One of the biggest misconceptions about financial independence is that it is often associated with a bad attitude towards work.
In fact, I feel the pressure to hide this blog from coworkers because I worry they will take it the wrong way. Especially managers.
Considering that I’ve been writing on this blog for nearly 4 years now, I have written many articles while in many different moods that could easily be interpreted the wrong way. For example, I once wrote a post about my race against time, or another example is my post about why I have no choice but to pursue financial independence. Both of these articles could lead to the assumption that I have a bad attitude towards work.
However, that is simply not the case. Based on my observations, I tend to have a better attitude towards work than most—not all, though lol. But that’s even with an ongoing side hustle like blogging, and even though there is certain types of work that I avoid, such as public presentations.
Frankly, though, even my half-assed job is better than most. I’d be willing to bet that most FI seekers are the same.
Extremely capable, self-managed, responsible, long-term planning individuals do not show up late, have absences, or complain.
Allow me to begin building my case by discussing how smart FI seekers are:
First off, the pursuit of financial independence requires self-awareness and an ability to look beyond all the noise. In order to save enough money to have lifestyle options, one must be able to live below their means and make individual choices. It’s about pursuing happiness over status.
Second, FI requires long term planning, discipline, math skills, financial knowledge, and research.
Based on the highlights above, do you really think an FI seeker would be the type to show up late, be absent frequently, or complain at work? Do those attributes sound like a person that would have a bad attitude towards work? No, right?
I will admit that there was a time that I was not the best at arriving on time, and I did have a stretch of absences. But it was really more of an outside of work issue that caused it. This was the same issue that lead to my year off.
Anyways, the way I see it—someone with the audacity to create a masterplan that allows them to retire early is anything but lazy. There is a genuine motivation to earn more money and to save, so there’s no room for a bad attitude towards work.
Gratefulness for the opportunity to earn and save money
The older I get, the more grateful and appreciative I am to be alive. FI seekers appreciate life and their jobs, for the most part.
Just the other day, I noticed a headline about a kid that got kicked in the head at a concert. Unfortunately he didn’t make it. I don’t take this lightly! Because if I’m being honest, there were many incidents in my life that could’ve ended up the same way. For example, I got jumped in college and held up at knife point. And admittedly, my friends and I were a bit reckless in our younger years lol. I’m not going to elaborate on it but shit happened lol.
The point is, there are many people without the same opportunities I’ve had. One health issue could change everything. There are many things that could go wrong which could prevent me from saving money. Whenever I’m feeling anxious or not in the mood to work, I remind myself there are thousands of people that would be thrilled to be in my position.
The FI Bloggers I know are grateful individuals, too. They’re not out here on the take, so I highly doubt they have a bad attitude towards their work.
Personal Interests become the fuel for a good attitude towards work
One of the saddest things I’ve noticed about normal retirees is a lack of identity once retirement is reached. These folks hardly have a clue who they are after a 40 year career. In turn, they become depressed after retiring because they need an employer to tell them who they are to feel good about themselves. That shit is so sad to me!
They work until 65 without the time to reflect on what they truly enjoy in life. They think they know. But in reality, they don’t even know what clothing style they like anymore. 40 years of being forced to dress business casual will do that to a person. Sorry not sorry, but most of their conversations are dull as fuck. Every other line is filtered, and they talk as if their boss is sitting at the end of the table watching their every move. They never stop the ass kissing lol.
Then retirement comes along and they have no ass to kiss, no reason to dress business casual, and since they spent their entire lives putting their employer’s interests before their own, they have no interests.
On the other hand, FI seekers are self-aware enough to know that personal fulfillment matters most. As such, the entire formula is different. Instead of putting their day job before their personal interests, the personal interests become the fuel for their work. They have a great attitude towards work because outside interests are the driving force.
But when your whole world revolves around jobbing, you are setting yourself up for failure because it will never be perfect. There will be let downs, changes, and choices made that you disagree with. And in case you didn’t know, the purpose of a business is profit—not your personal happiness. It will never be enough!
Because FI Seekers want to do their work well
Of course, I can only speak for myself, but I assume those seeking financial independence want to do great work. They want to find their best work. They are interested in volunteering, building, and creating.
Although I write a blog about eluding the 9 to 5, it’s not in me to produce shit work. I wouldn’t feel satisfied with a shit job.
I’m gonna be brutally honest with you—I’ve worked roles that demanded volume over quality, but even then, I couldn’t succumb to it. I am not afraid to make my own choices about the quality of my work. I know they can’t ask me to lower the quality of my work. And if it’s by comparison to those hitting the numbers, most of the time, the volume-based work is so shit it creates more work.
Therefore it is my belief that FI seekers have a better attitude towards work in general.
Concluding Thoughts
Even though financial independence is about eluding work, we still do better work in general. Ha!
I’m an INTJ so sometimes I can’t help but judge. But I’ve just noticed a tendency of others to do things I wouldn’t even dream of at work. Things such as sleeping, cutting corners, failing to pay attention, and general disrespect.
Moreover, the FI community may dislike a lot of things about jobbing, and we do spend a lot of time pointing out our issues with it. But that’s how change works—all progress is made by those who are willing to point out the flaws in a system.
“When you have something to say—silence is a lie.” – Jordan Peterson
In a perfect world, I’d be able to use this blog as a way to advance my career. I could share my posts via e-mail at work to let others know that there’s an alternative lifestyle out there. Perhaps they’d understand there’s more to me than conversations about basketball and stocks lol. It would be viewed as an skill-building activity instead of a bad attitude towards work.
But for the time being, I’ll just maintain a good attitude towards jobbing. After all, jobbing is the reason I’m able to build the dividend portfolio I’ve built, and it’s the reason I’ve been able to experience the market gains I have in the past week. 🙂
I am not a licensed investment or tax adviser. All opinions are my own. This post contains advertisements by Google Adsense. This post also contains internal links, affiliate links, and links to RTC social media accounts.
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Dividend Income Projection Twenty-one
