I decided to quit my job. A turning event in my life but an event that had to happen. This decision is the single most important decision I’ve ever had in my life. And to be honest, it feels great.
I have always been against employment. But ironically, I found myself employed. I would reason with myself and say that it is temporary. I would reason with myself and say that it is a leg up. At least I am getting paid. Perhaps I could use the pay to build something for myself. When the reality is that for those starting their careers, the truth of the matter is that employment does not provide you with that luxury. The money you earn is essentially pocket-to-mouth money. That money is not enough to build something on the side. The money is literally just enough to cover your basic needs so that you can go to work in the mornings.
The truth is, I loved my job. I enjoyed being a lecturer. It was a rewarding job. There is something liberating about giving someone else knowledge and information. Especially knowledge and information such as the science of entrepreneurship. My only concern right now, to be honest, is the students that I left behind. I am rather saddened by the fact I left them mid-semester. But what I taught them was the science of entrepreneurship. This science is one of the very few that can truly free a person from the clutches of slavery that we call employment. In my new journey, what brings solace is that I will not only be preaching the science anymore but fully living it.
The problem is, employment is a trap. Employment is modern-day slavery. Where I worked was in another town. And so, I had to find a place to stay. This is real life and not the myths and stories told by parents and teachers. You will not be staying in a beautiful studio apartment or flat for your first paycheck. In fact, you will be staying in a rundown cottage. You will be staying in a flat built with inferior material. You will be staying in someone’s garage. A garage converted into living courters. Those who have endured these early stages will tell you that those living environments are decent and not bad. Yet, those living conditions are an afterthought. They are designed to maximise profit and they are not for your comfort.
Where I stayed, most would say I lived in luxury. I did not pay for electricity or water. There was free Wi-Fi (as weak as it was), and it was safe. But it was one of those garages converted into rooms. Waking up in that room felt like I was living in a prison. I was confined to this area and across the yard was the main house. The warden’s offices. Or more accurately, the main house was built for the family. This is where one starts when they working. And we are told that we need to endure the loneliness of living in this confined space just for a paycheck.
It is nonsense. And it is not like the organisation that you work for actually cares about you. They do not. I am fortunate that the individuals I would call my supervisors were great people. They were helpful and they really would try their best to make sure that one enjoys their work. None other than my mentor in my last years in university. You know, I usually felt that organisational red-tape holds me back. That I would want to do so much but because of ”policy”, I could not. The organisation stifles innovation and creativity. Simply because innovation and creativity break away from the status quo. Innovation and creativity are expensive and organisations are about minimising costs. Therefore, organisational policies are designed to streamline productivity and not to support your creativity or innovative initiatives.
Let’s not forget that at the end of the day, in the world of work, you are a factor of production. You are an asset and you are recognised by your asset number, formally known as an employee number. You are expandable. If you die today, they will replace you tomorrow. I saw this happen once. This is a story that I have shared so many times and continue to do so because it still shocks me how little organisations actually care about people. In my previous place of work, we were once called to work on a Saturday. Mind you, this is a day in which we were not obliged to work. But the dangers of having an employee mindset, we sheepishly went to work. On that day, one of our colleagues had forgotten something at his house. He decided that he could quickly rush home to collect it and come back to work. Unfortunately, he never came back. He was involved in an accident and he died at the scene. The only sentiment that the organisation expressed was that he had passed on. But the work had to continue.
Their heartless display was one of the early lessons one learned about the workplace. That the work environment really has no interest for its employees. You might have great leaders who supervise your work. Some might end up being more than supervisors and become lifetime mentors. But as great as they may be, they too are restricted by the policies and instructions of work. There was this one incident that made me feel so bad. My supervisor (or was truly my mentor) found a loophole in the system to ensure that I got paid more than I was currently earning. Yes, it required me to work more and work harder, but it was worth it. Somehow, someone raised the issue and they said that it is not in line with policy. She got into trouble for trying to help me. As great as she was in guiding me and boosting my growth, the organisational red-tape limited just how much she can do for me.
The other key reason why I decided to resign is that employment robs you of your life. Life is but a summary of the moments you’ve experienced in time. If most of the time you are in a cubicle (let’s not lie to ourselves. The office is for senior officials), how then can you enjoy life? How can you claim to be alive? Most workplaces give you 21 days of paid leave to take a break from work. 21 days out of 365 days are only the days you have to engage in activities you want. 21 days. That’s less than a month- even February! That is nonsense. This hit me hard at the beginning of the year. My friend was going through the most in life and I could not show him my support because I was at work. Saying I need to take 14 days of work to support a friend is not a valid reason for an organisation to grant you leave. And mind you, this is one of my closest friends. This is a friend who probably knows me as much as I know myself. This is a friend with who I share deep-seated secrets that no one knows. And when he needed support, I could not be there for him because I was at work.
How many more moments do we need to sacrifice because of work? And I am not advocating that we should be lazy and bum around. There are people who find great pleasure and joy in their work. For them, their work provides them with a sense of purpose. That should be the work we aspire to. That’s the way I feel about being a lecturer. But I also feel I’d rather start my own business that will me to continue lecturing somehow and not lecture for another organisation. I am not an employee. Inasmuch as someone else isn’t an entrepreneur, lawyer, doctor, or teacher. Being an employee, for me, robs me of living and being alive. I do not ignore the fact that I am privileged. That I have a home to go to and support from family and friends to pursue my passions. This is a privilege that some do not have. But I’d rather wake up to my mom asking me to do certain chores around the house than be in an environment where I am recognised by a number.
So when I resigned, a lot of thoughts did come to mind. Thoughts like what people will say. Thoughts that suggested that maybe I am weak. Here I am throwing in the towel. But then it hit me. Who actually cares? People are busy figuring things out of themselves, who really cares about you and what’s happening in your life? At the end of the day, it is your life. What is the point of keeping up with an image that’s propagated by a false societal narrative? That someone like myself who is educated and in his late twenties should be working? The false narrative is that you’ll think you should be living in a plush apartment and driving a beautiful car. Unless you are really successful lawyer, doctor, or any other highly specialised job, that isn’t your reality. Not at this age. It makes sense why so many people find themselves so indebted. Indebted with clothing accounts, indebted with car installments, and indebted with credit card installments. They are drowning in debt to create the lifestyle of that false narrative. And because of that, they are now slaves to their jobs. They will have to go through the motions for the next couple of years just to pay off those debts.
I have reached a point in my life where I honestly do care what people think of me. Even my family. My family will guide me out of love this I know. But out of their fears or not knowing, they will not understand my actions. To explain to my parents, who are baby boomers, that I want to focus on my blog and social media presence is something beyond their comprehension. Simply because they come from a time where these things just did not exist. Period. I do not care what my friends think. They too will help and share advice out of love this I know. But my friends too will not understand if I tell them I want to build a YouTube channel, boost my TikTok account and find a way to build my own business that will highlight my love for lectureship. Simply because that’s not a Thando they know. They know a Thando who’s more conservative and not keen on following trends. When the truth is, I am not following trends. I am just living my life.
This level of honesty with self is a level admired in the bad guys in movies. Tony Montana, Don Corleone (both Vito Corleone and Michael Corleone), Frank Lucas, Detective Alonzo, and the list goes on. Jack Sparrow, loosely paraphrased, once said that people love pirates because pirates do what they want when they want. It is this freedom that the bad guy seems to have that we admire. And the truth is, this freedom stems from the fact that bad guys know that they are the bad guys. Tony Montana always said that he never lies. In his drunk state, he went on explaining that he is a bad guy. And unlike the people around him, he knows he is the bad guy. He is honest with himself and this honesty enables him to be the bad guy. This honesty too was his downfall because he was not a murderer of women and children. Regardless that he was ordered by the kingpin higher than him to execute the hit. And even as he fell, Tony Montana is a legend. Primarily because he was brutally honest with himself and those around him.
Being honest with oneself enables you to see yourself as you are. Therefore, you not lying to yourself thinking that you are someone who you are not. If a person wakes up dressed in quality clothes, driving a beautiful car but ignores the fact that the lifestyle they seemingly enjoy has resulted in them being indebted, such an individual, therefore, does not have freedom. Because they know that if they stop working, that lifestyle will end. As opposed to the individual who knows has nothing. They know that whatever they do, whatever they engage in will be true. If they build something and make money from it, they know that their lifestyle is limited to the scope of their work. Hence entrepreneurs work hard to be in a position to sell their businesses for millions. These millions enable them to travel even on a Tuesday. Unlike an employee who might be the hardest worker in the room and still earn the same (sometimes even less) than the colleague who is never at work or if they are at work, half of the day they on “lunch”.
The systematic design of employment is not for the advancement of one’s own freedom. That is why when you read about successful people, they are usually people who created something for themselves. Very rarely will one read about the super employee who made millions in his or her twenties or thirties by working. Or they achieved a certain mega milestone while being an employee. If they achieve such a milestone as an employee, they are usually old. Probably a year or two from retirement. Again, there are exceptions in specialised work like law or being a doctor. But for the average person, that level of freedom that comes from success, we will never reach it young by being employees. To achieve such great successes while being young, we will only reach it by being true to ourselves and living life to the beat of our hearts.
I will tell you this. When I decided there and then that I am done, I felt a great sense of liberation rush over me. Driving back to Harrismith I felt so much joy and happiness that along the journey, I pulled over and cried. That is how powerful the emotion of realising your true worth is. No longer was I captivate by the system. I have zeros aspirations to ever be employed again. As a student of entrepreneurship, I know that one day for my businesses I will have to hire people. I vow to myself that I will not entrap and treat employees as expendable entities. I will not treat them as mere factors of production. I know that there are people who find freedom and comfort when led by someone they believe in. For these people, I vow that I will create a work environment that frees them.
To me, employment is modern-day slavery. There is no difference between being in prison and working for a corporation. The only difference, you get paid for the time you serve at a workplace. As the next generation of entrepreneurs and wealth creators, we must change this.
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