Here at Striving for Freedom we’re all about attaining freedom in all areas of our lives. We’re not about just showing up to some job you hate just to make money to live. There’s a name for people that do that, it’s called being a Jobber.
A “Jobber” is a term from professional wrestling to describe a wrestler who is just there to lose to another wrestler who the company is pushing. Spoiler alert: professional wrestling is scripted. The WWF has writers who script everything that happens before the event begins. They need guys who will go in and not mind losing to a potential superstar. Usually these guys are wrestlers with little actual talent. They are contracted to come in and show their stuff and get paid for the night.
http://youtu.be/zmDv036aPrc
Because professional wrestling is such a difficult business to break into, a lot of guys have these unrealistic expectations about making it in the business and becoming rich and famous. They lie to themselves to justify being a jobber for the time being.
Stop showing up to an unfulfilling job with the expectation of being successful.
Let me show you the progression of my job history:
- Telemarketing manager
- Beer store clerk
- Security for Macy’s
- Administrative Assistant for Health Care Records company
- Work for myself
Telemarketing Jobber
I had my telemarketing job in college and just did it to get money. Managing a room of telemarketers actually wasn’t that bad. I basically sat on the computer all day and ran the auto dialer software. I never took this job seriously though because I knew it was a complete dead end. I was jobbing with no expectations because graduation was around the corner.
Beer Distributor Jobber
After graduating I took a job at the local beer distributor because a bunch of my friends already worked there. I figured I’d get a job to get some cash together before I set about being a detective. This was somewhat problematic because I already subconsciously decided I didn’t really want to be a detective. I always said that the beer store job was awesome if it wasn’t for the shitty pay and lottery customers.
I’d sit and advise people on what beers they should try and interact with a very colorful cast of people. It also didn’t hurt that all my friends worked there, so I could shoot the shit all day with them. I was jobbing at this point as a placeholder before I figured out what to do. As a side note, if you can ever get the money together, buying a beer distributor in Pennsylvania is very lucrative.
Security Jobber
I was able to get a job at Macy’s at one point doing security for them. This was an extremely boring job highlighted by instances of excitement. Ever look at those globes in the ceilings of department stores? I was the guy looking through them looking for criminals. I was exceedingly great at this job. I picked up more people stealing stuff than anyone else. I had the eagle eye. I was also able to run after people and detain them because I actually had some athleticism.
The problem was that the hours were completely insane and I was bored out of my mind most of the day. During the holidays it was much worse. I’d be there literally all day and have to wait hours and hours for the store employees to close up. They were announcing layoffs and I didn’t make the cut. I was the newest member and was expendable.
I managed to go out on a high note the last day by being responsible for arresting 3 different people, one of which I had to chase down through the mall and into the parking lot. I was jobbing here because I thought this could turn into an actual career. I figured out this wasn’t the case after 2 days. When they announced the layoffs, I was actually relieved.
Data Entry Jobber
At this point I figured that I needed an actual job. What I mean by this is that I needed some bullshit respectability. I couldn’t just keep working at the beer store, that was the realm of losers. I was able to get an entry level position at what I can best describe as a level of care compliance company. Hospitals would pay our company to have our doctors ok the level of care they were giving to patients. That way they could justify getting more money from medicare usually. What I did was I went into the medical records of the patients and compiled a case for our doctors to look at.
I think it was about a month before I realized I hated this job. However, this was a corporate gig, so I had aspirations of really making it work despite the fact that I hated life for 8 hours a day. Much like the jobbers in the WWF, I thought that I could turn this around and advance in the company. Hopefully then it wouldn’t be as bad. It wasn’t until later that I realized this was not an option and I had to look elsewhere.
Free Man
Now I’m on my own working for myself. I call the shots so no one has any influence over me at all. If I want to move up in my own company, I just work harder. If I need more money for something, I just take on more projects. I’m building something here and for the first time I’m not actually a jobber.
If you are currently working somewhere that you hate, believe me, I feel your pain. I hated working at my last company but felt I needed to keep working there because of various reasons like money, housing, amenities, etc. You gotta start looking for a way out now, and develop the discipline to take consistent action. You may have to save a bunch of money up to get a freedom fund. It may also require you to start working on your side hustle after you get home from your 9-5. Whatever it is, do it. Trust me when I say it’s better on the other side.
If you’re looking for a place to start, give my freelance writing series a shot as it’s a great way to start making good money immediately.
-Tate
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