ignore it.

When you go with a company, you are using their vision possibly because you don't have one of your own. IOW, you opt to live within someone else's version of reality. See if you can talk to some of these business starters or read their autobiographies, and figure out how they got their vision. I personally found that their vision most commonly comes from either an intense level of interest/curiosity in a subject or a personal problem they could not get resolved any other way. These two things are the biggest purpose providers.

[billybrads]

thanks steve i will definitely give this a look

also thanks eternomi. I have always had a problem with that, giving into someone else's perception of reality.
It would be really nice to solve my personal conflicts as a career, wouldn't it.

[qed]

Whenever I read a post like this, I was too naive to think "this is how Steve thinks about this topic", but now I realize he is writing lopsided articles looking at issues from a single/narrow perspective and leaving out pieces on purpose to stir the pot, generate discussion, to polarize people, to bring awareness into focus and also perhaps to create linkbait.

This is my theory of course. I don't know if he is doing it on purpose or not, but it makes sense.

Whether it is done on purpose or not, being unaware of the nature of these posts will lead to much confusion and you'll undoubtedly be mislead. In fact, I am fairly certain that much of the discussion in the forums is because of this.

Well at least this blog has the disclaimer that it is for smart people, right? :P

[Brutha]

Whenever I read a post like this, I was too naive to think "this is how Steve thinks about this topic", but now I realize he is writing lopsided articles looking at issues from a single/narrow perspective and leaving out pieces on purpose to stir the pot, generate discussion, to polarize people, to bring awareness into focus and also perhaps to create linkbait.

I think Steve has already posted that this is the way he does things.

[qed]

Originally Posted by Brutha

I think Steve has already posted that this is the way he does things.

I don't read everything he writes. I must have missed it.

[Lupe]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

Then again... you could start an online business for $8 when you're 14 years old and be making $1 million a year by the time you're 17, just like Ashely Qualls did with WhateverLife.com.

Getting a job is just too risky these days.

WOW! That's even more amazing than what you did! Dropped out of high school, no college, awesome.

[ruf10]

Hello
my first post, hello everyone :-)

For some time now I want to be an entrepreneur, that's my dream :-)
My current financial situation bad, I'm nearly broke.
I went looking for job and I got one, starting next week, so money won't be any problem.

The problem is, how to be an employee and not allow myself employee-mentality?
I had this problem earlier - I forgot what I really want and started chasing after "donkey's carrot" - more salary, private health care and so on.
I know what I want, but it's hard for me to keep it in my mind on daily basis.

Please, give me some advice.
Regards, Ralph

[Calculusaurus]

Originally Posted by Baltar

It's kind of funny to see so many people warning of how difficult it is to start a business and that the failure rate is high. Of course it's hard, otherwise everyone would be doing it. Getting a job is something that anyone can do, which is why most people have a job.

As far as the failure rate goes, I think what many people don't realize is that your chances of success go up after each failure. ...

There's nothing magical about it. Business skills can be learned like any other skill -- by doing, failing, and learning from the failures. ...

Entrepreneurships statistics have always interested me.

I read two books recently:
1- Illusions of Entrepreneurship
2- The Black Swan (highly, highly recommended btw)

The Black Swan talks a lot about survival bias in business and in life. It's the top 1%-10% that really get any attention, while the graveyeard of failures pass through the cracks of history like they never existed. It's heartbreaking to read of, say, Mathematical geniuses who devoted their entire (entire!) lives to solving one huge problem and had nothing to show for it. Whether we like it or not, luck does play some role - you can't deny 'the right place at the right time' effect.

The Illusions book gave statistical data on every aspect of entrepreneurship you can measure. As I read that book, I really got the impression that a lot of entrepreneurs really are hard working, motivated people with the right ideas but fell to the long tail of failures anyway. There's a blog of a failed software company startup here: Diary of a Failed Startup -- it's quite interesting, and you realize that these guys were dedicated (and smart) as hell, yet still failed. Sure they did a lot of things wrong, but even successful startups do some things right and some wrong (I imagine it's hard to find which factors are forgiving and which are unforgiving in business). Nevertheless, you'll never hear of these guys (well, you did actually thanks to their blog) but you will continue to hear of all the Facebooks and Microsofts due to survival bias.

This is the statistical problem with 90% of self-help books on success (particularly financial success) -- these books interview successful people and draw the post-hoc conclusion that all people with such-and-such qualities become successful -- which is wrong, because they really found that all successful people have such-and-such qualities. Napolean Hill comes to mind...

Then, of course, there's the flipside. A statistic I would truly be interested in is finding out how many 100% persevering entrepreneurs still end up in the long tail of failure. That is, if you take an entrepreneur who will continue to (1) try harder and (2) learn from mistakes after each failure, what is his chance of success? I still don't think it's 100% in every field, maybe some like IM, but not every field. (e.g. read What Are the Odds of Becoming a Black Belt?)

I'm certainly not anti-entrepreneurship (or anti-job, or anti-anything). But I do think it's smart to look before you leap. Even if looking is scary as hell, at least look. I'm all for Ready Fire Aim but don't forget that Ready is still an important part of that process.

And P.S. I'm not trying to be a Crab pulling people back down into the barrel, I just think this is an interesting topic worthy of being analyzed through more than one perspective

[Savage]

Lots of entrepreneurs fail because their businesses aren't aligned with truth. They may work hard, but if the bottom line is that they're trying to build a mooch-oriented system instead of creating real value that actually helps people, they can get all the technical details right, but that won't be enough to save them.

Working on a problem creates no value for others by itself, so it makes sense that such people experience failure. Solving a problem might create value for others. Solving many problems probably will create value for others.

Countless entrepreneurs fail because they try to make money instead of creating value. That approach is very short-sighted. Another problem is that they may work on creating value without actually delivery any value. That approach also leads to failure.

One way to succeed long-term as an entrepreneur is to build a system that can efficiently create and deliver value to people. It's a simple rule of thumb, but it's amazing how many people get it wrong. Either they aren't creating anything of real value, or they aren't delivering any real value.

[Lupe]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

Lots of entrepreneurs fail because their businesses aren't aligned with truth. They may work hard, but if the bottom line is that they're trying to build a mooch-oriented system instead of creating real value that actually helps people, they can get all the technical details right, but that won't be enough to save them.

Working on a problem creates no value for others by itself, so it makes sense that such people experience failure. Solving a problem might create value for others. Solving many problems probably will create value for others.

Countless entrepreneurs fail because they try to make money instead of creating value. That approach is very short-sighted. Another problem is that they may work on creating value without actually delivery any value. That approach also leads to failure.

One way to succeed long-term as an entrepreneur is to build a system that can efficiently create and deliver value to people. It's a simple rule of thumb, but it's amazing how many people get it wrong. Either they aren't creating anything of real value, or they aren't delivering any real value.

What is the difference between creating real value and delivering real value?

[Rachelle]

Originally Posted by Lupe

What is the difference between creating real value and delivering real value?

I'd like to try and answer this one.

Depending on your 'product', its value could depend/exist solely on its delivery, or in combination with its created and delivered value.

Say, for example, you are a motivational speaker. You write speeches to motivate others. The speeches you write has value, that you create, but your delivery of these speeches plays a key essential part to their value. The value of your delivery of these speeches will therefore dictate their success.

At least, that's the way I see it.

[Savage]

Originally Posted by Rachelle

I'd like to try and answer this one.

Depending on your 'product', its value could depend/exist solely on its delivery, or in combination with its created and delivered value.

Say, for example, you are a motivational speaker. You write speeches to motivate others. The speeches you write has value, that you create, but your delivery of these speeches plays a key essential part to their value. The value of your delivery of these speeches will therefore dictate their success.

At least, that's the way I see it.

Yup, you can create a product or service, but if you don't get it into the hands of other people, then no value is being delivered.

For example, you can start a software company and spend lots of time creating incredible life-changing software. But if the software never gets released and efficiently delivered to people who can benefit from it, you'll go broke in the creation phase.

Do I generate income by writing articles or by posting articles? I can write as much as I want, but if I never share my work publicly, it helps no one and can't generate income.

Similarly, I wrote a book. That project involved a lot of hard work. But the publisher hasn't sold many copies of it yet (except via Amazon pre-order) because the book hasn't been released yet. Only when the book is released will it provide value to others and generate income.

[IamBren]

Whoa your book is available for pre-order! That's great! I just (pre) ordered it.

I came back to this article today because I asked my employer if I could attend the Photoreading seminar in Chicago and was subsequently denied (technical training classes are typically thousands of dollars - this would have been $1500 for the class, hotel and flight!). This made me realize that for a paycheck I let someone tell me where I can sit, how I have to behave, what I can wear, where I HAVE to be from 8-5PM sharp, how much I can make and how much more I can make each year, etc. (BTW - lately I've deeply realized just how raises are typically metered by budget and other factors and are almost completely out of my control! Further, my previous employer rewarded you more for doing less i.e. keeping pace with the crowd.) They tell managers not to socialize with their employees. Our director has a "get this done or you're fired" personality which I think is just really sad. I really despise the basement atmosphere of where I sit, but there isn't much else in this building. I could do 99% of my job from home but I would be laughed out the door if I even mentioned that! And this is so far the best job I've had in the last eight years of working "professionally"!

I realized today that this might just be the nature of working at a "job" and for me to truly have the freedom to be all that I can be I will need to do my own thing. I feel like my consciousness is craving freedom and has expanded well beyond the walls of this office. This is probably because I've gotten into Louise Hay's books and have been doing positive affirmations daily. I just started saying "I deserve the freedom to be all that I can be" yesterday and look at the turmoil that has come up!

Luckily, I have had some value providing/revenue creating projects in the works for years. This day has motivated me tremendously to put the time into getting this done.

This article seems more accurate now than when I first read it. I really appreciate what you're doing here Steve. I really wanted to hear you speak last weekend. Maybe next year - that is, if you're invited back!

B.

[Savage]

Regarding PhotoReading, Learning Strategies has agreed to repeat the PhotoReading 59% discount offer temporarily on July 15th (through the end of the month). It's only for the home-study courses though. I'll announce it in the blog when it's available again.

[IamBren]

I bought it the first time you had it at this price. I want the seminar experience. I'm glad you're able to bring back the price cut though.

[Keith]

Originally Posted by Calculusaurus

A statistic I would truly be interested in is finding out how many 100% persevering entrepreneurs still end up in the long tail of failure. That is, if you take an entrepreneur who will continue to (1) try harder and (2) learn from mistakes after each failure, what is his chance of success? I still don't think it's 100% in every field, maybe some like IM, but not every field. (e.g. read What Are the Odds of Becoming a Black Belt?)

There is no approach that will 100% guarantee you success. Many people compare the disadvantages of doing something different to the advantages of not changing. And that's a completely unbalanced comparison.

Sure there's a chance you may fail going out on a limb. But there's a chance you'll fail stayng where you are too. And if you change, at least you'll learn something from it.