I’m beginning to feel that I found this forum by no mere accident.
Having read through many of the stories here, I’m breaking a status quo and extending my hand.

Helen, no. People were not born to feel like this. It is not ‘normal’. Maybe for much of society it’s normal, but I’ve found much of society gives up. Do you really think you are where you are to be a cog in some CEO’s machine? Wouldn’t we all want to believe there’s better options out there?

Consider this, the concept of an employee is relatively a new concept. Less than 15 years ago, baby boomers had dreams of working in a tiny little office wearing lapel shirts and skinny red ties at IBM for 40 to 50 years. That was ‘the dream job’ for many people, yet I’m fairly confident an audible form of disgust came from anyone who just thought about wanting to sit in a cubicle for 40 years, let alone 50.

20 years ago, something around 70% (I may be off by a bit but regardless it was significant) of business was privately owned and full of entrepreneurs. A word which has almost been demonized in today’s America.

“You should be able to go to work and not feel half-dead after a day. Am I wrong? What should I change?” There are very few people alive today who probably could accurately answer this question with certainty. I would wager such individuals are very successful people who don’t trade their time for dollars.

As for feeling half dead after a day? Average vacation time is two weeks out of a year. Considering the average person can’t calm down during the week until their ‘friday’ in which they unwind all evening, spend saturday playing, and then sunday worrying about monday. Add all that up and the average person lives their life to the fullest 2 weeks out of the year, and stressed out for 6 weeks sporadically. The rest of the year belongs to the job.

Is that normal? To live your life at 2 months out of 12, or 1/6th it’s potential, until you are 62 years old(The average retirement age)?

If any part of this text has you upset, I want to have a chat with you. Why? I’m looking for people who are winners, and winners don’t go around getting paid at the value of a job willingly.

If you don’t want to try and take my hand, then I encourage you to find someone else. You’ve heard “Show me your friends, and I’ll show you your future.”, what do you know about mentors? If you don’t have a mentor, then you are living your future. Look at people who are 10 years into what it is you think you want to do in life. Look at them and decide if you like the way they are living and the things they are doing.