Selfie. Tustin, 2019

Being Self-Employed as a Means, not the End

When I first started working my first 9-5 job, I desired deeply to become self-employed.

Why? I desired freedom! To show up everyday at an office at an arbitrary time, to leave everyday at an arbitrary time, and to do this from Monday-Friday seemed hyper-bizarre to me.

I thought to myself: We are living in the most modern and technological society. Why do we still need to show up to an office and put in a 40+ hour work-week?

I desired to become self-employed to escape this technological slavery. But what happens once you are self-employed, no longer need to wake up by a certain time, no longer need to attend meetings, no longer need to sleep at a certain time, no longer need to “work” during the day if you don’t want to?

This is my grand thought:

To become self-employed as a necessary step or a pre-requisite to attempt to do and create really great things.

1. Zen

High-key. Los Angeles, 2019 #cindyproject
High-key. Los Angeles, 2019 #cindyproject

The greatest benefit of being self-employed: having the power to dictate how to live.

For example if you’re a tech worker, you must check your email 10 million times a day, and usually respond (at worst) by 2 days. You must always be ‘contactable’ and ‘reachable’, and even if you want to do something like go on a random trip or holiday, you cannot. You are at the whims of your supervisor, HR department, etc.

Becoming self-employed has afforded me the ability to become Uber-zen; to truly empty my mind of superfluous B.S. The more I empty my mind, the more space I have to let my own unique/creative ideas enter my mind.

Selfie. Tustin, 2019
Selfie. Tustin, 2019

I have the insanely egotistical belief that I am hyper-unique, hyper-special, and have this really unique mind and set of circumstances which raised me which allows me to attempt, create, and think epic things. That means, I refuse to live a “normal” life, because I do not want to squander my ability to attempt and enact great things.