2035: [Part 2] I Was Never Really A Very Good Employee by Kevin of Financial Panther on Work Freedom

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[00:01:00] This is Optimal Work Daily. I was never really a very good employee. Part 2. By Kevin of FinancialPanther.com. 2. I'm bad at doing assignments I don't care about. Jobs are tough because you have to do a lot of you don't want to do. I hated getting terrible assignments that I didn't want to do but had to because someone gave them to me. My problem was with assignments I really didn't like. I didn't really do a very good job at them.

[00:01:29] I delayed doing them. I did them at the last minute. And it showed in the quality of work I did. Growing up, I thought that was what work was all about. You got paid because you had to do things you didn't want to do. These days, I realized that's a terrible way to think about work. Work is an important part of life. It makes up most of our waking hours. It shouldn't be something we trudge through. And while we all need money to live, I don't think any of us should trade our lives simply for money.

[00:01:57] Of course, with any job or any work you do, you're going to have to do things you don't want to do. I think the difference is that when I was an employee, I didn't control my assignments, which meant I had no power. But when I'm working for myself, if I'm doing something, it's because I know it needs to be done and I know I'm doing it because it's going to benefit me. 3. I don't like having to put on a work persona.

[00:02:21] One of the things that a lot of people don't think about with any job is that it requires you to put on a sort of show while you're at work. I always had to have two personalities during my employee days. There was my real personality, the one that I have when I'm with my family and friends, but then there's also my work personality, this fake persona I had to have at work. This fake persona is one you all probably have too. A sort of upbeat, go-getter, eager to do whatever the boss needs you to do.

[00:02:50] I hated having to put on this show. It might not seem like that big of a deal, but I found it tiring. It made me feel inauthentic. And when you're a minority like I am, you're often forced to craft your work persona to match your bosses. Working for myself means I don't have to deal with putting on this fake persona anymore. Since I work online, I barely have to put on any personas at all. I'm just me, and I don't have to pretend that I'm anyone else.

[00:03:16] And 4. I hate dealing with supervisors and people looking over my shoulder. I hate having people looking over me. I know employers need to do it because they have to make sure things are getting done. But for me, I just want people to leave me alone and let me do things my way. This is where I struggled. Bosses always wanted status reports. All of my jobs had constant meetings to go over what we were doing. I loathe meetings.

[00:03:42] The constant status reports and meetings usually made me look bad too because I wasn't good at keeping up with the timelines my bosses wanted. I think this is one of the reasons I liked college and law school. In those settings, you got an assignment, you had a due date, and how you went about getting your work done was your business. No one hassled you or made you check in with them. You just got what you had to get done by the time it was due. And if you didn't, it was all on you. These days, I don't have any real due dates for anything.

[00:04:12] If there is a due date, it's one that I've set for myself. I have a business partner who hassles me sometimes, but it's not the same as a boss looking over my shoulder. For the most part, I do my thing without anyone bothering me. Final thoughts. When I was reading these financial independence stories, I sometimes felt bad about myself because I wasn't a superstar employee. It always seemed like the people writing about financial independence were superstars at everything. Good at work, good at life, good at money.

[00:04:40] I like to try to paint an accurate portrait of myself. I wasn't some amazing superstar lawyer who, despite how amazing I was, found myself dissatisfied with my career and then turned to financial independence because of how awesome I am. For the most part, I was a middling employee doing just enough to hopefully not get fired. Maybe you're like me. Maybe you're just going through the motions at work, hoping to not get fired, and turning towards financial independence as a way out.

[00:05:07] If you are like me, let me tell you, it's okay if you're not that good at your job. It's not a personal failing on your part. When we don't do well at some things, it's often because it just isn't a good fit for us. I was always out of place as an employee in the corporate world, a round peg trying to get into a square hole. And even though I wasn't the best employee, it didn't mean I couldn't do well at something else.

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[00:06:46] Then grab a select Milwaukee fuel attachment, like the pole saw, edger, or brush cutter, included at no extra cost when you buy the Milwaukee M18 String Trimmer. Shop seven days of spring outdoor power deals at the Home Depot, now through April 29th. And thanks again to Kevin, who started this blog to share what he's learned about money and side hustling over the years, as well as to document his own journey towards financial independence. It's his hope that his experience and knowledge can help you out in some way.

[00:07:15] So check out more from him at FinancialPanther.com. Hope you enjoyed this two-parter from Kevin, and thanks so much for being here. Hopefully, I'll see you back here tomorrow, where your optimal life awaits.