I grew up in a city but spend most of my time in nature. Think woods, small river streams, cornfields etc. My school life was near the harbours, my off time in nature. I fucking loved it.
I could never decide what I wanted to do growing up so I switched multiple educations until I got to HR as I found out I wanted to help people get better. In between colleges I worked as a cleaner, logistics guy in a big warehouse, appliance delivery, food delivery etc. I loved being outdoor and going places, rain or sunshine.
Due to my HR studies I got a job in the doompit called “the corporate world”. At first it felt easy. Bantering with coworkers, A/C in the summer, heater in the winter. But then, after about 6 months, the masks came off and I was burdened with piles of work, new rules, no possible advancements that were promised to me. I quit after going to the office multiple times with a racing heart, cold sweat and waking up in a bed full of panick-sweat. I later found out the rate of people leaving the place was fairly high and long time employees would laugh at “quitters” publicly. Very toxic, glad I left.
I got to another, smaller business. The people there told me the work pressure was low. Sure, for the first 6 months it was. Then once again, masks fell off and the corporate demons came out again. I stuck for almost a year when I noticed that I just couldn't grow in my position. Apart from the manager and one other employee, the whole team got laid off and outsourced.
I'm now at my 3th corporate office job which started out well. My manager is very friendly, but my direct coworkers are snarky all the time. It's also as if they are trying to find errors in my work where there is none (and I show proof, something I shouldn't be doing in the first place). I got promised a lot of opportunity, but I'm still doing the same basic stuff I've been doing for 2 years now. I'm always asked to get in a meeting about every little thing there is. It's a waste of my time. I'm done with my task pretty quickly but am supposed to stay inside until the end of the day or make up things to do. This is the soul sucking corporate world, and I'm fucking done with it.
So, I decided on a few things:
– I'll be in touch with an external party about the promises made vs the actual experience
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I will finish college and then do a whole different course, namely coaching
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I will start my own practice and have my current job (or any other okay-paying job) on the side until I can work for myself fully.
I have friends who believe in me and who would like to help me out on my adventure in freelancing.
Will it be tough? Probably.
Will it take time to get a good running business for myself? Probably.
Will it be worth it in the end with all the freedom I get in return? Most definately.
The only thing that kinda stopped me from going for it right now and quit college for a coaching education is a promise to myself and my girlfriend. That I will get my degree and stick longer than I used to at this company. I'll stick around until I get my degree and then we'll see. I'll make sure I'll have a job to pay the bills and the rent, but I just cant stand being a corporate slave anymore…