The School of Life (8) - Work as an employee
By chrysolite, 26th Sep 2010 | Follow this author
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Posted in WikinutHealthMind & SpiritSelf Help
This is part 8 of a series of 12 articles about what they should have, but didn't teach us in school! Today: I've been an employee myself for decades, see if this strikes a cord with you, too?
- Looking "grim"
- Are you a "good" or "bad" employee?
- Why are bosses and managers as they are?
- We all need a job, make money, have an income
Looking "grim"
So you commute to work and you do what all other commuters do, you look grim and read a grim newspaper or a grim book or you talk to a fellow commuter about the latest grim story in your family or neighbourhood. Now that is not a very resourceful state to be in, is it!
Maybe you are clever, you get yourself a funny book, you read that on the train and you start laughing, oh dear, that's a definite no-no on the train, you get grim looks if you do that, so you decide to throw the funny book away and look grim with the rest and follow the unwritten laws on how to behave in trains. This is really funny. Have you ever observed these laws? And what happens if somebody doesn't observe them? Anyway, by the time you arrive at work, you are in a bad mood and exhausted from commuting and now you force a sort of weird smile or "Good Morning" over your lips and plough through your hopeless day of anonymous monotony. "I've got an interesting job!" you cry. Rubbish, if you are an employee, you don't have an interesting job. Stop telling lies.
Are you a "good" or "bad" employee?
Do you know why I was such a "good" or "bad" employee for many years? - Well, I have learnt to work hard, to be extremely friendly and I can follow orders precisely. That's all you need to know and employers will queue up for you. The "bad" employee in myself is "thinking", which is not wanted unless there are no orders by mistake. Ever made a mistake and heard your boss bellowing: "I pay you for thinking, you know!" Lie, your employer does not pay you for thinking. I've tried it on various occasions, but it was not wanted. It's only wanted when an instruction is missing, when the employer "forgot" to make this instruction and then you have a 50% chance of thinking how to get it right and a 50% chance of thinking how to get it wrong. Not very efficient.
Why are bosses and managers as they are?
Have pitty on them, because at school they only learnt what we stated in Chapter 1 of the School of Life (actually they excelled in it!) and that hardly qualifies them to be a good manager! (Yes, go on, I know I will receive endless comments from good managers, I know there are some out there, but they are not the majority and they are not liked by your fellow managers either, so they have a problem, too). And how does your normal manager become a good manager? Well, they do manager training, of course and after that they are really a problem, because now they know and are good managers without realising that they fell into a very big, nice, cosy trap. All they learnt was a few psychological tricks and yet another few tools how to make your day as an employee hell with perfectly legal punishment tools to grind you down, down, down. The best one of these newly learnt tools are memos which they write in their newly learnt jargon and distribute to every desk. A collective neurosis sets in and everybody at these desks believe, well, have to believe, what's written there - he/she is the boss, nothing has changed.
And have you ever noticed? - Bosses ALWAYS choose the worst and most inapproprate individual from amongst the supplied cv's (or should I call the latter paper lies?) for the job. Why on earth do they do that? Well, if you are not the brightest popper in the world, you can hardly get an employee who is brighter than you! It will not work. I've seen it happening and within weeks these knowledgeable, bright and intelligent individuals are fired on an excuse. And where do these bright individuals go? Well, they usually get themselves self-employed or write books or web pages or become sailing instructors in the Mediterranean which a friend of mine did, who is a disillusioned nuclear physicist. What a waste of intelligence, talent and resources.
We all need a job, make money, have an income
But one needs a job, one needs money, you say. Well, I agree, but there are more pleasant ways of making money than being an employee if you have the guts to find them. So don't blame anybody because you don't have to be an employee if you don't want to be. And if you want to be an employee, please stop moaning and whingeing about your boss. He/she is your boss, because you want him/her to be that, you want to be the employee, you want to suffer and you don't tell your boss, well, whatever you want to really. :) But you are afraid, you feel fear, you feel insecure. Well, think about these feelings, meditate on them, read up on them. There are many good books on how to deal with our petty little fears that seem so huge to us. Your fear is what stops you being you. This fear that was instilled by your parents, your teachers and your bosses. Come off it, learn to be secure in yourself and help yourself and others to find
A SUCCESSFUL, HAPPY AND HEALTHY FUTURE
P.S.: I wrote this article a few years ago and have not regretted turning my back on being an employee. Back in England I used to be a web designer and I liked it. It was nice to be my own boss at last and I had nice clients, too. Even clients who paid their bills!
Now, I'm living in Spain on a 7000 m2 smallholding living the "Good Life" and the best of that is that I have NO bills to pay. Yes, I get dirty, filthy in fact, it's physically hard work, it's extremely difficult to live with so little money, but I'm happy. Happy to live a healthy life-style, happy to be almost self-sufficient and happy to be able to build up an internet presence and writing articles online to make a bit of money extra. And best of all, I stopped being fearful and I've stopped worrying. I can't thank God enough for having given me this chance!
Thanks for calling in!
Comments
26th Sep 2010 (#)
Absolutely wonderful and inspiring! Wouldn't mind trading places for a while!
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27th Sep 2010 (#)
Thanks, James, for the nice comment. Trading? Ohhhh, well, I think not! Must stay here to look after the animals, the crops, but you are welcome to visit. We need voluntary workers here, training for a happy lifestyle! ;) Have a great week and "Non carborundum illegitimae"! ;)
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