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Just for fun I recently asked Erin, “Now that the kids are in summer school, don’t you think it’s about time you went out and got yourself a job? I hate seeing you wallow in unemployment for so long.” She smiled and said, “Wow. I have been unemployed a really long time. That’s weird… I like it!” Neither of us have had jobs since the ’90s (my only job was in 1992), so we’ve been self-employed for quite a while. In our household it’s a running joke for one of us to say to the other, “Maybe you should get a job, derelict!” It’s like the scene in The Three Stooges where Moe tells Curly to get a job, and Curly backs away, saying, “No, please… not that! Anything but that!” It’s funny that when people reach a certain age, such as after graduating college, they assume it’s time to go out and get a job. But like many things the masses do, just because everyone does it doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. In fact, if you’re reasonably intelligent, getting a job is one of the worst things you can do to support yourself. There are far better ways to make a living than selling yourself into indentured servitude. Here are some reasons you should do everything in your power to avoid getting a job: 1. Income for dummies. Getting a job and trading your time for money may seem like a good idea. There’s only one problem with it. It’s stupid! It’s the stupidest way you can possibly generate income! This is truly income for dummies. Why is getting a job so dumb? Because you only get paid when you’re working. Don’t you see a problem with that, or have you been so thoroughly brainwashed into thinking it’s reasonable and intelligent to only earn income when you’re working? Have you never considered that it might be better to be paid even when you’re not working? Who taught you that you could only earn income while working? Some other brainwashed employee perhaps? Don’t you think your life would be much easier if you got paid while you were eating, sleeping, and playing with the kids too? Why not get paid 24/7? Get paid whether you work or not. Don’t your plants grow even when you aren’t tending to them? Why not your bank account? Who cares how many hours you work? Only a handful of people on this entire planet care how much time you spend at the office. Most of us won’t even notice whether you work 6 hours a week or 60. But if you have something of value to provide that matters to us, a number of us will be happy to pull out our wallets and pay you for it. We don’t care about your time — we only care enough to pay for the value we receive. Do you really care how long it took me to write this article? Would you pay me twice as much if it took me 6 hours vs. only 3? Non-dummies often start out on the traditional income for dummies path. So don’t feel bad if you’re just now realizing you’ve been suckered. Non-dummies eventually realize that trading time for money is indeed extremely dumb and that there must be a better way. And of course there is a better way. The key is to de-couple your value from your time. Smart people build systems that generate income 24/7, especially passive income. This can include starting a business, building a web site, becoming an investor, or generating royalty income from creative work. The system delivers the ongoing value to people and generates income from it, and once it’s in motion, it runs continuously whether you tend to it or not. From that moment on, the bulk of your time can be invested in increasing your income (by refining your system or spawning new ones) instead of merely maintaining your income. This web site is an example of such a system. At the time of this writing, it generates about $9000 a month in income for me (update: $40,000 a month as of 10/31/06), and it isn’t my only income stream either. I write each article just once (fixed time investment), and people can extract value from them year after year. The web server delivers the value, and other systems (most of which I didn’t even build and don’t even understand) collect income and deposit it automatically into my bank account. It’s not perfectly passive, but I love writing and would do it for free anyway. But of course it cost me a lot of money to launch this business, right? Um, yeah, $9 is an awful lot these days (to register the domain name). Everything after that was profit. Sure it takes some upfront time and effort to design and implement your own income-generating systems. But you don’t have to reinvent the wheel — feel free to use existing systems like ad networks and affiliate programs. Once you get going, you won’t have to work so many hours to support yourself. Wouldn’t it be nice to be out having dinner with your spouse, knowing that while you’re eating, you’re earning money? If you want to keep working long hours because you enjoy it, go right ahead. If you want to sit around doing nothing, feel free. As long as your system continues delivering value to others, you’ll keep getting paid whether you’re working or not. Your local bookstore is filled with books containing workable systems others have already designed, tested, and debugged. Nobody is born knowing how to start a business or generate investment income, but you can easily learn it. How long it takes you to figure it out is irrelevant because the time is going to pass anyway. You might as well emerge at some future point as the owner of income-generating systems as opposed to a lifelong wage slave. This isn’t all or nothing. If your system only generates a few hundred dollars a month, that’s a significant step in the right direction. 2. Limited experience. You might think it’s important to get a job to gain experience. But that’s like saying you should play golf to get experience playing golf. You gain experience from living, regardless of whether you have a job or not. A job only gives you experience at that job, but you gain ”experience” doing just about anything, so that’s no real benefit at all. Sit around doing nothing for a couple years, and you can call yourself an experienced meditator, philosopher, or politician. The problem with getting experience from a job is that you usually just repeat the same limited experience over and over. You learn a lot in the beginning and then stagnate. This forces you to miss other experiences that would be much more valuable. And if your limited skill set ever becomes obsolete, then your experience won’t be worth squat. In fact, ask yourself what the experience you’re gaining right now will be worth in 20-30 years. Will your job even exist then? Consider this. Which experience would you rather gain? The knowledge of how to do a specific job really well — one that you can only monetize by trading your time for money – or the knowledge of how to enjoy financial abundance for the rest of your life without ever needing a job again? Now I don’t know about you, but I’d rather have the latter experience. That seems a lot more useful in the real world, wouldn’t you say? 3. Lifelong domestication. Getting a job is like enrolling in a human domestication program. You learn how to be a good pet. Look around you. Really look. What do you see? Are these the surroundings of a free human being? Or are you living in a cage for unconscious animals? Have you fallen in love with the color beige? How’s your obedience training coming along? Does your master reward your good behavior? Do you get disciplined if you fail to obey your master’s commands? Is there any spark of free will left inside you? Or has your conditioning made you a pet for life? Humans are not meant to be raised in cages. You poor thing… 4. Too many mouths to feed. Employee income is the most heavily taxed there is. In the USA you can expect that about half your salary will go to taxes. The tax system is designed to disguise how much you’re really giving up because some of those taxes are paid by your employer, and some are deducted from your paycheck. But you can bet that from your employer’s perspective, all of those taxes are considered part of your pay, as well as any other compensation you receive such as benefits. Even the rent for the office space you consume is considered, so you must generate that much more value to cover it. You might feel supported by your corporate environment, but keep in mind that you’re the one paying for it. Another chunk of your income goes to owners and investors. That’s a lot of mouths to feed. It isn’t hard to understand why employees pay the most in taxes relative to their income. After all, who has more control over the tax system? Business owners and investors or employees? You only get paid a fraction of the real value you generate. Your real salary may be more than triple what you’re paid, but most of that money you’ll never see. It goes straight into other people’s pockets. What a generous person you are! 5. Way too risky. Many employees believe getting a job is the safest and most secure way to support themselves. Morons. Social conditioning is amazing. It’s so good it can even make people believe the exact opposite of the truth. Does putting yourself in a position where someone else can turn off all your income just by saying two words (”You’re fired”) sound like a safe and secure situation to you? Does having only one income stream honestly sound more secure than having 10? The idea that a job is the most secure way to generate income is just silly. You can’t have security if you don’t have control, and employees have the least control of anyone. If you’re an employee, then your real job title should be professional gambler. 6. Having an evil bovine master. When you run into an idiot in the entrepreneurial world, you can turn around and head the other way. When you run into an idiot in the corporate world, you have to turn around and say, “Sorry, boss.” Did you know that the word boss comes from the Dutch word baas, which historically means master? Another meaning of the word boss is “a cow or bovine.” And in many video games, the boss is the evil dude that you have to kill at the end of a level. So if your boss is really your evil bovine master, then what does that make you? Nothing but a turd in the herd. Who’s your daddy? 7. Begging for money. When you want to increase your income, do you have to sit up and beg your master for more money? Does it feel good to be thrown some extra Scooby Snacks now and then? Or are you free to decide how much you get paid without needing anyone’s permission but your own? If you have a business and one customer says “no” to you, you simply say “next.” 8. An inbred social life. Many people treat their jobs as their primary social outlet. They hang out with the same people working in the same field. Such incestuous relations are social dead ends. An exciting day includes deep conversations about the company’s switch from Sparkletts to Arrowhead, the delay of Microsoft’s latest operating system, and the unexpected delivery of more Bic pens. Consider what it would be like to go outside and talk to strangers. Ooooh… scary! Better stay inside where it’s safe. If one of your co-slaves gets sold to another master, do you lose a friend? If you work in a male-dominated field, does that mean you never get to talk to women above the rank of receptionist? Why not decide for yourself whom to socialize with instead of letting your master decide for you? Believe it or not, there are locations on this planet where free people congregate. Just be wary of those jobless folk — they’re a crazy bunch! 9. Loss of freedom. It takes a lot of effort to tame a human being into an employee. The first thing you have to do is break the human’s independent will. A good way to do this is to give them a weighty policy manual filled with nonsensical rules and regulations. This leads the new employee to become more obedient, fearing that s/he could be disciplined at any minute for something incomprehensible. Thus, the employee will likely conclude it’s safest to simply obey the master’s commands without question. Stir in some office politics for good measure, and we’ve got a freshly minted mind slave. As part of their obedience training, employees must be taught how to dress, talk, move, and so on. We can’t very well have employees thinking for themselves, now can we? That would ruin everything. God forbid you should put a plant on your desk when it’s against the company policy. Oh no, it’s the end of the world! Cindy has a plant on her desk! Summon the enforcers! Send Cindy back for another round of sterility training! Free human beings think such rules and regulations are silly of course. The only policy they need is: “Be smart. Be nice. Do what you love. Have fun.” 10. Becoming a coward. Have you noticed that employed people have an almost endless capacity to whine about problems at their companies? But they don’t really want solutions – they just want to vent and make excuses why it’s all someone else’s fault. It’s as if getting a job somehow drains all the free will out of people and turns them into spineless cowards. If you can’t call your boss a jerk now and then without fear of getting fired, you’re no longer free. You’ve become your master’s property. When you work around cowards all day long, don’t you think it’s going to rub off on you? Of course it will. It’s only a matter of time before you sacrifice the noblest parts of your humanity on the altar of fear: first courage… then honesty… then honor and integrity… and finally your independent will. You sold your humanity for nothing but an illusion. And now your greatest fear is discovering the truth of what you’ve become. I don’t care how badly you’ve been beaten down. It is never too late to regain your courage. Never! Still want a job? If you’re currently a well-conditioned, well-behaved employee, your most likely reaction to the above will be defensiveness. It’s all part of the conditioning. But consider that if the above didn’t have a grain of truth to it, you wouldn’t have an emotional reaction at all. This is only a reminder of what you already know. You can deny your cage all you want, but the cage is still there. Perhaps this all happened so gradually that you never noticed it until now… like a lobster enjoying a nice warm bath. If any of this makes you mad, that’s a step in the right direction. Anger is a higher level of consciousness than apathy, so it’s a lot better than being numb all the time. Any emotion — even confusion — is better than apathy. If you work through your feelings instead of repressing them, you’ll soon emerge on the doorstep of courage. And when that happens, you’ll have the will to actually do something about your situation and start living like the powerful human being you were meant to be instead of the domesticated pet you’ve been trained to be. Happily jobless What’s the alternative to getting a job? The alternative is to remain happily jobless for life and to generate income through other means. Realize that you earn income by providing value — not time – so find a way to provide your best value to others, and charge a fair price for it. One of the simplest and most accessible ways is to start your own business. Whatever work you’d otherwise do via employment, find a way to provide that same value directly to those who will benefit most from it. It takes a bit more time to get going, but your freedom is easily worth the initial investment of time and energy. Then you can buy your own Scooby Snacks for a change. 有一次，我故意问Erin，"现在孩子们都去夏令营了，难道你不觉得是时候去找个工作了么？你很久没有工作过了，我看不下去你继续堕落了。" 她笑了笑，"喔～ 我是很久没有工作了。 但很奇怪……我喜欢这样！" 我们俩自从90年代就没有工作过了（我的唯一的工作是在92年)，成为自由职业者已经很久了。在我们日常生活中，我们常常开对方玩笑，"喂，懒虫！你应该找个工作了！" 这很像《The Three Stooges》里面的场景。Moe让Curly去找个工作，Curly却说，"不，找啥都可以，就是不找工作！" 有意思的是，当一个人到达某个阶段的时候，比如大学毕业，他很自然的就认为，该找个工作了。但正如人云亦云一样，众人都在说、在做的事情，并不见得就是对的。事实是，如果你是比较聪明的人，对于你来说，找个工作来谋生是最糟糕的办法了。有很多更好的办法可以谋生，为什么要签一个卖身契！ 一、卖苦力 找个工作，付出时间，换取收入。看起来很美，但是其实蠢不可及。这纯粹是卖苦力。 为什么找工作算是卖苦力？因为你必须干活才有收入。还没有看到问题之所在？看来你早就被洗脑了，你认为只有干活才拿钱天经地义、合情合理。难道你就没有想象过你不干活的时候也有人付钱给你么？谁告诉你只有干活才有钱拿？或许是其他早已被洗脑的员工？（译者：更不用说加班都没有加班费的员工了） 试想一下，当你吃饭、睡觉、和孩子一起玩耍的时候，有人付钱给你；24×7的时间，有人付钱给你；无论你是不是在工作，有人付钱给你。这样生活岂不更轻松。你种的花花草草是不是在你没有打理他们的时候，就不生长了？你的银行账户里面的钱为什么不能像花花草草一样？ 谁关心你的工作时间长短呢？在这个星球上，只有很少数人会关心。我们大部分人不会注意到你一周工作6小时还是60小时。只要你可以给我们提供价值，让我们愿意掏腰包。我们并不在乎你工作了多久，我们只在乎我们得到的东西值不值。你在乎我花了多久写这篇文章么？（译者：你在乎我花了多久翻译这篇文章么？）如果我花了6个小时而不是仅仅3个小时，你会付双倍的价钱么？ 现在意识到问题之所在也不晚。聪明人有时候在开始阶段也是卖苦力，但是他最终会认识到用时间换取收入很不划算，一定会有更好的办法。当然有更好的办法，关键就是一定要把你的时间和价值分开。 聪明人建立一个可以24×7小时运转的系统，尤其是那些被动性收入，包括启动生意(starting a business)、建网站、成为投资人，或者从有创新性的工作中得到版权收入。这套系统不断的给人提供价值，并获利。它一旦启动，就持续运作。不管你是不是在维护它。从这一时刻起，你的大部分时间又可以拿来投资于怎么增加你的收入（优化系统或者再创建一个新的系统）而不是仅仅维持你的收入。 本网站( www.stevepavlina.com)就是这样的一个系统。当我在写本文的时候，它每个月可以给我带来9,000美元的收入(更新：40,000每月 10/31/06)。这还不是我的唯一收入。每篇文章只需要写一次（固定时间的投入），但是即使是多年以后，大家仍可以不断的从中获得价值。这个网站的系统传递了价值，而其他系统（大部分的系统我从来没有简建立和了解过）帮我获取了收入。这虽然不是完美的被动性收入，但是我个人喜欢写作，无论如何我愿意这样免费写作。但是你可能想，启动这个系统花费我不少银子，对吧？嗯，是的，9美元注册一个域名，在当时真TMD贵。这个之后，就开始收益了。 当然，在最开始，总需要花些时间来规划和实施你自己的系统。但是你不需要重新发明轮子，很多已经存在的系统，像网络和辅助项目（affiliate programs），需要用就拿来用。一旦你进入正轨，你不需要工作这么多小时来养活你自己。去和爱人共进晚餐，当你吃饭的时候，你仍然知道你的系统仍然在为你挣钱。难道这不是很美妙么？如果你就是喜欢长时间工作，好吧，go ahead! 如你就是发呆、放空，随你的便！只要你的系统不断的在给其他人带来价值，不管你是不是在工作，都有人给你付钱。 你周围的书店里面充斥着介绍各种各样可运转的系统的书籍，这些系统都是经过设计、测试并调试过的。没有人生下来就知道怎么做生意或者投资，但是你可以很容易就学到这些。多久能学会这无关紧要，肯花时间肯定没有问题。摆脱做一辈子的工作奴的命运，变成自己系统的主人。这仅仅是刚开始。即使你的系统一个月只有几百美元，这也是迈向正确方向的一大步。 二、经验不足 或许你觉得找工作可以积累一下经验。但其实这和学游泳必须去边游边学一样。你的经验来自生活，不管你有没有工作。工作只能给你在这个工作上面的经验，而人可以在任何事情上都获得经验，局限于工作一点好处都没有。躺着什么都不干，多年以后，你可以叫自己是有经验的沉思者、哲学家或者政治家。 从一份工作中积累经验的问题在于，通常你只是在有限的经验上面不断的重复、重复、再重复。一开始你学到了很多东西，但很快你便停滞不前。这就让你失去获得了其他更有价值经验的机会。而且一旦你那点经验过时，那么就一文不值。你可以问问你自己，到现在为止，什么经验可以在20-30年内都不会过时。你的饭碗那个时候还保得住么？ 不妨考虑一下，什么知识（经验）是你最想得到的？是做某个单一的工作的知识——这些知识只能让你拿宝贵的时间换金钱，还是知道怎么在一生中享受财务自由的知识——这些都不需要你去找一份工作。我不知道你怎么想，但是我肯定选择后者。在现在这个时代，后者看起来更有用。你怎么想？ 三、被禁锢一生 找工作就像把人当家畜驯化一样。你只是在学习怎么成为一个好宠物。 看看你的周围，真的去看看。你看到什么了？到处都是自由的人么？你是不是像一个无意识的动物一样生活在笼子里面？Have you fallen in love with the color beige?(译者：这句不明白） 你的驯养课程进行的如何？你的主人因为你听话而奖励你了么？你因为没有听从主人指令收到惩罚了么？ 你内心深处是否还有对自由意志的追求？或者环境已经把你变成了一个宠物？ 真可怜，人类从来不应该被养在笼子里。 员工收入税是最重的税。在美国你可以看到你一半的收入都会变成税收。税收系统的设计使得你看不清楚你被剥夺了多少收入，因为那部分是由你的老板直接付账了（但其实是你的），而且有些税是从你的薪水里面扣除。但是你可以从老板的角度分析一下这个问题，和你的津贴和所有福利一样，这些税当然也是属于员工的（员工来付账），即使是你的办公场所也一样。你必须付出更多的价值来支撑这些开支。你或许觉得公司的环境可以给与你支持，但是不要忘了，你是买单者之一。 还有，你收入的另外一个大头是老板们和投资人。有太多人想从你这里分一杯羹。 所以不难理解相对于员工的收入来说，为什么他们的税那么重了。毕竟，想想谁在税收系统上面更有控制权？是老板们和投资人，还是员工？ 你只分到了一小杯羹。你的真实收入或许是你的工资的三倍都不止。但是你工资之外的那部分钱你永远也看不到，它直接进入了其他人的腰包。 你太慷慨了！（译者：你太有才了） 五、工作的道路崎岖 很多人相信找个工作是最安全的谋生手段。 一群弱智。 社会环境真的是很奇迹，它可以把白的变成黑的。 只要有人说一句话（"滚蛋"，亦或"你被解雇了"），你的所有收入就化为乌有。你觉得处在这样一种境地安全么？只有一种收入来源会比有10种以上的收入来源有安全感么？ 用一份工作来获取所谓的安全感真的很蠢。如果主动权不在你手里，你不可能安全。而员工恰恰是最没有主动权的。如果你是一个公司员工，那么你的职称应该叫"专业赌徒"。 六、可恶的领导 在当家作主者的世界（entrepreneurial world，企业家的世界）里，如果你和某人不和，你只需要转身，调头。但是在公司里面，你必须低头哈腰，"对不起哈，×总。" 你知道么？boss（老总、领导）一词来自德语baas。它曾经是"主人"的意思。另一个意思是"奶牛，迟钝"(cow, bovine)。而在很多视频游戏里面，boss就是最后过关的时候需要打的那个邪恶的花花公子。 那么如果你的老板真的非常可恶，会把你整成——呃——牛群里面的一砣屎！ 你妈贵姓？ 七、嗟来之食 当你想涨工资的时候，你是不是必须向你的主人摇尾乞怜？给你多喂一点饲料你觉得很爽么？ 或者你不需要向任何人卑躬屈膝，你自己决定自己拿多少？如果你有自己的生意，而客户对你说"不"，你只需要说"下一个"。 八、社会关系网 很多人把工作当作他们的主要社会关系来源。他们和工作在一起的相同的人一起出没。这种狭隘的关系（译者：英文原文说"这种乱伦关系"）是一个死胡同。有意义的一天应该是天文地理无所不谈。从Sparkletts跳槽到Arrowhead啦(译者：两家瓶装水公司)，微软的最新操作系统又延期啦，隔壁邻居的小孩的舅舅的那条狗又生啦，等等。(译者：这句不知道有什么寓意, and the unexpected delivery of more Bic pens.) 想想走到马路上和陌生人谈话是什么样子。哦……有点心慌！那也比窝在格子里面强！ 如果你的奴隶同伴被卖给了另一个主人，你是不是失去一个好朋友？如果你工作在一个和尚班一样的地方，是不是就意味着除了前台是你唯一打交道的女性？（译者：作者原文意思是，前台是你能够打交道的最高档次的女性，这里的档次rank，应该是指外貌）为什么不让你自己决定和哪些人打交道而是让你的主人决定？信不信由你，这个星球上有一些地方，自由的人们聚集在一起。小心这帮人，他们很疯狂。 九、没有自由 把一个人驯化成员工需要很多功夫。而第一个需要做的就是破坏他自力更生的意志。一个好的办法就是给他一堆制度手册，里面写满荒谬的规章制度。这样可以让新员工担惊受怕被惩罚而变得驯服。因而，员工就很容得出这样的结论，照主人说的做就行了，这样最安全。然后办公室政治再推波助澜，我们就驯服出一个新的奴隶了。 作为驯化课程的一部分，员工必须学习怎么穿衣、怎么说话、怎么行走等等。我们不能容忍有独立思考的员工在公司，那样会毁了一切。 老板禁止你把植物放在桌子上，因为违反了公司的制度。哦不，世界末日来了。Cindy桌子上面怎么会有！执法人员在哪！立刻把Cindy拖走，重新驯化！ 自由的人当然认为这种条款非常荒谬。他们的唯一条款就是：睿智、和蔼，做我所想，享我所做。(Be smart. Be nice. Do what you love. Have fun.) 十、胆小怕事 当你整天和一群懦夫为伍，你不觉得这也会消磨你的意志么？当然会。你会把你作为人类最高贵的品质逐步的放到"恐惧"这个祭坛上，首先是勇气、然后忠诚、荣誉、正直……最后是你的独立意志。这只是早晚的事情。你出卖了你的人性，却只得到了一个画饼。而现在，你最大的恐惧就是揭开事实的真相。 我不在乎你被打击成什么样。拾起你的勇气，亡羊补牢，为时未晚！ 还想找工作么？ 如果你现在是一个待遇很好、很守规矩的员工，你很有可能会对以上我所说的采取非常敌对的态度。这都是因为你的条件反射。但是想想如果以上说的不是事实，你根本不需要采取这种反应。这只是提醒你一些你已经知道的事情。你可以不相信有牢笼，但是牢笼仍在。或许这一切都是逐步的、在你不易察觉的情况下发生的。就像温水煮青蛙。 如果我说的任何事情都让你觉得要发疯，这是个好的现象。从意识角度看，愤怒起码比冷漠好。愤怒比天天麻木不仁好。任何情感——即使是困惑——也比冷漠好。如果你释放你的情感而不是压抑他们，你很快就会获得勇气。到那时，你就会有愿望去实际做点什么来摆脱现在的处境，而开始真正活得像一个有能力的人而不是训练有素的宠物。 失业并快乐着 你不找工作那么应该做什么呢？你应该通过其他手段谋生，失业并快乐着。需要意识到你是通过提供价值来赚钱——而不是提供时间。找一个把你的最好的价值提供给他人的办法，并给它定一个合理的价钱。最简单最可行的方式是做生意。不管做什么，找一个方案，可以直接把价值提供给最需要的人。这需要花点时间让它运转起来，但是为了你的自由，开始的那点时间和精力投资是很值得的。然后你可以自食其力了。 |
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