Neel Mehta
Ever had a moment when you one day realize that despite a fancy title and a good paycheck, your job is making you absolutely miserable? It’s OK; you’re not crazy, says author and life coach Pamela Slim.
“I understand your train of thought,” Slim writes in Escape From Cubicle Nation: From Corporate Prisoner to Thriving Entrepreneur (Berkley Trade). “How can you not feel a little crazy to complain about a stable job with great pay, benefits, smart coworkers, and social prestige? Isn“™t it selfish to want more when most people in the world would kill for the opportunity to work day in and day out in air-conditioned offices with no chance of getting calloused hands?”
Although your logic is on point, why do you still feel miserable? Slim says there are other issues to consider than a paycheck, social prestige and smart coworkers, like how organizations have changed throughout the years and become difficult places to work in.
If your work environment reminds you of the movie “Office Space” and you’re constantly doing meaningless work, consider this: The lack of doing significant work doesn’t cause just boredom, but it could also affect the brain in a negative way, Slim says. While “cubicle nation“ could be considered as much a state of mind as a physical environment, there may be something about the physical design of cubicles that actually makes people sick, according to the author.
“What the research suggests is that in unstimulating, unenriched, stressful environments, the brain STOPS producing new neurons,” she writes.
When most people consider quitting their jobs to pursue a passion, their biggest dreams often coincide with their biggest nightmares. Many what ifs turn into irrational fear, which can paralyze the individual from taking the leap. But Slim says those worries are irrational. Many people are afraid that if they leave their current job, they are going to be financially ruined and lose their jobs. But deep inside, most understand these fears are unlikely to come true, especially if they’ve done their research (what kind of business entity to set up) and made preparations (have enough savings for six months).
If you’re dreaming of going from employee to entrepreneur and have a more solid reason to leaving your cubicle than “I hate my boss,” Slim’s guide will point you in the right direction. Soon enough, you too could escape metaphorical TPS reports and the nation of cubicles.
