Breaking Free from the Corporate Cocoon: Embrace Your True Essence
Three days a week, I find myself slipping into the well-worn guise of an employee. Not the star performer nor the worst slacker – just one among the countless faces that navigate the labyrinthine corridors of corporate America. It's a world where even the CEOs have masters to appease. Sure, there may be exceptions, but let's save that discussion for another day. Today, I choose to see the corporate world for what it often is—a relentless machine, not a cult, but something just as demanding.
I observe my fellow humans, proud car owners, residents of ostentatious homes, striding into the same building that I do, with a sense of regal entitlement. Their elevation? A meager dollar raise, a testament to their "outstanding performance," allowing them to indulge in an extra bagel and coffee. They still bear the same title, perform the same tasks, but now with added responsibility. And a decade down the line, Corporate America bids them adieu, not because they underperformed, but because of the perennial "needs of the business."
Image Credit: @seanpollock
The savings and the promise of a new corporate gig keep the cycle going, cars maintained, homes intact. But how do we cease to be mere employees? We are more than cogs in this machine; we can be more than what we've settled for. Yet, like worker ants in a colony, we ask, "Have you seen my house? Do you know where my kids go to school?" The answers lead to institutions that mold our children into future worker bees.
Is that the legacy we wish to pass on?
A nice house, a fancy car, but a lifetime of working for someone else, perhaps with the faint hope of retirement?
This isn't about left or right politics; it's about recognizing reality.
Labor Day was born from a time when there were no days off, no vacations, no limits to working hours. People rose up, and they won—a single day of respite each week. Yet, have we truly won if our only aspiration is to climb the corporate ladder? What if, instead, we demanded respect not for our titles, but for our inherent humanity? What if we stopped playing by the rules of a society we constructed, a society that's constantly adjusted to suit the elite?
We toil for them, we amass their wealth, and we console ourselves with meager pennies. We preach that money is the root of all evil, but we yearn for that elusive extra penny. What if we sought something beyond pennies? What if we sought freedom from the cult of Corporate America?
Imagine if, with each reader of this piece, we collectively decided to redirect our focus, investing less in our corporate roles and more in ourselves. What if we embarked on journeys to improve our lives according to our own ideals? What if we, as individuals, freed ourselves from the corporate cocoon and became our own bosses, setting our price for the unique talents we bring to the table?
Remember, no one is you but you.
So, dear employee, you are not a mere number, so don't allow them to treat you like one.
Break free, because that’s the true essence of success - the freedom to be your own master
