Work for Myself or Someone Else

[WisdomSeeker]

I think there are two options for Life Purpose 1) Is creating one's own business centered around their life purpose or 2) Working for someone, in a position that aligns with one's life purpose. For the latter, if you work for someone else, the common experience seems to be you have less control over a number of things. These are as follows:

Control and Autonomy - How you work, where you work, how much you work and what you work on 

- Lack of control of your schedule and time. Saying no to meetings and being obligated to respond to unnecessary emails. 

- Telework and being on-site. 

- Being forced to work well over 40 hours. It effects your promotions, performance reviews and if you work in an at-will state, your ability to not get fired. 

People/Management - Who you work with 

- Less ability to say no to clients with unrealistic expectations 

Culture/Organization/Politics  - Politics and norms in which you work 

- Leadership power politics 

-  Siloed groups and organizational fiefdoms fighting for power

- Red tape and inefficient processes 

 

All of this being said, my experience tells me you can have a job that on paper aligns with your values and life purpose, in terms of strengths and passions, 

but, company culture, politics and lack of control and autonomy can overshadow and kill your passion for what you do. More and more companies 

seem to fail employees in those categories. I almost think my only option is starting my own business. Does anyone else have any feedback about this,. 

I know Cal Newport talks about Career Capital in "So Good They Can't Ignore You." I've gone this route and did not find the results I was looking for. Control and Autonomy, as well as work life balance.  

 

 

[WisdomSeeker]

21 minutes ago, Shiva said:

Keep in mind that entrepreneurship is a means to an end, not an end by itself.

Your points on control and autonomy are definitely correct. This can be both a pro and a con. 

Some people might benefit from the security and stability that employment provides as they pursue their LP. Others might feel limited by that and need more freedom.

Ultimately you have to decide for yourself what is the best way to realize your LP.

Can you elaborate about a means to and end?  In Leo's Life Purpose Course, he asks about our values and strengths so that we align our Life Purpose to these values and strengths. So, my take away was that entrepreneurship/career is a huge facet of life purpose and that entrepreneurship/career should be aligned with your highest values. My take away was that entrepreneurship/ career will directly meet some of these highest values. Am I misunderstanding something?  I think examples of profiles of people would be helpful. E.g. #1 Jack has following values and strengths. He works at so and so job,. This job does not directly align with any values or strengths but,  it provides him money and time to actualize values  and strengths outside of work.  E.g. #2 Jack has following values and strengths. He works at so and so job. This job directly aligns with his top values and strengths, so he does not need as much free time to align with values and strengths since he is already aligning with top values and strengths at current job.