Humans were not made for the 9-5 and entrepreneurs know it

Do you hate your job? If so, you are among the vast majority of people around the world in the modern work environment. According to Gallup in a 2017 study, they found that 85% of employees surveyed in nearly 200 countries around the world said that they found their jobs more of a source of frustration rather than a source of satisfaction or fulfillment. In fact, Forbes magazine reported that 90% of workers around the world found very little fulfillment in their current job positions.

While we work our butts off to get financial aid and student loans, get through college, graduate, and settle for meaningless job positions that don’t pay what we think, we still fall into the trap that we are not physically or mentally meant for? Here’s the underlying problem that no one seems to want to acknowledge – humans are not intrinsically built for the 9-5’er! I found it very interesting that the phrase “get a job” is only a little more than 100 years old in respect to how long humans have been toiling for survival in history. Humans have always needed to work for their own survival since antiquity but in those days we were not under the influence of man-made concepts of, workplace social warriors, fairness, Inclusiveness, and inequality. We worked to eat and live!

But why was it so different back then, even up into the pre-industrial revolution era? The answer- is flexible work days. Nearly everything else in our lives is flexible except our workdays. We live in the greatest time ever conceived with bigger, better, healthier home lives an off time. We spend our weekends, evenings and our vacations trying new things and experiencing the greatest parts of life and the modern era but yet, on Monday, we go back to the salt mine and work like mules in a fashion that is not all that different than it was 100 years ago, Monday- Friday, 8-hour workdays, half-hour lunch with two 15 minutes breaks. While we are still working out the details of work from home, the 4-6 hour workday, and being paid for more than our value produced, business and economics will always find a way to make that work for itself.

The entrepreneur has figured this out and has shown us the secret to amazing work-life in that if they are making less money than a traditional job, they are still far more likely to find satisfaction and fulfillment in their work. Here are 4 reasons you are stuck in the old ways of work and the way the entrepreneur is beating you at work-life         

Loss of a sense of competitiveness

No one wants to compete anymore for almost anything. Where did this come from? Humans are born competitors in all most everything. I guess we live in a world of such ease and comfort that we would rather hit the easy button at the cost of our freedoms meaning that it’s easier to get a loan on that new boat and be okay with working for the next 15 years just to pay it off rather than working extra hours for the next 3 years to save up an pay it in full. Our sense of competitiveness has been replaced by our insatiable need for it now and instant gratification. 

The entrepreneur loves to compete. They work on their businesses every day to get a leg-up and find ways to be more competitive. They tap into their primitive brains and begin working like a machine to best his rivals at virtually everything. To outwork someone else is a badge of honor. To put in more hours and outperform and over deliver is their true nature that goes back to their ancestors. They also believe in delayed gratification. They sacrifice what’s easily available now for long term success.    

What we were taught in school

I feel like most people, that all teachers are saints and are incredibly underpaid, but we can’t deny the fact that we are being taught how to be successful by a group of government employees that only make $40K-$60K per year. I don’t mean for that to sound demeaning but if you want to be a multimillionaire, you need to be learning from a multimillionaire! Personal success is never taught in schools and even worse it’s not taught at the university level either. School teaches us the academics but as we have seen over and over, very, very few 4.0 students ever become CEOs or founders of large companies and the nearly zero PhDs are self-made billionaires. 

Here’s just some simple Google research my wife did on college education return on investment. Tuition at Northwestern University in Chicago is $81,000 per year. Average wage of a Northwestern graduate is $80,000 per year. Is it any wonder why kids today are drowning in debt they can’t pay back?

Entrepreneurs discover what was never taught in school. Personal success and leveraging advantage and opportunity to their favor is not a class in high school or college. This is generally a mindset that is discovered later in life as the entrepreneur works, fails, and succeeds. Entrepreneurs learn from those that have been successful. They also discover most of what they were taught in school about life is flawed. They reverse this dynamic and become more independent. They find that they do not need other people or even mentors to direct their internal compass.      

Things are much easier now

We have become lazy! Plain and simple. Thoughts of retirement and the golden years have replaced thoughts of accumulating vast amounts of wealth and fortune while we are young. I remember when I used to work for a large company and the HR lady would have 401K meetings and she would ask how much money I wanted when I retire. “What a stupid question!” I said, “$20M- $50M!” she just ignored me and moved on. 

Entrepreneurs don’t save for retirement in a rigged 401k system. They accumulate wealth over a lifetime. They do not rely on someone else or a company to influence their financial decisions. They learn about investing and are always in a fluid motion with their money.     

The pain of working out

Just like working out and getting in shape, it’s hard and most people don’t do it. I would say that the vast majority of health problems in the US today are a direct result of obesity and laziness! I would also say that the vast majority of people’s financial problems are a direct result of the need for security and comfort. I will never understand why people would rather feel the pain and discomfort of obesity and being out of shape for most of their lives rather than the pain and discomfort of working out 3 times per week. Likewise, I will never understand why people would rather feel the pain and discomfort of struggling financially all their lives working a real job rather than feeling the pain and discomfort for 3-5 years of self-startup in a new business that would later provide immense wealth and freedom while they were still young enough to really embrace it!  

We as humans are not built to work the 9-5’er but for some reason, the vast percentage of all working people strive for that exact lifestyle. Steve Jobs said that you have to make a dent in the universe by finding your purpose. But how are you going to make your dent in the universe if you are spending all your time helping someone else make their dent? The reason you hate your job is that you weren’t made to work like this. Humans were made to be free and to be explorers. Remember when you were a kid and the world was exciting? You tried new things and took all the risks without the safety nets! You were easily bored with the mundane and you wanted excitement in your life. I will guarantee you that when you were 19 years old your future dreams did not consist of driving a minivan and having weekends off! Old age and stodginess sets in and while you think you’re a modern, liberal 20-something, you are very conservative by having that underpaid job! You have just accepted society’s rules for you and you are too afraid to act on something new or purposeful.

Try thinking about what your purpose is in life. You didn’t ask to be born but there is still a reason you are here and it’s likely not meant to be an employee. You don’t just exist! Your brain’s physical makeup is no different than the men and women’s that build this amazing industrialized world we all enjoy and anyone can step up to the affluent side of life. These opportunities for affluence have been presented to you at one time or another and you “did” recognize them as so, but… you were too afraid to act. Next time, act and start making that dent!

Daniel J Bockman

New Money Magazine Founder, CEO, and Chief Editor