STEVE & SETH & PAUL
A largely irrelevant photo of Apple co-founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak c. 1977, that I found when I searched ‘jobs’ in Google images. Haha.
To date, ‘Work It’ has been by far the most popular post I’ve written on this blog in terms of both hits and feedback. Given that so many other people also seem to be inspired by this type of thinking about jobs and work, I thought I’d share a couple more short blogs from Seth Godin’s website that really reiterate Steve Pavlina’s message. The first post is a response to a longer essay by programmer/venture capitalist Paul Graham on startups, which you might also be interested in if you’re entrepreneurial like that.
1.
Everyone’s model of work is a job
That’s is the conclusion of a very long essay on startups by Paul Graham, and it’s an insightful quote.
The reason you feel most comfortable with a job (unless, like me, you’re in the minority–a job would destroy my psyche) is that you’ve been brainwashed by many years of school, socialization and practice. I pick the word brainwashed carefully, because it’s more than training or acclimation. It’s something that’s been taught to you by people who needed you to believe it was the way things are supposed to be.
If you’re a boss, you need applicants, lots of them, to keep the wages you have to pay nice and low. And so the more people who believe they need a job, the better it is for you.
I don’t believe that everyone should be an entrepreneur or a freelancer, that everyone should quit their job and go work for themselves. I do believe this:
The less a project or task or opportunity at work feels like the sort of thing you would do if this is just a job, the more you should do it.
2.
Yourself
“Years ago, when you were about four years old, the system set out to persuade you of something that isn’t true.
Not just persuade, but drill, practice, reinforce, and yes, brainwash.
The mission: to teach you that you’re average. That compliant work is the best way to a reliable living. That creating average stuff for average people, again and again, is a safe and easy way to get what you want.
Step out of line and the system would nudge (or push) you back to the center. Show signs of real creativity, originality or even genius, and well-meaning parents, teachers and authority figures would eagerly line up to get you back in line.
Our culture needed compliant workers, people who would contribute without complaint, and we set out to create as many of them as we could.
And so generations of students turned into generations of cogs, factory workers in search of a sinecure. We were brainwashed into fitting in, and then discovered that the economy wanted people who stood out instead.
When exactly were we brainwashed into believing that the best way to earn a living is to have a job?
I think each one of us needs to start with that.”
The moral of the story? Don’t allow yourself to be brainwashed. Question everything.