You vs. the Cubicle (Blog)

[Gene]

Originally Posted by MidasGirl

In all fairness, all masters degrees are not created equal

That is the truth! I have known people with Masters degrees who did well in their program who were bagging groceries and other similar jobs for years after obtaining the degree.

It seemed as if they never planned beyond the degree and expected the world to fall at their feet because the possessed the paper.

[Gene]

Originally Posted by AdamA

Gene,

Inspiring! Did you have to just quit your job without a plan? Or did you build some passive income on the side first before quitting your job?

I built passive income from a very young age. I bought some agricultural real estate at 13 with a very small inheritance from my mothers estate. After buying that 15 acres I continued to buy farm land and have a great passive income from those investments today.

I have a number of other passive income streams which also provide income for me. I do some counseling work, primarily by providing audio programs to the clients of other therapists who are aware of my talents.

I also create audio books from out of copyright books. I began creating the audio books because I wanted an audio book of the work and the works I wanted to listen to were unavailable in that format. After creating the audios I decided to offer them for sale. It was in essence free money as the only real work involved was cashing the checks for product sold.

I try other ideas when they interest me and provide fun and a feeling of being useful to myself and others.

I have spent the majority of my life without a formal job working for other people or companies. I am just not wired for such a life and decline to abuse myself by trying to fit into that world.

[Gene]

Originally Posted by Daffy Duck

A happy person can choose to be happy whether sitting in mud, a desk, a cubicle, a high-rise office, a house, while drowning, or even being lit on fire. Though I must admit, the latter may take an enlightened fellow to achieve!

With that said, I do agree that cubicles belong to beginners. The more elite of us should work out of a trailer.

Daffy,

I own a motor home and find it one of the best home offices I have ever used. If I want to work five states away to look at mountains out of my windows I just drive there and continue on my project in a different location while sleeping in my own bed and having my own stuff organized just like when the RV was parked outside my house.

[AlwaysLearning]

Originally Posted by Daffy Duck

A happy person can choose to be happy whether sitting in mud, a desk, a cubicle, a high-rise office, a house, while drowning, or even being lit on fire. Though I must admit, the latter may take an enlightened fellow to achieve!

Reminds me of one of my favorite Zen Koan:

A man traveling across a field encountered a tiger. He fled, the tiger after him. Coming to a precipice, he caught hold of the root of a wild vine and swung himself down over the edge. The tiger sniffed at him from above. Trembling, the man looked down to where, far below, another tiger was waiting to eat him. Only the vine sustained him.

Two mice, one white and one black, little by little started to gnaw away the vine. The man saw a luscious strawberry near him. Grasping the vine with one hand, he plucked the strawberry with the other. How sweet it tasted!

[Manomanman]

Steve,

Another masterpiece article. I really felt "conscious growth workshop" in this one. Even though I attended the workshop, reading these articles reinforces things, inserts them in the mind at a new angle.

I admire the way your writing resonates with such a wide audience.

-Jesse

[AlwaysLearning]

Originally Posted by Vermilion Sparrow

However, I haven't found a way to get paid to research something for a few months and then switch topics, and at some point you have to admit that if I quit my job and spent a few months in a library I would eventually starve to death.

You should go hang out at the University of Arizona library in Tucson. Students are constantly leaving food around after studying, often it isn't even opened. Not very good food, but you won't starve.

Come to think of it, it'd be pretty difficult to starve in a major city in the U.S. I mean, there's food everywhere. You don't even have to rummage through the trash if you don't want to. Just walk around and find what's free...

[AlwaysLearning]

Originally Posted by MidasGirl

Do you think Steve would be able to construct such superior articles if he quit school at 8th grade?

I, for one, highly doubt Steve Pavlina's formal education has much to do with his writing ability. He wasn't an English major, the highest writing course he probably took was some 2nd semester English composition class, and those are a joke. Grad schools are chock full of people with the very highest of education who can barely even make polite conversation.

[AlwaysLearning]

Originally Posted by Acting Like Godot

Is there no one who finds school enjoyable any more?

Enjoyable, fun, interesting, educational, useful, challenging, enriching ...?

I continue finding school fun (now in my 4th year as a PhD student). But I do have to confess, my resentment for homework continues to grow every quarter.

[Steve Pavlina]

If you want to become a better writer, write a couple million words of free content and post it publicly for all to see. Review people's feedback.

You'll improve.

[Lupe]

Originally Posted by AlwaysLearning

You should go hang out at the University of Arizona library in Tucson. Students are constantly leaving food around after studying, often it isn't even opened. Not very good food, but you won't starve.

Come to think of it, it'd be pretty difficult to starve in a major city in the U.S. I mean, there's food everywhere. You don't even have to rummage through the trash if you don't want to. Just walk around and find what's free...

a lot of big cities has homeless shelters that offer free food for poor folks.

[ellie]

I didn't quite understand your example with the fighting between things and who would win? I couldn't quite associate me fighting with a million dollars or a chainsaw and winning? I just couldn't associate with the objects you were talking about, I must be a bit daft

Good article, I am in the middle of this path. Where I got rid of the big cubicle (working in an office) and downgraded to a really small cubicle (freelance and teach) and now I am ready to just get rid of the cubicle all together, so that I am in complete control. The small cubicle by the way has been working well up till now, but I know it's time for the next progression.

That was my plan all along, but I'm not good at taking giant leaps. I've also learnt that I find it really hard to depart with money and I am stingy But that's for another time

I am in the position now to invest in my own project, and actually that processes was quite interesting in itself, because as soon as I made a clear, cut decision of what I wanted, I basically made the intention, that over the next 4 months I would need time and money to develop my own project and somehow time and money fell into place. This is from someone that struggled all the time to have money in her account, to someone who has a decent amount now. I didn't even go out of my way to be particularly careful with spending and saving either. I'm also proud with myself that I have the smarts to invest in ideas rather than a large plasma tv That gives me much more satisfaction.

And it's funny I have just recently had had an obstacle in teaching, where I am no longer aligning with it "or falling out of harmony" and negative situations were arising and I was getting upset about it, starting to blame myself and ask what's wrong with me and giving power to what was being projected onto me… but then I realised the reason this negativity was there for a reason, and that was because I was no longer aligning with this area and so this negativity is there to help push me into this new direction and for me to make sure I follow through.

But yes I have been really enjoying the journey and have to say I have been the happiest I have ever been this last year or so. I've learnt so much and it's been so intersting sitting back and watching observing what's happening to me and situations surrounding me.

I'm one that naturally fights against what is deemed the norm, so this way of thinking really resonates with me, but I think it's for a particular type of person…a person that really can't accept what one has been told, where say out aloud to yourself something like "this is not right, this isn't working, I know there is something else and I have to follow my instinct".

[IFeelGood]

I find it quite limiting to say that any job working in a cubicle is wrong...

Some of the best jobs I have had have been working in and out of cubicle. It was really just my 'base' and while there I had great experiences. I met fantastic people, I worked quietly at times on creative and fulfilling projects, I had many 'out of cubicle' experiences including some very interesting and fun travel AND I got paid extremely well for it, 5 weeks paid vacation, and had the option of working from home a couple of days a week.

On the other hand, working at home can have advantages but many at home self employed people have a more limited experiential world, at least many of the people I know who are doing it. Their home office becomes their Steve Pavlina view of cubicle.

My view is that a person who is truly in the now and at cause can be anywhere and find happiness in their work.

[ellie]

Originally Posted by IFeelGood

My view is that a person who is truly in the now and at cause can be anywhere and find happiness in their work.

I disagree, there are some people that are just not suited to working in a cubicle...full stop. I don't think it has anything to do with being in "the now".

But i also agree that there's nothing wrong with people being in a cubicle if it suits them.

I wonder if those that suit the non cubicle world are rebellious?

[IFeelGood]

Ellie, I guess I was unclear... I didn't say that everyone is suited to be in a cubicle... if you look at what I wrote in the now and at cause, meaning a person who is an active, present participant in his/her life who makes choices to suit them...anywhere they choose to be.


I don't think it's necessarily a form of rebellion, although I am sure there are rebellious types who say hey f%$# this cubicle strictly to piss of their parents, wife, boss, society, etc...

I think it is more a matter of choosing what is best for you. If you feel that the only option is a cube and you are unable to leave, I think that is the heart of what Steve was trying to say. What I am trying to say is that it is not the cube, it is the choice and the feeling of empowerment that goes with it. You can be in a cube or in a tube, on a train or on a plane, in the air or anywhere...I love Dr Suess

[impaul99]

I'd like to share something strange that happened to me.

Steve's written on this topic before. He's said before to basically just QUIT and do what you love. Forget money, forget your bills, etc. Don't give away your power to those things.

I didn't really feel comfortable with that path of just quitting my 6-figure a year job abruptly like that so instead I began building my Blogging and Affiliate Marketing income while still working. However, things weren't going that well. Then, the company I was working with had a partner of theirs announce the end of their partnership as of Dec 31st, 2008. That basically meant the end of my "secure" income unless I wanted to take a paycut and work three times as hard for way less pay.

The announcement happened in April 08, the day after I wrote in my journal that I wanted to get out of working for someone else by end of 2008. So, I took it as a sign that it was time for me to move on. From Oct-Dec 08 I trained my replacement so that the company I used to manage and the employees I was leaving behind could still have a job if they wanted to, and I quit, officially becoming full time "self-employed" as of Jan 1st, 2009.

My income as of Jan 09 from my Internet Money Making efforts was virtually nothing. Right after that though my income began climbing and now being in my 10th month on my own, I'm almost at the point where I've been able to replace my 6-figure income by doing Internet stuff from home, which I enjoy.

Now, here's the weird part.

During these 10 months I've invested quite a bit of money, savings, and credit card room into keeping myself afloat while building up my business. In the last few months and especially in the last few weeks I've decided to take on a few side-contracts doing some stuff I used to do (which isn't exactly my passion) but which guaranteed a certain income to help me pay down some of my debts.

The weird thing is that when I took a little side job to do something for like $500 or $2,000, I thought it would be *extra* money I would have to pay down bills on top of the money I was already making doing stuff I enjoy and love. Instead what happened is that when I made $500 doing stuff I didn't enjoy, my income doing stuff I do enjoy dropped by like $500 so I'm still not ahead.

Then I took another project last weekend to make about $2k/m more than before, but since that day (1 week ago) my other income (doing what I love) dropped by about $500. So weird.

There's no reason why it should drop. It's mostly passive income I earn from my online websites, so it would be like Steve making $30k/m from AdSense steadily for a few years, and then the minute he takes on a project that promises to pay him an additional $10k/m but doing something he doesn't really want to do (but he does it anyways for the money), and then his AdSense income dropping down to $20k/m at the exact same time.

I guess what I'm starting to realize is this:

(1) Let's say your current job (J) is paying all of your bills (B) right now. So what we try to do is build a side business (SB) that hopefully makes as much money as J so that we can pay B. The fantasy is that we'll wait until income from SB = J so that we can quit J, because now SB will cover B. That's the fantasy. Doesn't work though.

(2) I tried for years and years to build up my SB to be equal to J or to at least cover most of my "fixed" expenses. Not until I quit J did my SB income start growing and start to cover B.

(3) Not only that, but once you build up your SB income to at least partially cover B, if you ever try to take on work similar to what you were doing at J, your SB income will drop in direct proportion to how much J type work you do.


I don't know if this happens to everyone, I'm just reporting what happened to me. If this is in fact the case, then there really isn't any point doing ANYTHING except that which inspires you because it's a waste of time. You'll never be in a position where all your bills will be covered enough so that you can do what you love. You have to take a leap of faith one way or another.

I guess this is what Steve's been saying all along.

I still can't believe my "passive" income from doing the stuff I enjoy dropped the second I took on work mainly just to make some extra money. It's like getting slapped across the face by the Universe as punishment for "going backwards"...

Anyone else experience this?

[ellie]

Originally Posted by impaul99

I still can't believe my "passive" income from doing the stuff I enjoy dropped the second I took on work mainly just to make some extra money. It's like getting slapped across the face by the Universe as punishment for "going backwards"...

Anyone else experience this?

It hasn't happened to me as yet as I haven't taken a complete leap into passive income. However, I totally understand what you're saying and I could imagine something like this happening to me too, so thanks for explaining your thoughts.

It's so interesting when we observe these sort of anomalies.

[bluedragon]

But if I got in a fight with 3 Bucharest stray dogs, I wouldn't be so fast to bet on myself.

[Wolfspirit]

I absolutely loved this article! It was exactly what I needed to hear to help me further along my path.

My question to all is...

I have started my own business and I love it. This business is a true love of mine and never feels like "work" because it brings so much satisfaction. However, I am still "tied" to my 40-hour-per-week draining day job. This job is the main source of my income at the moment. After reading the article, along with my other studies, I understand the concept of focusing on ONLY what you desire and enjoy doing. But how can I keep focused on becoming self-employed doing what I love while working a draining day job? I feel like when I am at my day job, my business takes a back seat, and at the end of the day, I feel like it's eight hours wasted on something that isn't helping me at all other than for a paycheck.


Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[Ninja]

I kinda like cubicles... It reminds me of hiding in a cardboard box as a kid. There was nothing I liked more than putting on my pirate hat and hiding in a large cardboard box, pretending it was my own secret spaceship (yes, I was a space pirate ) from which I could spy on the grownups.

If I ever make enough money as a writer or otherwise work from home, I'll probably build myself a cubicle from a cardboard box

[Ninja]

Originally Posted by Wolfspirit

I absolutely loved this article! It was exactly what I needed to hear to help me further along my path.

My question to all is...

I have started my own business and I love it. This business is a true love of mine and never feels like "work" because it brings so much satisfaction. However, I am still "tied" to my 40-hour-per-week draining day job. This job is the main source of my income at the moment. After reading the article, along with my other studies, I understand the concept of focusing on ONLY what you desire and enjoy doing. But how can I keep focused on becoming self-employed doing what I love while working a draining day job? I feel like when I am at my day job, my business takes a back seat, and at the end of the day, I feel like it's eight hours wasted on something that isn't helping me at all other than for a paycheck.


Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Do you think you could eventually make enough money from your business if you had eight hours of extra time and energy? If so, go for it! Money is important of course, but there are ways to deal with that. First, cut back on expenses as much as possible. Get a smaller house, wear secondhand clothes, go dumpsterdiving. Whatever it takes to get your expenses down! Time isn't money, money is time! Remember this! Ideally, you should brng back expenses enough that you can cover them with your business and perhaps an additional paperroute or something else that doesn't take all day and brings in just enough extra cash so you won't go hungry. When your business takes off, you can bring back the luxuries... if you still want them, that is.

[Steve Pavlina]

Originally Posted by Wolfspirit

But how can I keep focused on becoming self-employed doing what I love while working a draining day job?

You can't. The two vibrations are incompatible -- unless you want self-employment to drain you too.

You don't need the job. Thinking that you need it is pure delusion, and you're giving it too much power over you. You're stronger than that.

Drop what drains you, and you'll free up a lot more energy to use on your new business.

You can't thrive and prosper unless you remove the shackles.

[Steve Pavlina]

@impaul: That's supposed to happen.

I can create the same effect within my own biz too. All I need to do is shift my attention to trying to make money. My income drops or stagnates when I do that. But when I focus on doing what I love and on creating and sharing value with others, my income goes up.

The reason this happens is that when you treat money as a power source, you disempower yourself. That lowers your vibration and pulls you out of sync with abundance.

Withdraw your power back into yourself, realize that the flow of money is an effect and not a cause, regain the vibration of abundance, and follow the path with a heart. Then the money will start flowing again.

You cannot experience abundance if you regard money as a power source.

[impaul99]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

@impaul: That's supposed to happen.

I can create the same effect within my own biz too. All I need to do is shift my attention to trying to make money. My income drops or stagnates when I do that. But when I focus on doing what I love and on creating and sharing value with others, my income goes up.

The reason this happens is that when you treat money as a power source, you disempower yourself. That lowers your vibration and pulls you out of sync with abundance.

Withdraw your power back into yourself, realize that the flow of money is an effect and not a cause, regain the vibration of abundance, and follow the path with a heart. Then the money will start flowing again.

You cannot experience abundance if you regard money as a power source.

I think what happened is that for the first 9 months (since Jan) I was doing what I love so my income was starting to grow. However, I think I've outgrown even doing that now and it's time for me to move into doing even bigger things but I haven't fully figured out what that is yet.

I've been trying to figure out how to provide value in an even bigger way, like a MUCH bigger way, now that I've got the confidence from the last 9 months, but since "the path" hasn't been presenting itself to me yet I was thinking to take on some "side projects" for a while until it presents itself.

It seems it was a mistake to do that though, because it's pulling me out of my previous vibration.

The challenge I'm running into I think is that my next big step is to create something that's never been created before, whereas previously I've modeled the success of others. It's the same thing as when you started your PD Blog, I mean there wasn't any other PD Blogs making $5k/m, let alone $40k/m (at least that I'm aware of) at the time.

You kind of pioneered a new thing, you didn't copy a "formula" of something that was already created.

Providing value to people on a large scale is not as simple as it seems. I think where I provide most value is working with those who help people, not directly working with people themselves. For example, helping a local natural wellness clinic connect with more local customers to help them take preventative measures to improve their health instead of getting screwed by pharmaceuticals. I have several other projects on the go right now with "lightworker" type people who are helping others but they don't understand the Internet well enough to fully leverage it.

I just don't know how to take this large scale. Maybe I should design a course for lightworkers on how to use the Internet to build a local client base? There's gotta be a crapload of psychics, Reiki practitioners, wellness clinics etc., all who provide great value to their clients but who have no clue what they're doing on the Internet.

Hmmmm....

[cylon]

Here's a perspective from someone who has been freed of the cubicle but is in a sort of limbo.

I felt I was battling the cubicle last year, and it was winning. I came here to bitch and moan and got plenty of encouragement that it wasn't the end of the world. I came to the conclusion that the job was a dead end and that I wasn't going to give it any more emotional energy. As soon as I was starting to feel good about my life again, and recognizing that my life was changing, I "lost" the cubicle job, along with millions of other folks, on Dec. 31, 2008.

I saw being released from the job as a true gift.... All these months later, I'm still grateful.

What I didn't expect though, was how I would cope without having to go to a job I hated every day. I assumed I would just start hitting the pavement and looking for new work but instead, I've been recreating my identity and changing habits and beliefs. It's almost like my body and mind needed a detox period to make up for all the years of burnout and stress. I feel like I've made peace with the past now, I know why I was in that situation to begin with.

I think it's like ending any long term relationship: you need time to recover. If someone hates their current job, I don't know how likely it is that they will quit and immediately be successful in a new venture... not because it's not POSSIBLE, but because you really need time to "get it out of your system". For me, that period of time has been about 9.5 months. Maybe longer than for some, but it seems my body and mind are now guiding me to jumping back into life, on my own terms.

I highly doubt it will include another cubicle.

[Steve Pavlina]

@impaul: I think you're looking at this from an angle that will make it tough to move forward.

Instead of thinking large scale, try thinking deep scale.

I.e. instead of worrying about trying to go big and reach lots of people, think about going deep and having a more powerful impact at the individual level.

Value is received by individuals one at a time, not by hordes of people en masse. The large scale effects are simply ripples.

Ultimately the solution is to follow the path with a heart. That's also the path that requires courage. If your path doesn't require courage, it's the wrong path. The path with a heart is the path you subconsciously dismiss and avoid whenever you try to take on side projects to distract yourself, and you end up stuck in your head. It's the path that's scary to look at, but when you begin moving toward it, you feel energized and alive, and all your inner resources kick into high gear.

[impaul99]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

@impaul: I think you're looking at this from an angle that will make it tough to move forward.

Instead of thinking large scale, try thinking deep scale.

I.e. instead of worrying about trying to go big and reach lots of people, think about going deep and having a more powerful impact at the individual level.

Value is received by individuals one at a time, not by hordes of people en masse. The large scale effects are simply ripples.

Ultimately the solution is to follow the path with a heart. That's also the path that requires courage. If your path doesn't require courage, it's the wrong path. The path with a heart is the path you subconsciously dismiss and avoid whenever you try to take on side projects to distract yourself, and you end up stuck in your head. It's the path that's scary to look at, but when you begin moving toward it, you feel energized and alive, and all your inner resources kick into high gear.

Great advice, thanks for the insight.

Where I've ran into challenges with "doing deep" in the past is that there is only so much I can do to help a person. I can't help someone who isn't ready to receive such help. Ultimately, it is their decision as it is their life. For example, a psychic can give someone a reading, but they can't *force* people to listen to the advice, no matter how sure they are that the advice will benefit that person.

That's kind of where I'm getting stuck working with people 1-on-1. They're only ready to go so far in their conscious growth, and then they want to pause and stay at that level for a while (like most of us), until they are ready to keep going further.

Maybe I can look at it from a different perspective though. For example, I could increase the "depth" of my Blog posts. For example, research a topic in much more depth, find ways to channel even more energy into a single topic, engage multiple media types (video, audio, diagrams etc.), instead of writing a broad variety of Blog posts on many different topics where I'm mostly just skimming the surface - even though most of my posts are over 1,000 words.

Hmmm...

[DerekH]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

Instead of thinking large scale, try thinking deep scale.

I.e. instead of worrying about trying to go big and reach lots of people, think about going deep and having a more powerful impact at the individual level.

Value is received by individuals one at a time, not by hordes of people en masse. The large scale effects are simply ripples.

That is such an important distinction.

[BitterFlower]

@impaul99--A similar thing happened to me too. This year I was so fed up, I was actually going to put in my resignation, and that same day I found out my company was leaving the area and pretty much laying everyone off by the end of the year. I'm just biding my time and building up my business while I wait for the end of the year.

[Steve Pavlina]

Originally Posted by impaul99

Great advice, thanks for the insight.

Where I've ran into challenges with "doing deep" in the past is that there is only so much I can do to help a person. I can't help someone who isn't ready to receive such help. Ultimately, it is their decision as it is their life. For example, a psychic can give someone a reading, but they can't *force* people to listen to the advice, no matter how sure they are that the advice will benefit that person.

That's kind of where I'm getting stuck working with people 1-on-1. They're only ready to go so far in their conscious growth, and then they want to pause and stay at that level for a while (like most of us), until they are ready to keep going further.

Maybe I can look at it from a different perspective though. For example, I could increase the "depth" of my Blog posts. For example, research a topic in much more depth, find ways to channel even more energy into a single topic, engage multiple media types (video, audio, diagrams etc.), instead of writing a broad variety of Blog posts on many different topics where I'm mostly just skimming the surface - even though most of my posts are over 1,000 words.

Hmmm...

Or you could simply focus on serving the people you can help the most. Let the rest go.

It's a waste of time (and frustrating) to help people who resist your help. But work with people who are eager to learn from you, and it can be extremely productive and extremely rewarding.

That's what I'm doing with the Conscious Growth Workshops. The people that showed up to the first one were very willing to learn and grow, and they were open and receptive to the assistance I could provide, so together we created a space where lots of breakthroughs occurred in a fairly short period of time. There was virtually no friction in that environment. The workshop was effective largely because of the people it attracted. From talking to many attendees, it seemed like most of them had been reading my blog for at least 3-4 years. They were a very dedicated group. I felt honored to be in a place to serve them.

Instead of trying to attract everyone as a client or visitor, think about how you can attract the ideal ones and subtly filter out the rest.

This year I haven't been trying to grow my web traffic, for instance. Instead I've been doing things to attract more targeted visitors, even if I attract fewer ones. Now and then I write posts to "scare away" visitors who wouldn't be a good match for my message. But the ones who make it through are a better match for whatever help I can provide.

Don't assume you have to serve everyone. Focus on serving the people you can help the most. There should be plenty of them to keep you busy for a lifetime.

[James81]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

Now and then I write posts to "scare away" visitors who wouldn't be a good match for my message.

Ha ha, the mystery behind "Modern Day Nazis" emerges for the horse's mouth!